Intrigue! Named for a pretty successful yacht that was hidden away in a shed when the Isle Vineyard was not a vineyard. Anyway, this is a new name for the standard estate wine, made from all eight clones planted on the vineyard.
Ripe red fruits, blood plum, blonde tobacco, exotic spice, caraway seeds. A deep and rolling Pinot Noir with earthy flavours and spice, a sappy tamarillo tang, firm and sooty tannin, maybe emery board too, dried flower and cherry, distinct sort of ‘mineral’ feel, intense flavour, long and firm to close, almost heading into a Central Otago sort of thyme-laced and brooding intensity. Not shy, but very good.
95 Points
Gary Walsh (Winefront)