Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2020

Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2020   

Grape: 100% Pinot Noir aged in French oak barrels, approximately 30% new, for 11 months of maturation. 

The 2020 Pinot Noir is fragrant, appealing and aromatic. Rose petals, dark cherries and blackberries fill the nose. On the palate, a core of rounded autumnal bramble fruit, ripe boysenberry and wild strawberry combine with spice, coffee & balsamic flavours from the oak ageing and is underpinned by silky tannins and fine acidity. A concentrated yet elegant wine.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"What a seductively moreish Pinot this is. Pale to medium colour, there's lots of custardy, creamy oak, but matched by a depth of ripe red berries and undertow of truffle and autumnal forest floor. Spices too. In the mouth it is medium-bodied and quite creamy and rich, but retains plenty of sappy, briary character, good cherry-ripe acidity, and a very fine, firm tannin structure. A really lovely wine this from a great year, and the best Cloudy Bay Marlborough Pinot to date in my opinion"

91/100 points, Tom Cannavan, January 2022

"Fragrant, complex nose with aromas of black cherry compote, strawberry, hazelnut, creamy vanilla pod and buttered toast. Medium-bodied, supple, reasonably developed wine for its age with a tasty, savoury, core of flavour and quite robust tannins. A wine with wide consumer appeal."

93/100 points, New Zealand Wine Rater, August 2022

Also "DOUBLE GOLD" medal at the 2023 Sakura Awards (Japan)

Versatility is Cloudy Bay's calling card. The Pinot Noir matches with a wide variety of foods, including lighter game meats (duck, rabbit), lamb, roasted vegetables, berries, herbs and almost anything chargrilled.