2023 Pyramid Valley Angel Flower Pinot Noir

96 POINTS

Emma Jenkins MW - Decanter

Delicate perfume; pomegranate, redcurrant, fine herbs, very minerally. The palate is equally fine and delicate with silken texture, fine papery tannins, and again red fruits with a fine herbal thread and nice line of saline acidity. Lovely litheness and elegance, with good length. Super delicious, a lot of subtle presence. Very small volumes for this vintage, courtesy of Jack Frost. ‘Angel Flower’ is yarrow, found in abundance throughout the biodynamically farmed Pyramid Valley vineyard – and also the name of its 0.7ha limestone-clay north-facing block.

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

I like this very much. There's a fine aromatic profile, with clarity and lift spare, but there's a depth and resonance to the fruit that is instantly appealing. Fine red berry and cherry fruits with a skein of exotic spice, wildflowers, rhubarb, pomegranate, mountain herbs and crushed stone. Plenty of calcareous energy on the palate, with a great cadence and tension between fruit and acidity. The flow of fruit is pure and elegant, with superfine, chalky tannins, the finish linear and focused with a long draw of flavour and sleek, ripe fruit.

95 POINTS

James Suckling

Subtle, transparent and almost weightless, this pinot noir shows grace and agility. On the nose sour cherries, dried raspberries, warm spices, dried orange peel and some stones. Medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Lively and delicate center palate with a racy finish. From biodynamically grown grapes.

95 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Angel Flower Pinot Noir is floral, gentle and fine, with crushed rocks, notes of wet chalk and green olive tapenade, pressed rose, and cold tea. The tannins in the mouth are finely milled and the acidity woven to match. This is a gorgeous wine. It's very fine. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam and wax.

94 POINTS

Vinous

The 2023 Pinot Noir Angel Flower is dense yet elegant, with the natural tension of its site restraining its fullness to maintain focus and poise. The 2023 offers an understated nose, concentrated flavors of red cherry and rhubarb and resonant woody herbs on the long, sinewy finish. Light, chalky tannins and fresh acidity meet to provide texture and pull in this soulful New Zealand Pinot.

94 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

From an iconic limestone-strewn biodynamic vineyard high in North Canterbury, Angel Flower is, at first, broody. If categorized as one of the four elements, it'd fall firmly in the “earth” category, at first. Then those dried mushroomy, complex terra firma nuances morph, with aeration in glass, into elegant blueberry, floral and spice specimens. Quiet power lurks in the corners of the palate, but on the surface it's mid-weight and silky, with seamless balance of fine, firm tannins and crisp wet stone acidity. A thinker's wine to pondered over, preferably by candlelight.