You could be forgiven for thinking Marlborough is all about savvy b, but chat to the locals and they can’t stop carrying on about pinot noir (and chardy for that matter, but that’s a tipple for another day). The Te Pa Signature pinot has all the classic elegance and poise coupled with intensity and focus, but its the fruit that’s knocking our socks off. Brimming with pulpy dark red cherry and winter strawberry, the fruit persists from start to finish. A little bit of oak nuance and some fine grain tannin gives the wine shape and structure. There’s plushness and generosity set against a tart, sappy backdrop. This is a wine in perfect balance showing its full potential.

This is a clever wine, in a lot of ways. It's pretty hard to find great pinot noir at the moment. The last few vintages have been tough, and getting maximum flavour with a minimal pricetag is a near impossible task. One clever way to build texture and complexity in pinot noir is to partially ferment the whole berry clusters. The producer of this wine employed this method with 30% of the fruit before letting the wine age in 50% new French oak. What’s in the bottle is elegant, yet concentrated. Fruit is expressed as cherries, plums and strawberries and there are secondary notes of spice and earth. You’ll feel semi-serious drinking this lovely pinot, even if it is a Tuesday night in your PJs.

The Twin Valleys pinot noir grabs all that Alpine and King Valley freshness and bottles it up for us to enjoy elsewhere. The lightness and the cool, bright acid line that cuts through this wine brings a satisfying bit of energy to whoever’s lucky enough to have it in their cup (me, in this instance). Winter strawberry and under ripe raspberry on the palate immediately, but there is a bit of darker, richer fruit tucked in behind it. Mulberry and bramble, and a bit of vanillin oak presence, too. A bit of whole bunch lends a slippery, suppleness to the mouthfeel and ties the wine together beautifully. A fine boned, prickly finish that lasts and lasts.