2019 McBride Sisters Collection Reserve Pinot Noir “Papatuanuku” Central Otago
We always love a wine with a story behiund it:
“Papatuanuku” is Maori for “Mother Earth,” symbolizing the stewardship and strong bond the McBride Sisters have to the land and vineyards they grow their grapes from. Inspired by Aotearoa New Zealand, where Andréa grew up splitting time between her matriarchal side of the family, this wine showcases the rich history of the soil in the Central Otago region of Aotearoa New Zealand.
New Zealand pinot noir tends to be aggressive and beefy, but this bottling is a different expression of the grape, offering a restrained, fruit-centric experience that leans hard on notes of black tea and graphite. Earthy but not overly savory, the experience showcases an unexpected blackberry character in lieu of the more traditional cherry, filtered through notes of tobacco and light oak elements. Some strawberry notes perk up the finish, giving it a bright conclusion instead of a brooding, dense one.
