Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2008

AWARDS:

Sydney International Wine Competition 2010: Top 100, Blue-Gold Award
( click here for more information )

Cuisine November 2009 - 4 stars

Winestate Nov-Dec 2009 - 4 stars

REVIEWS

“There's a wonderfully uninhibited quality to this Pinot from winemaker Carol Bunn. It's dark, sweet and spicy and fair romps across the palate, fresh but visceral. Oak lends support without compromising the juicy core of fruit. Food suggestion: barbecued Toulouse sausages.” 4 stars - Cuisine Pinot Noir tasting - November 2009

"Low cropping in an otherwise large vintage has maintained the red cherry purity and balance in this Central Otago wine.  The bouquet explodes with lifted violets and rose petals, leading into a red fruit palate with structured fruit tannins, vibrant acidity and supportive oak.” 93 points – Tyson Stelzer WBM100 Oct 2009

“The 2008 Pinot Noir has a good intensity on the nose: mulberry, raspberry and a touch of wild hedgerow. Soft on the entry, nicely balanced with good clarity and finer tannins with notes of mulberry, raspberry and wild strawberry and quite silky towards the finish. This is more feminine than the earlier vintages, no doubt because of the progressing vine age first planted in 2000.” 88-90 points- Neal Martin – for e-Robert Parker – Sept 2009

Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2007

AWARDS:

NZ International Wine Show 2008 - GOLD Medal

AIR NZ Wine Awards 2008 - SILVER Medal

IWC London 2009 - SILVER Medal

REVIEWS

“Silken-textured fruit bomb with masses of dense red and black cherry flavours plus a suggestion of anise and spicy oak. A classic Central Otago style that's easy to love and understand.”

*****

Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2006

AWARDS: Air New Zealand Wine Awards 2008 - Gold Medal NZ Winegrowers Bragato Wine Awards 2007 - Silver Medal NZ International Wine Show 2007 - Silver Medal

REVIEWS

"A classy Central Otago pinot: a gorgeous wine with masses of spicy fruit that’s velvety, rich and lush in the mouth. True to the grape, properly ripe (and just 13.5 per cent alcohol), it’s fruit-driven and ample. For this region, it’s also well-priced. 95/100". Food Barbecued quail. - Huon Hooke in the Sydney Morning Herald (December 2, 2008)

"From Central Otago’s Lowburn area, this is well pitched between the richness and fruit weight that defines this outstanding region and varietal Pinot elegance. Dark cherries, some wild bush herbs and silky ripe tannins. Finishes chewy." 91 points - WBM100 November 2008 - Nick Stock (Nick Stock an award winning sommelier and now one of Australia’s leading wine writers and judges)

"Pinot Noir from New Zealand’s Central Otago is a mixed bag. This lovely example kicks off with appetising sour cherry and spice aromas, with a whiff of strawberry pancake for good measure. It has intense fruit with a thread of cedary oak seasoning it, and a silky, medium-weight feel in the mouth. It finishes fragrant and lingering. 13.5% alc.
Ageing? Drink over four years
Food idea: Chinese barbecued meats
***** $$"
Five stars denotes ‘Superb Wine, a classic example of its type, worthy of the big occaision and the best company’ $$ Reasonably priced relative to quality. - Ralph Kyte-Powell in the Melbourne Age, November 2008

"Excellent wine, previously championed by Jancis. A really complete wine with excellent flavours, depth and structure, pretty seamless. (RJ)"
Roger Jones (from Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages)

"Aromas of black cherry, dark chocolate, licorice and espresso. Supple, sappy and dense, with strong, sweet dark fruit flavors slightly dried by the strong oak component. Finishes with firm, oak-driven tannins. (The Wine Company, St. Paul, MN) 87 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Sep/Oct 07

Jamie Goode's online wine blog -September 16, 2007:
in his article entitled: Grand cru Burgundy from Central Otago:
"Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2006 Central Otago
Medium colour, which is a good thing with Pinot. You don't want your Pinot to look like Shiraz. Warm cherry and spice nose which is quite aromatic and fresh. The palate has a nice concentration of spicy berry and cherry fruit with good acidity keeping things very fresh, and giving a hint of plummy sourness to the finish. A bright, supple style with a fair bit of complexity and some structure, which makes me think it might age well over the next few years. 90/100 (Hellion Wines)"

"The 2006 Pinot Noir displays attractive mulberry, raspberry and briary scents on the nose with good definition and attractive purity. The palate is medium-bodied, good depth, raspberry and mulberry once again, a little more tannic structure than the 2005. Rather chunky, perhaps lacking some elegance and a little short on the finish with hints of spice and cloves on the aftertaste. Drink over 2-3 years. " 87 points- Neal Martin – for e-Robert Parker – Sept 2009

Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2005

AWARDS:

AWC Vienna 2006 International Wine Show - Gold Medal

REVIEWS

“Strong cedar/cigar box on the nose with focused red cherry and raspberry flavours and appealing peppery tannins. A supple and appealing Pinot Noir with a hint of oak-derived chocolate box character.”
Total score (out of 100 points) 93
Bob Campbell MW

“Excellent dimension. Sweet musk and ripe stalk, throroughly pumped through the mid palate by ripe cherries and sour plums. Lots of chalk through the bank half of it. I wish I could sit and enjoy this one some more. Not a huge wine. Ready to start drinking from now. Drink: 2006-2011. 91 points.” (Campbell Mattinson’s Winefront review– from Sneak Preview tasting July 2006 www.winefront.com.au )

"From their vineyard in the Lowburn Valley, Central Otago, this has an intense nose of black cherries, cranberry and wild strawberry which perhaps just lacks a little clarity. The palate is medium-bodied with notes of cherry and wild strawberry and better delineation than the aromatics, rounded is texture with plum and a touch of iodine towards the elegant finish. Very fine. Tasted October 2007. Drink 2008-2012" 88 points- Neal Martin – for e-Robert Parker – Sept 2009

Lowburn Ferry Pinot Noir 2003

AWARDS:

NZ Winegrowers Bragato Wine Awards 2005: CHAMPION WINE OF SHOW,
Mike Wolter Memorial Trophy for Champion Pinot Noir Table Wine,
CHAMPION RED TABLE WINE,
Gold medal

REVIEWS:
FIVE-STAR HONOURS: NEW ZEALAND RED - Cuisine Magazine March 2005
“One wine towered over 49 others in the latest New Zealand Best of the Bunch tasting, and it's a new label. After planting their first vines at Lowburn Ferry Vineyard, in the Cromwell Valley, in 2000, Jean and Roger Gibson produced their first Pinot Noir in 2003 – and promptly scored a five-star rating in Cuisine.”
“Powerful, generous, single-vineyard wine from Lowburn, in the Cromwell Basin. Richly coloured and perfumed, with the delights of ripe, sweet fruit, French oak complexity and a strong surge of cherry, plum and spice flavours, finishing long and smooth. With the wine's excellent weight, density and structure, it should age well.”

JANCIS ROBINSON
- tasting of 120+ New Zealand pinot noirs, published in her Purple Pages, March 2005
Lowburn Ferry 2003 Central Otago: 18 (out of 20) Drink 2006-09
Dark crimson. Quite intense and deeply fruity. Savoury and deep. def not sweet. Really quite serious! Yet round with well managed tannins. Dry finish. Rather admirable and long term for Otago. Spice there too. Very long.
£15.95 Hellion Wines
Lowburn Ferry listed as one of Central Otago's promising producers

MICHAEL COOPERS BUYERS GUIDE TO NZ WINES 2006: 5 stars

DECANTER MAGAZINE (UK) 4 stars – October 2005
Decanter Guide to New Zealand Pinot Noir: “Fine, earthy, extracted bouquet with blackcurrant and small berry fruit. Complex. Spicy liquorice fruit and toasty oak, sophisticated winemaking. Cellar up to 5 years.” 4 stars – highly recommended. (17 points – ranked no. 8 out of 112 wines tasted)