"Beautifully ripe and inviting, the bouquet shows spiced cherry, plum, dark mushroom, fragrant spice and toasted almond characters. The palate is elegantly weighted and rounded, delivering plenty of appealing juicy flavours backed by fine texture and silky tannins. At its best: now to 2019. $22.00" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit. Jan 2018

The 2016 growing season started out incredibly- dry, fortunately some unseasonal rains in February set the vines up for a great final ripening period. March and April were very consistent, with warm and dry weather experienced in the Awatere Valley. Conditions over the flowering period were stable, creating even crop levels in the vineyards which translated into wines with great concentration and texture. Our Pinot Noir was harvested in excellent condition and the resulting wine shows the wonderful hallmarks that the Awatere Valley is known for – lifted fruit flavours in the dark berry spectrum balanced with earthy savory notes, vibrancy, purity and structure.

Beneath the towering peak of Mt. Tapuae-o-Uenuku, where early settlers crossed the fast-flowing Awatere River, our three distinct riverside vineyards produce wines of intense varietal character and vibrant acidity. Sustainably grown in the premium sub-region of the Awatere Valley, The Crossings range of wines are a pure and elegant expression of Marlborough.

At the winery, each parcel of Pinot Noir was handled individually to emphasise the unique characteristics of each vineyard block. The parcels were cold macerated for five days before being warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts. A fast, hot fermentation followed with regular hand plunging to craft a
wine with elegance and balance. The parcels were then gently pressed off, with a portion going to a mixture of new and older French oak barriques to undergo malolactic fermentation and to age before blending and gentle filtration prior to bottling.