Invivo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2025

Invivo Central Otago Pinot Noir comes from Felton Road in Bannockburn, one of the region's most decorated pinot noir corners, and it shows. Built from a mix of clones and aged in French oak barriques, over a third of them new, it pours deep and inky with a nose of fruit compote and toasty, espresso-like oak. The palate is concentrated and full-bodied, layering blackberry, raspberry and black plum with real savoury complexity, carried by fine, structured tannins to a long, seamless finish. This is a pinot built with patience in mind, with a decade of cellaring ahead of it if you can wait that long.

What the winery says:

This 2025 release is 100% Pinot Noir from the Felton Road area of Bannockburn, Central Otago, made by innovative Kiwi producer Invivo. At 14% alcohol with just 2 g/L residual sugar, it is firmly dry, with fresh acidity and the structure to reward time in the cellar. Invivo was founded by school friends Tim Lightbourne and winemaker Rob Cameron, and this bottling puts their contemporary approach to work with Pinot Noir from one of New Zealand's most recognised regions for the variety. Invivo gives the wine a cellaring window of six to twelve years.

What the experts say:

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, 93/100 (2024 Vintage)
"Sweetly fruited and inviting, the bouquet shows dark plum, wild strawberry, olive, and roasted nut aromas, followed by a silky-smooth palate that's succulent and supple. Beautifully rounded and flowing to a lengthy, refined finish. At its best: now to 2030"