Escarpment Pinot Noir spotlight
The official Escarpment Winery channel presents Kupe, the home-block Te Muna Road Pinot from the same Martinborough house that bottles this 2019 district Pinot Noir.
2019 Escarpment Pinot Noir Martinborough, New Zealand (95WS)
Larry McKenna's Martinborough Pinot from Te Muna gravel, gunpowder tea and black cherry, a 2019 you can open at twenty-nine dollars.
The 2019 Escarpment Pinot Noir is 100 percent Pinot from Martinborough: black cherry, blueberry, gunpowder tea, dried lavender, and rosemary after 11 months in French oak, now $29.
Martinborough Pinot with gravel under the fruit
This is Escarpment's district Pinot, not a single-vineyard Kupe. Larry McKenna founded the house in 1999 to put Martinborough terrace gravel into a Burgundian-minded bottle. The 2019 was hand harvested, plunged, left on skins about 18 days, then aged 11 months in French barriques, 25 percent new. Wine Enthusiast 95. Wine Spectator 94: gunpowder tea, dried lavender, rosemary, sassafras, succulent black cherry and blueberry. James Suckling 93. This is the bottle that argues Martinborough Pinot can be pretty and powerful at twenty-nine dollars.
The house
Larry McKenna, already a Martinborough Pinot hand, founded Escarpment in 1999 on Te Muna Road alluvial gravel. The district blend is the house Pinot.
The wine
100% Pinot Noir. Hand-harvested, about 18 days on skins, 11 months French oak 25% new. 13.6% ABV. Screw cap.
The scores
Wine Enthusiast 95. Wine Spectator 94. James Suckling 93. Wine Advocate 90.
The drinker
Black cherry and tea first. A short decant. Serve near 60 F. Duck or lamb.
Black cherry and tea, then lavender, rosemary, and spice
Wine Spectator found gunpowder tea, dried lavender, and rosemary with sassafras over succulent black cherry, blueberry, and blackberry, firm tannin that never gets in the way. James Suckling found redcurrants, cherries, dried herbs, and baking spices, medium body, lively acidity, a succulent finish. Wine Enthusiast found red fruit, tree sap, tar, and minerality wound in raspy tannin.
A typical Martinborough summer. The estate found perfume, elegant fruit, and soft ripe tannin, the mix of black, red, and green fruit Pinot is celebrated for. 13.6% alcohol. Cellar up to about 10 years.
Black cherry, blueberry, blackberry, redcurrant, gunpowder tea, lavender, rosemary, sassafras.
Medium, 13.6% ABV, 11 months French oak 25% new, firm fine tannin, lively acidity.
Mineral, tar, succulent length. Short decant. Serve near 60 F.
Hand-picked fruit, eighteen days on skins, then French oak
On the Escarpment 2019 sheet, fruit is hand harvested and gently handled without pumping until press. Hand plunged every 12 hours, about 18 days on skins, then 11 months in French barriques, 25 percent new. Screw cap. Alluvial gravel on the Martinborough terrace is why tea, lavender, and slate sit under the cherry.
Larry McKenna and Tim Bourne keep the district blend for perfume and savory detail, not a sweet barrel Pinot.
Serve near 60 F. A ten-minute decant is enough for perfume. Duck or a lamb chop.
Larry McKenna's Martinborough terrace house
Escarpment was founded to put cool-climate Pinot on deep, free-draining gravel east of the village.
Larry McKenna founded Escarpment in 1999 after years at Martinborough Vineyards. The winery and key plantings sit on Te Muna Road.
The Martinborough Pinot is the district blend: estate fruit plus top growers on the same terrace. Kupe is the home-block flagship.
The 2019 is that house style after time in bottle: black cherry, tea, lavender, still inside a window that runs into the late 2020s.
Duck, lamb, and a little cherry
This Pinot wants savory richness and a red-fruit plate. Duck and cherry stay in its black-cherry lane. Lamb takes the tea and rosemary.
Two plates. One duck breast with fresh cherry sauce. One rosemary lamb chop. Both can take Martinborough tannin and tea.
A short decant. Serve near 60 F, just cool. Air is for cherry and lavender, not a rescue.
Duck Breast with Fresh Cherry Sauce
Duck gives the wine enough richness to push against, while cherry keeps the pairing in its red-fruited lane.
Why it works: Black cherry and tea cut duck fat. Earth and rosemary meet the savory skin.
View Recipe for duck breasts with cherry sauce (opens in a new tab)
Rosemary Garlic Lamb Chops
Herb-crusted lamb for Escarpment's lavender, rosemary, and tannic close.
Why it works: Lamb fat rounds the tannin. Rosemary echoes the savory herbal line.
View Recipe for rosemary garlic lamb chops (opens in a new tab)Put this Martinborough Pinot in the cart
Wine Enthusiast 95. Wine Spectator 94. Te Muna gravel. Twenty-nine dollars.
Put it in the cart. This is the Escarpment bottle for a table that wants Larry McKenna's Martinborough Pinot at a Tuesday number.
