Escarpment "Te Rehua" Pinot Noir 2014

92 pts Burghound.com 

This and the Kupe are the only wines in the range to show much oak influence and in this case it isn't subtle though to be fair it's not so much as to dominate the plum, dark pinot fruit and exotic spice nuances. The good news regarding the wood is that there is so much mid-palate density, thanks to the copious amount of dry extract, it will enable it to eventually be absorbed. The wood treatment aside, otherwise there is a velvety and sleek mouth feel to the medium-bodied flavors that are shaped by firm and dusty tannins on the robust finale. This is presently somewhat youthfully awkward and will require a few years to harmonize though there is every reason to be optimistic about how this should evolve. Note however that at least 8 to 10 years will be required for this powerful effort to arrive at its apogee.

在Martinborough（馬丁堡）素有“黑皮諾教父”之稱的傳奇人物Larry Mckenna，他掌管著Escarpment酒莊，我們希望叫他“馬丁堡黑皮諾裁縫”，因為他釀造的馬丁堡Pinot Noir實在是太好味了。並且他剛獲得進入新西蘭葡萄酒名人堂的崇高榮譽，以表彰他對當地及全球葡萄酒事業作出的貢獻。

當年Larry剛來到馬丁堡時，這裡一共只有四個酒莊：Ata Rangi，Martinborough，Chifney（現已更名為Margrain）和Dry River，他選擇加入了Martinborough酒莊。

後來Larry離開老東家，選擇了Te Muna地區，創建了自己的酒莊Escarpment。 Te Muna意為“神秘”或“特別之所”，是馬丁堡的一條路，由於馬丁堡產區面積非常小，酒莊已經飽和，更多的酒莊就在風土類似的Te Muna尋找突破。

Escarpment Vineyard 酒莊成立於1999年，旨在釀造“最具代表性的新世界風格美酒”。該酒莊坐落於馬丁堡懷拉拉帕產區，沿Huangarua河河岸綿延24公頃。Escarpment(愛斯卡門)美酒屢獲殊榮，曾被全球覆蓋面最廣的葡萄酒專業雜誌Decanter冠以2010年9月新西蘭最佳20款葡萄酒之列，並榮登封面；亦喜獲​​《葡萄酒觀察家》（Wine Spectator）2015年度百大葡萄酒評選第七名，成為首個進入前十榜單的新西蘭葡萄酒；獲多位葡萄酒大師五星或92-99分高分品鑑。酒莊CEO兼釀酒師Larry榮獲本國葡萄酒行業的至高獎項——新西蘭葡萄酒名人堂2014年度人物和新西蘭葡萄種植與釀造業協會終身會員，並被譽為"黑皮諾先生"。