Lake Chalice The Raptor Pinot Noir 2023
£17.25
The wine
An elegant and aromatic Pinot Noir delivering intense notes of blackberry, plum and cherry fruit with delicate, lifted floral aromas. Beautifully structured with fine-grained tannins, the flavours are echoed on the smooth, supple palate, flowing through to hints of coffee on the lingering finish.
The Raptor Pinot Noir comes from a single vineyard rather than a blend across the estate. Pinot is the most site-sensitive of red grapes, which is why bottling parcels separately tells you something; clay soils hold water and restrain vigour, giving the fine-grained tannin and structure this shows.
The producer
Lake Chalice
View all Lake Chalice winesLake Chalice was established in 1989, early in Marlborough's history, with the aim of making internationally recognised wine from the heart of the region. The estate's three vineyards lie in the Wairau and upper Awatere valleys, the two river systems that define Marlborough and that ripen quite differently from one another.
New Zealand's native falcon, the kārearea, appears on every bottle. It is a threatened bird, faster than a peregrine over short distances, and it favours the remote foothills where these vineyards sit. Some Marlborough growers have encouraged falcons back into the vines deliberately, since they keep smaller birds off ripening fruit far more effectively than netting.
The range is tiered by the falcon's life stages, which makes it unusually easy to navigate: The Nest for the everyday wines, then The Falcon, then The Raptor for the single-vineyard bottlings, and Plume at the top. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc runs through all of it, alongside Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and a little Riesling.
