Two Paddocks The Fusilier Bannockburn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020  £48.39

TWO PADDOCKS THE FUSILIER BANNOCKBURN VINEYARD PINOT NOIR

“We grow our premium Two Paddocks Pinot Noir entirely on our four small Vineyards in Central Otago. In some exceptional vintages, listening carefully, we realize that one of these may have something extraordinary to say in its own right. It is only then that we will make one of these very rare single vineyard wines.”

Sam Neill, Founder & Proprietor

The Fusilier Vineyard is named in honour of Sam’s father, Major Dermot Neill, a soldier in the Royal Irish Fusilier Regiment for twenty years before returning home to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he ran the family Wine & Spirit business, Neill & Co. Planted entirely in 2000, The Fusilier is 5.6 hectares of pinot noir, situated on a rolling northerly facing terraces at the western end of Felton Rd and bordered by the vineyard of the same name. Soils on the terraces consist of deep alluvial fans, which are made up of varying depths of silt, sand and gravel layering all derived from mountainous raw schist parent material. Elevation 275m and rainfall 350mm.

About the vintage:

A dry cold 2019 winter continued into a dry spring that was dominated some severe wind and snow events. The critical flowering month of December was still relatively cool and experienced 50mm of rain over three days. As a result, flowering was both late and drawn out. Finally, the summer heat arrived in mid-January and lasted until mid-March but the critical cell division stage for the berries was also cool and along with the challenging conditions at flowering, resulted in crop levels being 30-40% down in many of the vineyard blocks.

There were two pieces of very good news though – the smaller bunches and small berries were much easier for the vines to fully ripen in late summer and ultimately resulted in densely coloured, aromatic wines.

Tasting Notes; Blackberry, dark plum and spicy wild herb aromatics lead to an elegant, mineral derived palate showing great texture, poise and drive.

James Suckling - Top 100 Wines of New Zealand 2020 - 96 Points