Former D staffer, Kristy Alpert, files this report. The name of this vintage was chosen to evoke a sense of place—Te Wahi literally translates to “our place” in Maori—but the only place you can find this exclusive New Zealand wine will be in select restaurants and liquor stores across Dallas, with a few bottles available to the lucky few in Chicago. Premiering this month, Te Wahi is the newest member of Cloudy Bay Vineyard’s family of wines in New Zealand, and is the first new release from this celebrated vineyard since 1991. Highly regarded for their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region, Cloudy Bay believes that while Sauvignon Blanc is all about the vineyard in general (from the canopy management to the timing of the picking), great Pinot Noir is all about the site and the story it tells from a particular place. With that in mind, the winemakers sought to explore a new region for growing Pinot Noir in New Zealand and discovered an entirely new place in their Central Otago vineyard from which to tell their next Pinot story with Te Wahi. “We decided to look at taking some fruit from another region and creating another expression of Pinot Noir from Cloudy Bay,” said winemaker Tim Health in an interview on Decanter.com. “Where the Cloudy Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir is really bright, expressive, floral spiced, with a lot of red fruits and good interplay between acidity and tannin framework, the Te Wahi is a little more structured and a lot more darker in fruit character. I think the wines have very different structures and personalities, which is what Pinot Noir is all about; growing grapes in a particular place and telling a story from that particular place.” This terroir-expressive wine is complex on the nose with mixed aromas of black cherries, violets, and barrel char, and carries an intense but brisk fruit acidity with delicate tannins and a masculine, juicy flavor profile of spiced red fruit and dried herbs that benefits from decanting. Te Wahi facts: Alcohol: 13.7% SRP: $75 Barrel: French Oak, 14 months Pairs with: duck, game birds, free-range pork Aging possibilities: 5-7 years Available at Pogo’s. 5360 W Lovers Ln #200. (214) 350-8989
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