2015 Colombo Pinot Noir Martinborough NZ
Martinborough is near Wellington down the bottom of the North Island of NZ. It began its life as a wine region around 30 years ago when they discovered the soils and climate were pretty much the same as Burgundy. After some early plantings and some great wines, a new regional star was born; right beside the names of Burgundy, Oregon, Central Otago and the Yarra Valley. Pinot Noir has become very popular in the past 10 years as the winemakers outside of Burgundy have come to understand the variety and their regions a little better. The result has been a dramatic improvement in quality, but more importantly the wines are a lot more affordable than the wines of Burgundy.
Colombo is an international family affair, owned and operated by a husband and wife team, Carolyn Irwin from Northern Ireland and Baptist Sieber from Switzerland. Baptist began his career working for a large winery in Switzerland who was then transferred to Marlborough, managing one of the large vineyards there. In December 2013, Baptist and Carolyn took over a 16 year old Pinot Noir block on the Martinborough Terrace. They have since built a small winery and cellar door. They are a great example of the new wave of young wine producers picking up the baton from the established winemakers in Martinborough, revitalising the scene and adding a modern take to what has already been achieved.
This is a big, rich, juicy, red-fruited Pinot Noir with distinctive toasty oak. If you like a slightly richer style of Pinot then you will love this wine. The fruit has been handpicked and with the use of indigenous yeast and approximately 10% whole bunches, there is a lovely silkiness and complexity to the wine. It has been aged for 9 months in French Oak (40% new) and is just a beautiful glass of wine. The term often used to describe a great Pinot Noir is an “Iron fist in a velvet glove”, this perfectly sums up this wine.