Rockburn The Chosen 777 Pinot Noir 2023
£44.75
The wine
A graceful and eloquent Pinot Noir showcasing a real purity of fruit, with refined tannins and a silky-smooth finish. The Chosen bottlings isolate a single clone, in this case 777, one of the most prized in Burgundy.
The Chosen isolates a single Pinot Noir clone, in this case 777, one of the Dijon clones prized in Burgundy for small berries, deep colour and fine tannin. Clones behave quite differently from one another, and bottling one alone shows what it contributes when it is not blended away.
The producer
Rockburn
View all Rockburn winesRockburn began as Richard Bunton's hobby in 1991, when he planted a few hectares in what was then an almost unknown Central Otago. In 2005 winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis arrived from Felton Road, and the wines have not looked back.
Central Otago is the southernmost wine region on earth and the only one in New Zealand with a continental rather than maritime climate. Summers are hot, nights are cold, and winters are severe, which gives Pinot Noir a depth of colour and fruit that cooler maritime regions cannot match while the diurnal swing preserves the acidity. The estate draws on several sub-regions, including Gibbston, the highest and coolest of them, where ripening runs weeks behind the valley floor.
The barrel-selection wines are the ones to know: Twelve Barrels and Seven Barrels are chosen after fermentation from the best lots of the year, and The Chosen isolates a single Pinot Noir clone. Rockburn also make one of the more serious Pinot Gris in the country.
