Always a treat to take a look at one wine, across three different vintages. This Pinot Noir comes from the ‘home block’ vineyard of Saint Clair Family Estate founders, Neal and Judy Ibbotson. Planted with Dijon clones 115, 667 and 777, over twenty years ago in clay-rich soils. The wines are from 2021, then 2019 and finally 2017 as the Library stock, to show the ageing capabilities of these premium Marlborough wines.
Starting with the youngest wine – the 2021 vintage. A dark ruby-burgundy colour in the glass, with a youthfully bright perfume. Aromas of dark morello cherry, blueberry, hawthorn, damson, leather and a subtle, earthy savoury note. An elegant balance between a coltish pop of juicy acidity and a depth of concentration, enriched with warm, toasty oak. Tannins are fine-grained, although just a little edgy and chewy at this stage. A delicious, clean – slightly tight finish. Big potential. 92pts
Next, the 2019 wine, with the advantage of a couple of years harmony in the bottle. Those tannins have definitely smoothed out – now supple and working in tandem with a little extra forest-floor, gamey notes in this edition. There’s a distinct ‘mouth fragrance’ to this as well, with the perfume translating into the palate – a spicy, peppery note that is very appealing – giving this older version an edge over it’s younger sibling. Some blood orange, root beer and rosehip notes. Well-balanced and rounded, with a long finish. 93pts
Finally, I taste the 2017 release – I’d opened the bottles earlier and this is blooming now, with warm, toasty notes on the nose. Prime and integrated, the spice and savoury elements are even higher here, sitting over the plush fruit flavours, with an exotic, cardamom, cassia and cola nut perfume. The parts of the wine are evidently from the same stable – good, clean fruit, vibrant acidity and fine tannins, but there’s an extra bonding of those components going on here, and then add in that balsamic, umami, savoury earthiness – and maybe a bit more obvious oak – and this will please fans of bolder, aged, styles. I liked it a lot. 95pts
