Pinot Noir, The Chosen 777, Rockburn 2022
James Suckling 95
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Why this wine
A parcel selection rather than a blend: only the rows of clone 777 that reached the estate's own bar. Nothing new-oaked, nothing filtered hard, so what is in the glass is Central Otago fruit and very little else.
At a glance
- Grape
- Pinot Noir
- Region
- Central Otago, New Zealand
- Alcohol
- 14.00%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Poultry & Pork, Red Meat, Cheese
How it tastes
A graceful, eloquent Pinot Noir built on purity of fruit rather than power, with no new oak to get in the way. Medium-bodied, with refined tannins and a silky-smooth finish. Pinot Noir 100%.
The producer
Rockburn began in 1991 as a hobby for Richard Bunton, who planted a few hectares in what was then a barely known corner of Central Otago; Malcolm Rees-Francis arrived as winemaker from Felton Road in 2005 and promptly won the Elite Gold Medal and the Young Antipodean Winemaker of the Year award. The vines are sustainably cultivated and the estate holds Sustainable Wines of New Zealand certification. Rockburn sits on the 45th parallel in free-draining glacial soils, trained to vertical shoot positioning, and The Chosen 777 is drawn from meticulously selected parcels of clone 777 in the Parkburn, Pisa and Cromwell basin sites. Vinification took place in a seven-tonne fermenter with eight days of cold maceration, a week of fermentation with daily plunging and ten days of post-fermentation maceration, followed by ten months in one- to two-year-old French oak barrels and no new wood at all. 2022 ran a little warmer than the season before, with a good dose of rain at the start of February and high disease pressure across the region that the Rockburn vineyards escaped, giving tiny bunches of perfectly ripe fruit in one of the biggest vintages on record.
Food and drinking
Best at 14-16C, with half an hour in a decanter to let it stretch out. It suits roast duck, pork belly, mushroom and thyme dishes and a soft washed-rind cheese, and should drink well for five to ten years. A fine deposit is natural, given how little the wine is handled. Sealed under screwcap. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.