First taste: Brancott Estate Chosen Rows Pinot Noir

Marlborough’s Brancott Estate released its inaugural 2015 Chosen Rows Pinot Noir at the Flavours of New Zealand annual wine tasting in London earlier this month...

It joins the Chosen Rows Sauvignon Blanc 2015, also tasted below, which is the third release following the 2010 and 2013 vintages.

Brancott Estate (formerly Montana Wines) is New Zealand’s largest wine producer, and the first to plant Sauvignon Blanc vines in Marlborough in 1973.

Group winemaker Jamie Marfell, who was in London to launch the new wines, said that the Chosen Rows project was born of a desire to create a premium Sauvignon Blanc that highlighted the variety’s potential for ageability and finesse.

‘Marlborough Sauvignon has always been seen as a fruit-forward, drink-now wine. But we wanted to move away from herbaceousness to more richness and golden stone fruit characters,’ explained Marfell.

Adding a Pinot Noir to the range was a ‘natural follow up’ and, like the Sauvignon Blanc, represents the ‘pinnacle’ of Brancott Estate’s grapes and winemaking.

Only 400 cases of each wine has been made and, at present, only the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc is available in the UK, with an allocation of 60 or 70 cases. It retails for £35.43 from Amazon UK. Marfell said if the Pinot Noir were to be released in the UK, it would likely retail for £40 to £45 a bottle.

See also:

Panel tasting: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

Panel tasting: Californian Pinot Noir