Elanto Pinot Noir 2023

‘A blend of the 5 Pinot Noir blocks. Each vineyard was picked and vinified separately. The fruit was first chilled and then sorted and destemmed into concrete vats with a small (3–5%) selection of whole bunches. A cold soak followed by natural fermentation completed in vat before pressing after 25–30 days on skins. The wines were raised in a mix of new and older French oak barriques. Malolactic conversion completed late spring and the wine spent a total of 11 months in barrel before bottling.’

Where the inaugural Elanto Chardonnay is notable for its intensity, the Pinot is notable for its complexity. Expressive, dark aromas, damp red soil, Damson plum, bold and brambly, layers of flavour tumble across the tongue. Doesn't remotely taste like it's from a southeasterly facing coastal vineyard in a cool, late vintage. Not showing the fast-tracked concentration of young, high-density vines in the same way as the Chardonnay, and is a little loose-knit now, but has enormous potential and will pull focus beautifully in the bottle. - Max Allen, Jancis Robinson. 

There’s a lot going on with this Pinot Noir but it manages to feel effortless. Seamless is the word; finished is another. Campari-like herbs, roasted nuts, earth, undergrowth and sweet black cherries, the latter deep-set in Pinot Noir terms. There’s an excellent framework of tannin, firm and velvety at once, dry strings splayed out across a mesh made of hazelnuts. This wine became more expansive as it rested in the glass. This is the first Pinot Noir grown and made from this vineyard. It’s an exciting debut, with an even more exciting future. 95 points, drink 2024-2030+, Campbell Mattinson, the Wine Front.