Church Road McDonald Series Central Otago Pinot Noir 2024

Church Road McDonald Series Central Otago Pinot Noir marks a rare step outside Church Road's Hawke's Bay home, sourced instead from Central Otago, where cool nights, warm days and low rainfall make for some of the finest Pinot Noir country in the world. The wine is beautifully fragrant, built around a core of bright red and black fruit layered with lifted florals, spice and fresh thyme, with subtle oak adding quiet support. On the palate it's lithe, fresh and juicy, finishing with real elegance rather than weight, in an energetic style that still carries genuine structure. Named for Hawke's Bay wine legend Tom McDonald, it drinks well now but has the bones to age gracefully for a decade or more.

What the winery says: "The pursuit of a great Pinot Noir to add to the Church Road stables has taken us outside of our Hawke's Bay home, to the beautiful region of Central Otago. Here, a combination of exceptional soils, cool nights, warm days and low rainfall all converge to make for one of the greatest Pinot Noir regions in the world," says Chris Scott, Chief Winemaker. Beautifully fragrant, the wine is built around a core of bright red and black fruit, overlaid with lifted floral, spice and fresh thyme notes, with subtle oak in support. On the palate it is lithe, fresh and juicy with a gentle finish, described by the winemaking team as elegant yet energetic. While drinking well now, it can age gracefully for ten years or more.