Delta Hatters Hill Pinot Noir 2019 (Marlborough)
THERE’S NO DOUBT that the Ibbotsons know a thing or two about growing grapes in Marlborough, after all they’ve been doing it for more than forty years. So, in the 2000s when it came to choosing a site from which to source their new wine range, Delta, they knew exactly what to look for. The Delta vineyard is located in Marlborough’s Southern Valleys, a subregion becoming renowned for its pinot-growing potential, and is now home to a combination of the pinot noir clones 115 and 777 that make up this spectacular wine. Head judge Ben Glover describes this top-rated pinot as “the complete package”. In the glass the wine appears a dense, almost indigo colour and the nose rewards with beautiful blue fruits and sublime red-cherry fragrance with just a hint of whole-bunch characters coming through. These aromas flow seamlessly onto the palate in a symphony of fruit flavours: blue, black and red all present and correct, backed with brambly fresh, wild berries. The wine is succulent and deftly poised, treading lightly on the palate with savoury complexity and salivating firm tannins from integrated oak and fruit. It’s a wine showing personality, elegance and restraint of power.