2016 Escarpment Pinot Noir Martinborough New Zealand 750 ml

New Zealand’s “Prince of Pinot”

Calling all Pinot Noir lovers: Today’s 2016 Escarpment from Martinborough combines the freshness we love in a Premier Cru Burgundy but with layers of the rich, marine-influenced mineral tension classic to New Zealand Pinot Noir.

Year after year, Escarpment lands a coveted spot on Suckling’s Top 100 picks from New Zealand, and it also earns a mention in his introductions. Given the fact that there are close to 700 wineries throughout the country, with 100,000 acres planted to vines producing 80 million gallons of wine annually—72 percent of which is dedicated to Pinot Noir production—this is one impressive, stand-out winery much deserving of your attention. And this bottle, from Master of Wine Larry Mckenna (affectionately dubbed the “Prince of Pinot”), was the first to land Kiwi Pinot Noir on Wine Spectator’s exclusive Top 10 list.

Lovers of Pinot Noir from any region will delight in Escarpment, and this berry-scented, mineral bottling will undoubtedly convert the skeptics at the table. One sip of this and you’ll know might just get the feeling of whipping around dirt roads under a bright New Zealand sun.

New Zealand’s sun-soaked landscape reveals rugged mountains, akin to those around Napa and Sonoma, and its Pinot Noirs are equally impressive. The 2016 Escarpment embodies what we love about Kiwi Pinot with its lively and inviting, generous black cherry, violet, and lilac aromas tinged with sage. A juicy and seductive core brings a Pinot brimming with power and finesse, teeming with savory undertones and is your ticket-in-the-glass to the island’s pristine waterways, endless farmland, and immaculate beaches.   

Beyond the picturesque beauty of the Martinborough region, and its ideal climate, which is perfectly suited for ripening Pinot grapes, the brilliance of Escarpment lands squarely in the hands of the legendary winemaker Larry McKenna.

One Master of Wine friend of ours recalls visiting with him in 1995. “Larry was captivating an audience of 40 MWs from around the world as he guided them through a Pinot Noir tasting,” our friend recalls, “when one pompous British fellow turned around and said, much louder than I think he himself anticipated: ‘What does this man know about Pinot Noir? He looks like a nightclub bouncer.’ A fair observation at the time, but amusing considering that beneath Larry’s brawny exterior lies one of the world’s most sensitive and accomplished Pinot Noir craftsmen.”

One of the early pioneers of the fantastic Martinborough wine region, he was the winemaker at Martinborough Vineyards from 1986. He then went out on his own, establishing Escarpment Vineyards in 1998 in the then-new subregion of Martinborough called Te Muna. For more than three decades, Larry has been the most influential Pinot Noir winemaker in New Zealand.