The Latest Wine Release From The Iconic Te Mata Estate

It’s not every day that an iconic brand like Te Mata add a new wine to their range and I am very excited to be one of the first to taste it. This is the inaugural release of the Alma Pinot Noir whose name celebrates Dr James Thomson, forefather to the Te Mata Estate’s Buck family, who lost his life saving hundreds of others in the 1854 Battle of the Alma. The label features the medal he was awarded for this selfless act of valour.

Taken from the mature low cropped vines of Te Mata’s Woodthorpe Vineyards, the parcels of fruit were handpicked, 100% destemmed, were given extended skin contact and then aged in French oak for 11 months before being blended into the finished wine.

A beautiful crimson with a purple hue, the alluring aromas of red plum, juicy black cherry and strawberry are concentrated and pure. The dense palate is full of red and dark fruit flavours with smoky oak, fine grained tannins and spice rounding out the finish. This is a very young wine; I recommend buying it now and cellaring for 2-3 years, however the structure of the wine lends itself to much longer cellaring potential.