Stephen Tanzer Results

Two Paddocks The Last Chance Pinot Noir. 92 points. Look for it in April 2015 Two Paddocks Nine Piglets. Looking cute now!

The crew very delighted with Stephen Tanzer results that arrived yesterday – all four Pinots from Two Paddocks are right up the pointy end of the point scale and we’re in some fairly esteemed company. The Proprietor thrilled with his vineyards, the viticultural team that curate them and the winemaking team who translate them. Results below.

Also exciting, beautiful and typically serene Two Paddocks Mummy Pig, Imogen Poots, had nine perfect babies two nights ago. (Mike the Viticulturist got short shift from Poots when trying to capture her new progeny on film and was catapaulted over the fence – who knew viticulture could be so “stunt man”?)

-- JM

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar. Issue 176 Sept/Oct 2014

The Best Of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

2012 Two Paddocks Pinot Noir Central Otago

89pts -- ($55) Moderately saturated, bright pale red.  Strawberry, flint, peppery herbs and smoke on the slightly reduced nose, plus a whiff of Burgundian underbrush.  Not a hugely fleshy or complex wine but penetrating, slightly peppery acidity frames and intensifies the flavors of strawberry, flint and saline minerality.  Nicely savory on the lingering finish, with a repeating peppery edge.

2011 Two Paddocks Pinot Noir Central Otago

90pts -- ($55) (vinified with 25% whole clusters and aged in 25% new French oak):  Moderately saturated palish red.  Wild, full-blown aromas of strawberry, raspberry, mocha, underbrush and caramel oak, plus hints of pepper and flint.  Sweet, concentrated and deep, with soil-driven red fruit flavors complicated by saline and spicy nuances.  This elegant, floral pinot finishes spicy and long, with a solid spine of ripe tannins contributing grip.

2011 Two Paddocks First Paddock Pinot Noir

91+pts -- ($75) (from a 1993 planting; fermented with 50% whole clusters and aged in 30% new French oak):  Medium red.  Complex, slightly reduced, soil-driven aromas of raspberry, truffley underbrush, smoke, pepper and game.  Round, ripe and fine-grained, showing a seamless texture to the flavors of red fruits, underbrush and smoky minerals.  This gained in nuance and texture with extended time in the recorked bottle without losing its verve.

2012 Two Paddocks The Last Chance Pinot Noir

92pts -- ($75) Good medium red.  Wild, soil-inflected aromas of red berries, pepper, underbrush, minerals and smoked meat; distinctly Old World in style--in fact, this reminded me a bit of northern Rhone syrah!  Sweet, ripe and smooth, with a slight positive funkiness adding appeal to the broad but lively red fruit, brown spice and rose petal flavors.  Lovely inner-mouth energy here, and good peppery, herbal lift.  Boasts better depth than most 2012 pinots from New Zealand.  Less salty and more fruit-driven than the basic 2012 release, finishing with more breadth and finesse, not to mention length.  Very sexy wine, and a big success for this--or any--vintage. TO BE RELEASED APRIL 2015