The results are in from this years 2023 Pinot Noir Global Masters held in London, and we're super pumped to announce that our 2023 Family Reserve Pinot Noir has been awarded a Gold medal in the hotly contested £20 - £30 RRP bracket.
The Global Masters Pinot Noir competition recognises and rewards only the finest Pinot Noirs on the world stage.
All wines are judged blind by some of the finest palates in the world – a panel of Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and senior buyers only. The best competing wines are awarded medals from Bronze through to Gold, and ultimately Master for exceptional examples.
The calibre of the judges guarantees international recognition of all the medals awarded.
It's truly an oustanding results that we're incredibly proud of.
PINOT NOIR is a difficult grape variety. It is notoriously finicky both in the vineyard and in the cellar. Thin-skinned, and with tightly packed bunches, the grapes are susceptible to fungal diseases and climatic events. Once in the winery, producers can struggle to get flavours and colour without stalky tannins and bitterness.
So, judging Pinot Noir is always a bit of swings and roundabouts. Some of the wines show poorly, but there are usually enough excellent expressions for a tasting to be deemed a success, and this year’s Global Pinot Noir Masters results are overall very positive.
At £20-£30 the noteworthy wines seemed to be those from cooler California (Monterey or Santa Rita Hills), the Willamette Valley in Oregon, New Zealand, or Australia’s Yarra Valley and Tasmania.
In this tasting, Pinot Noir showed its true colours. Like the little girl in the nursery rhyme, “When they were good, they were very, very good; when they were bad, they were horrid.”
