Amisfield Pinot Noir 2022
The Wine
Amisfield Pinot Noir from Central Otago is a standout example of New Zealand Pinot Noir, celebrated for its bright fruit flavors, depth, and elegance. Made by Amisfield’s skilled winemaker Greg Lane, it captures the character of Central Otago’s unique terroir and reflects the winery’s commitment to minimal-intervention, estate-grown winemaking.
The grapes come from Amisfield’s single estate vineyard in the Pisa subregion, where the semi-continental climate—with warm days and cool nights—creates ideal conditions for Pinot Noir. This slow ripening process enhances concentrated flavors, smooth tannins, and natural acidity, while the vineyard’s glacial soils bring a distinctive mineral edge to the wine.
Winemaker Greg Lane employs a hands-off approach to let the vineyard’s character shine. Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted meticulously before undergoing fermentation with wild yeasts. A portion of whole clusters is included in the ferment to enhance aromatic complexity and structure. The wine is then aged in French oak barrels, with a restrained use of new oak, for 10 months, allowing the flavors to integrate and develop.
94+ Pts Cameron Douglas MS camdouglasms.com 'A classic and enticing bouquet of dark cherry and baking spices, layers of spicy plum and baking spice, rose and flinty soil suggestions. As the wine opens out the complexity builds with an expansion of fruit and mineral scents framed by oak. A dry wine touches the palate framed by textures of tannin and acidity then core fruit flavours that mirror the bouquet. A lovely example, well made and lengthy with best drinking from 2027 through 2037. Excellent'
The Details
Variety - Pinot Noir
Country - New Zealand
Region - Central Otago
Extra - Screw Cap
Year - 2022
Volume - 750mls
About the Wine Maker 
Amisfield was established in 1988 and is a Central Otago based specialist producer of Pinot Noir and aromatic white wines, sourced from fruit grown on their Single Vineyard Estate, situated beneath the glacially sculptured Pisa mountain range. Vineyards are managed holistically through organic practices focused around nurturing Amisfield’s unique soils, vines and habitats – this combined with a rugged inland location and an extreme semi-continental climate, yields wines of remarkable purity, intensity and vibrancy.
The vineyard at Amisfield Estate beneath the dramatic Pisa mountain range of Central Otago is New Zealand’s most spectacular wine region. The privately owned estate, once a prominent high country merino sheep station, is now one of the largest single vineyard estates in the Central Otago region with over 90 Ha (222 acres) planted and farmed organically. The rugged inland location affords a semi-continental climate, with exceptionally cold winters, hot summers, cool evenings and low rainfall. This unforgiving environment gives generously to flavour. The unique growing conditions combined with glacially derived soils produce wines of remarkable purity, intensity and vibrancy.
A state-of-the-art purpose-built winery is the focal point of the vineyard and is designed to enable winemakers to craft wines with minimal intervention and as naturally as possible. At Amisfield they are committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility at every step of the process. The vineyard is now managed entirely organically and is in conversion to full organic certification with New Zealand’s leading organic certification body BioGro.
The Amisfield experience extends to a world-class Bistro & Cellar Door at Lake Hayes, Queenstown. Here, guests can experience the array of wines they produce every year accompanied by the freshest local produce.
