Pinot Noir Mature Vine 2022 Rippon

The Pinot Noir Mature Vine 2022 from Rippon is the domaine's great red wine and one of the most sought-after and admired Pinot Noirs from the New World, scoring 95 points for this vintage. Dark and voluptuous yet articulate, with waves of crushed black plum, wild blackberry and stony cassis flowing across the palate. Notes of velvety violet and kirsch emerge throughout, framed by fine, lingering tannins vibrating with an omnipresent mineral hum that persists long into a finish tinged with pink pepper. A bottle that speaks of place before it speaks of grape.

Terroir and vines

Rippon stands as one of three great domaines in Central Otago alongside Felton Road and Ata Rangi, often cited as the world benchmark for Pinot Noir outside Burgundy. Situated on the western shore of Roy's Bay overlooking Lake Wānaka, Rippon's northern escarpment marks where terminal moraines and coarse gravels meet a schist substrate, upon which some of the region's oldest vines were planted from 1975 onwards. This schist terroir, which Nick Mills calls the voice of the vineyard, lies at the heart of the mineral character and schistic depth that distinguish Rippon's Pinots from all their Central Otago peers. The Pinot Noir Mature Vine is literally the orchestra of the property, in Nick Mills' own words: it is assembled from all the domaine's mature vines of at least 25 years old, including fruit not selected for the parcel-specific cuvées Emma's Block and Tinker's Field. This approach ensures remarkable complexity and clonal and parcel diversity. Winemaking is biodynamic and uninterventionist: hand harvesting, fermentation by indigenous yeasts in 13 separate two-tonne stainless steel tanks for each parcel, 16 months ageing in French oak barrels of 225 litres with 24% new wood, natural malolactic fermentation after blending, bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Tasting profile

The robe is a slightly translucent ruby, with a clarity and luminosity that surprises for an unfiltered wine, directly evoking great Pinot Noirs from Burgundy's Côte de Nuits. The nose is initially reserved and calm, as is often the case with young Rippon wines, before opening gradually with aeration to reveal violet, wild red fruits and subtle earthy nuances. As it opens in the glass, notes of kirsch, black earth, mushroom and a light hint of truffle enliven a bouquet of increasing depth and complexity. On the palate, Nick Mills' Pinots can seem somewhat austere and tense in their youth because he refuses to yield to the trend towards more approachable styles, remaining steadfast in his goal of producing terroir-expressive wines designed for ageing. The material is dark and voluptuous yet articulate, the tannins with a silky texture that accumulates into the finish, the acidity precise and well integrated, bringing remarkable tension and length. The finish is long, mineral and peppery, with a persistence and depth that confirm this wine's rank among the world's greatest Pinot Noirs. Drink from 2026 onwards for the next fifteen years.

The domaine

Rippon is one of Central Otago's pioneering and founding domaines, worked by the Mills family since 1912 and in wine production since 1982. Nick Mills, trained notably at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, with Nicolas Potel and other prestigious houses in Burgundy, has conducted this biodynamic domaine since 2001 with a consistent and demanding philosophy: to create terroir wines, precise reflections of their environment. Rippon's wines, never filtered or fined, are moving portraits of one of the world's most spectacular and original vineyard sites.

Food pairings

This Pinot Noir Mature Vine pairs beautifully with roasted squab with beetroot and wild mushrooms, duck with cherries, veal chop with chanterelles, beef fillet with warm spices or game birds such as partridge with cabbage. It will also find fine harmony with aged cheeses such as Époisses or mature Comté. A two-hour decant is essential when young. Served between 15 and 17 °C, it will gradually reveal all the schistic depth, alpine minerality and inimitable elegance of one of the world's great Pinot Noirs.