2020 Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, Pyramid Valley 'Botanical Collection', Canterbury

2020 Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, Pyramid Valley 'Botanical Collection', Canterbury

From Pyramid Valley, this is farmed biodynamically on limestone slopes in Canterbury in New Zealand's South Island. This is the richer of the two Pinots in this Botanical range, the other being Angel Flower. There is a lot of bright, expressive and complex flavour, with cherry, red plum, light earthy notes, wild herb and tobacco coming through. There's fresh acidity cutting through and a tensile, chalky feel to the tannins.

This wine is now sold out. Please get in touch with your advisor or one of our team on [email protected] or 01473 313 300 for more information or guidance on an alternative.

Wine details

  • Region & country
    Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand
  • Grape
    Pinot Noir
  • Maturity
    Ready 2023 - 2039info
  • Colour
    Red
  • Sweetness
    Dry
  • Style
    Still
  • Unit Volume
    Bottle (75cl.)
  • ABV
    13.5%

Tasting notes

Sitting beside Lion’s Tooth and picked a week to ten days later, this is imperceptibly richer and a tone or two darker than Angel Flower. With a more elemental stance on the palate, again, the name of the wine is truly evocative of its flavour. That it is named after a weed found growing wild in the vineyard is borderline unbelievable, but it’s true. In the same way that Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay was tougher and more unyielding than Field of Fire, Earth Smoke is the more belligerent and belligerent of the Pinot pair. Backward and this time more akin to a brooding, square-cut Morey-Saint-Denis, this wine needs ages but will be utterly astonishing when it finally falls into equilibrium.

Matthew Jukes, matthewjukes.com (November 2022)
19+/20
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