2020 Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir

The winery says:

A near-perfect growing season led up to the 2020 harvest with fruit in pristine condition. The summer was dry with high sunshine hours during the day and the cooler nights that are typical for Marlborough. Yields were at their optimum level and the stable autumn weather allowed us to extend the hangtime of the fruit on the vines to achieve physiological ripeness.

A fruit-driven style of Pinot Noir with a lively personality, this wine expresses an abundance of red cherries on the nose, along with baking spices such as clove and cinnamon. On the palate, fruit flavours of cranberries and fresh raspberries are intermingled with freshly roasted coffee beans and soft cocoa like-tannins.

Suckling rates this “outstanding”:

A bright and succulent pinot noir with aromas of cranberries, raspberries, sliced mushrooms, pink peppercorns and spice. Medium-bodied with creamy tannins and a tasty, crisp finish. Sustainable.

Decanter agrees:

Fresh strawberry, minty herbs and crushed minerals on the nose. Aged in French oak barrels for 9 months, the Marlborough Pinot Noir is elegant and juicy on the palate with wood-spiced red cherry and poached strawberry notes.

And the Wine Enthusiast praises its “oodles of red berry fruit and heaps of drinkability.”

And 92 at the International Wine Challenge:

Lovely lifted notes of lavender, clove and spice. Damson notes, ripened cherry. Rich, yet subtle. Crisp, refreshing – a coiled spring with great potential.

Finally, the Canadian Wine Align rates this outstanding, too, with their top five-star rating for value, saying:

This is well priced for a pinot that is dry, pure and focused. It is vibrant with a varietally correct nose of cranberry and cherry fruit with just a hint of oak. It is light to midweight with the dry cherry fruit balanced by soft acidity and gentle tannin. Very good length.