2022 Mount Edward Pinot Noir Central Otago

The 2022 Pinot Noir is reductive on the nose, with flint and graphite, pressed roses, pomegranate, loco rice and new leather. In the mouth, the wine is vibrant and lithe, with attractively chalky tannins and balanced acidity. This is gorgeous. As time wears on, the reduction is beginning to wear off, and this bodes very well indeed—it is complexing rather than distracting. (EL)

Mount Edward is a longstanding K&L customer favorite, crafting Pinot Noir with purity, intensity and elegance, vintage after vintage. They also happen to be one of our most longstanding direct import partnerships, so this consistency of quality is something we’ve been able to observe firsthand. Located in the heart of Central Otago on New Zealand’s South Island, Mount Edward is a pioneer of organic and biodynamic viticulture, founded in 1997 and led today by maverick winemaker Duncan Forsyth. The newest vintage of the winery's flagship estate Pinot Noir, the stunning 2022, is a masterclass in elegance, made with fruit from their organic-certified vineyards across the Gibbston, Bannockburn, and Lowburn sub-regions. It also is yet another vintage that truly overdelivers for its modest price. A year that was slightly warmer and longer than average, this Pinot Noir opens with vibrant black and red cherry notes, backed up by fresh red currant and layered with the region's signature notes of wild thyme and spice. While the fruit is forward and vibrant, the palate is seamless, balancing well-integrated tannins and a nimble mouthfeel. Very open and approachable now, with exuberant, youthful fruit, the wine is kept in check by snappy, bright acidity and crunchy red fruit on the palate – pomegranate, rhubarb – along with a delicate hibiscus note. On the palate, it balances power with finesse, featuring a fine-grained tannic structure and a mineral-driven finish, tied together with just a touch of French oak. Some wines require time in bottle or time in a decanter, but this is a bottle that is so lively right after opening. Simply put, it’s one of Central Otago’s most authentic and transparent examples of Pinot Noir.