2020 Prophets Rock Cuvee Aux Antipodes Pinot Noir
This serious wine is redefining Kiwi Pinot. It is a unique red from the well-known Burgundy winemaker Francois Millet (of Comtes de Vogue), made in collaboration with Prophet's Rock winemaker Paul Pujol and sourced among his best Central Otago plots. Millet imported special equipment as well as applying his own and traditional methods. Though a middle-weight it carries this body with real lightness and poise, clarity and length. It will decant very nicely now (which we recommend you do for sheer interest). But the wine's real potential is still to come.
Grape
Pinot Noir
Its Origins
The Cuvee Aux Antipodes is a collaboration between Burgundy Winemaker Francois Millet (who makes the legendary Comtes de Vogüé wines) and Prophet's Rock in Central Otago. Established in 1999, Prophet’s Rock has become one of New Zealand’s most consistent boutique producers. The name comes from Central Otago’s goldmining pioneers (a physical landmark on a local claim), and the winery has retained an intensely local focus on its original vineyards and terroir - and the varieties that thrive there. Longtime winemaker Paul Pujol carried this ethic back from early work with legendary producers in France, especially in Burgundy, and with Maison Kuentz-Bas in Alsace. Prophet’s Rock maintain deep values of sustainable vineyard management as well as a very European sensibility, allowing wines to express each vintage. While capturing beautiful varietal expression, they pursue in each wine the less obvious - but more satisfying and food orientated - virtues of vinous texture, balance, complexity, and length. In doing so they can achieve an understated depth, harmony, and sometimes extreme age-worthiness that is highly unusual in New Zealand. Their home block is on an elevated site in Bendigo, with the ‘second’ vineyard Rocky Point in Southern Bendigo, on a steep site above lake Dunstan.
What The Critics Say
95/100 James Suckling
"This has an intense, complex nose of charred bark, dark cherries, black raspberries, cumin, spice box, iodine and slate. It's medium- to full-bodied with a firm, sleek tannin structure providing plenty of support to the dark fruit. Tight and mineral at the end. Better after 2023."
93+/100 Parker's Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
"After a difficult flowering season of wind, rain and hail, fruit was picked just days ahead of the snow. On the nose, the 2020 Cuvee aux Antipodes Pinot Noir is gently reductive but layered with lashings of black cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, mulberry and a hint of tapenade. In the mouth, the wine is complex but sedate; it needs time, as it’s tightly wound and coiled for now. The complexity and length of flavor are surefire signs that this wine is destined for great things. For now, if you're planning on opening a bottle, be sure you decant it. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam. 10 barrels only. The 2020 Cuvee aux Antipodes Pinot Noir is just now on the market and is current release." Drink 2023 - 2040
| Variety | Pinot Noir |
|---|---|
| Region | Central Otago |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Maturity | 2023 - 2040 |
This Wine Goes Well With
Taste
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If for any reason you are not entirely happy with your order or you suspect that they may be affected by a quality issue, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will remedy the problem straight away. Contact us on 0800 422 767.
