Winemaker Ben Glover has quite a task on his hands, it’ his job to oversee 900 hectares of vines get crushed and produce premium wines fro Wither Hills. His passion is for Pinot and you can see why when you try this marvel from Marlborough. The Pinosity we often talk about is apparent, showing bright cherry, spice and silky fruit when young but able to age gracefully and express darker fruits and savoury elements. A supple palate weight shows elegance and balance ensuring that this will work wonders with crispy duck.
Accolades and Awards:
Pure Gold - Air New Zealand Wine Awards (2011) Silver - Decanter World Wine Awards (2011)
Sam Kim; Wine Orbit: 5 Stars (2010) Youthful yet superbly complex and engaging with dark cherry, floral, game and subtle spicy oak characters on the nose. The palate is beautifully framed and weighted showing excellent fruit intensity and plenty of fine-grained tannins, finishing long and gratifying. A well structured Pinot with outstanding potential to develop impressive complexity.
Gary Walsh; The Wine Front: 93 (2010) Wither Hills are a winery that have been in good form over the last few years. Cherries, wood spice, berries, tamarillo and a little vanilla cream. Good to smell and good to taste. It’s middle weight and fresh, has an evenness that encourages the next sip, and for a young wine, already sports a good level of complexity. Fine grained tannin coats the mouth and lively, but settled, acidity provides good shape and form. I’m tasting a bit of wine tonight, but already have half an eye and half a mind to have a glass of this when I finish up. A good sign. It’s a very good release from Wither Hills.
Michael Cooper, Winestate: 4/5 (2010) Instantly attractive, with a fragrant, slightly smoky, spicy bouquet and rich, smooth palate. Warm and savoury, with sweet-fruit characters, generous cherry and plum flavours, good complexity and a finely poised, well-rounded finish.
Patrick Haddock, The Wining Pom: (2010) Good bloke that Ben Glover or Bin as he’s known back home in Marlborough. Perhaps he could get the honour of being labelled the Kiwi version of Chester Osborne, judging by the Shirt he was wearing at a recent Fine Wine Partners tasting. Loud shirts aside he’s very handy with Pinot and this one’s bang on the money. Nicely cherried in a glace style, some nicely herbal and earthy notes. Vibrant red fruit intensity with raspberry and cherry sharing honours, it’s got a soft palate weight but really firm acids with a good whack of spice and some excellent persistence. A Wither Hills release that shows more complexity than its price tag would suggest and eminently drinkable.
Jane Skilton : 4/5 (2010) Bright and floral with lots of red cherry and plum fruit aromas. An appealing pinot with a touch of tannin giving support to the ripe plump flavours. Great now.
From the Winery: Nose: From seductive bright morello cherry, fresh brambly wild berry compote, subtle French oak spice, black olive and lingering ‘blue’ aromatics; this Pinot delivers a youthful evocative Marlborough Pinot Noir.
Palate: The seamless tension, bright acidity and supple ripe fruit tannins, elegance, texture and Pinosity are all bound together with a balanced acid tannin profile delivering the hallmark Wither Hills Pinot Noir.
Food: In its youth this Pinot Noir will pair itself with most foods from smoked eel, game, seared tuna, and Szechwan style foods, through to the more traditional fare of twice cooked duck and my favourite at the moment pork belly with a hint of five spice.
