Cameron Douglas

Huntress 2019 Pinot Noir

94 Points
Excellent

This wine is a cracker - with aromas of plush, ripe, juicy, fresh dark berries, dark red currant, plum and a savoury lift leading to floral tones. Firm, youthful, tense, dry and detailed on the palate with fruit flavours to reflect the bouquet, a savoury complexity, from tannins and plenty of acidity. There’s a lot of texture on the palate, but all comes into balance as the fruit flavours layer in. Youthful, fresh and needing cellar time to fully integrate and tell the whole story. Best drinking from mid to late 2022 through 2028+. Okay to drink sooner when accompanied by food.

Cameron Douglas

Huntress 2021 Kuratea Pinot Noir

92 Points
Excellent

A zero oak influenced expression with core of ripe, fresh and vibrant red berry fruits - raspberry and sweet plum, red cherry and sweet cranberry. There’s a light carbonic freshly juiced red fruits aromas with a apple skin then rose suggestion. Bright, fresh, crunchy, fruity, fresh and dry. Fine fruit tannins, plenty of acidity, balanced, well made and ready. Drink as an aperitif red, chilled slightly is okay as well. Best drinking from purchase date through 2024.

Cameron Douglas

2021 Huntress Waikoa

93 Points

Excellent
Made from a blend of skin fermented Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Pinot Gris. A very pale white onion appearance, very bright and enticing with aromas of poached pears and white apricots, apple and preserved citrus. There’s a distinctive soft savoury and dried herb quality at the core of the bouquet. On the palate - lots of texture with a contrasting savoury of earth and dried herb, fruits that reflect the nose and wild flowers. Delicious, textured, lengthy and tasty. A natural chalky texture with fine fruit tannins and minerality lengthen the palate adding complexity as the warms on the tongue. A great example and worthy of your attention. Best drinking from day of purchase and through 2024+.

Waioka means ‘Happy Waters’ in Te Reo

Cameron Douglas

2019 Huntress Waikura Rosé

94 Points
Excellent

Intense, rich, fruity and wood spice Pinot Noir inspired rosé with aromas of raspberries and cherries, a savoury spicy layer with a touch of dried herb then toasty wood moments suggesting clove and vanilla. On the palate - tense and young, lush and fruity, light savoury moments and just firm tannins adding texture, and length on the palate. A lovely example of rosé - very satisfying on its own, totally suitable for food. Well made. Best drinking from today and through 2022. Love it!

In the context of Rosé wine this is taking the expression and interpretation to the next level. And remember there is no rule book on colour, just enjoy!

Raymond Chan

Huntress 2018 ‘Waikura’ Pinot Noir Rosé

☆☆☆☆

Moderately deep, light red colour, lighter on the rim. The nose is firmly concentrated with deep and solidly packed aromas of red cherry fruit along with a layering of fresh, savoury and dark herbs lending mouthwatering notes. Very dry to taste and medium-bodied, the palate is vibrant and edgy with a piquant core of bitter cherry fruit entwined with an array of herbs. The mouthfeel is lively, refreshing and thirst-quenching with some phenolic textures. The mouthfeel features plenty of grip and presence, and the wine carries to a long, textural finish of bitter cherries and herbs. This is a vibrant and edgy dry rosé that borders on being a light red, with cherry and herbal flavours on a weighty and solid palate with thirst-quenching grip. This is a wine that requires food. Match with tapas and Mediterranean fare, as well as wild duck and pork over the next 2-3 years. Organically grown Pinot Noir fruit from a Gladstone vineyard, predominantly clone 5 with 667 and Abel, 70% of the fruit, hand-picked undergoing whole cluster carbonic maceration in sealed vats, the ferments going for 10-14 days on skins, with 30% saigneed Pinot Noir, fermented to 12.5% alc. and 0.38 g/L RS, the wine aged 3 months in seasoned French oak barriques.

Cameron Douglas

Huntress 2018 Pinot Noir 2018

92 Points
Very good

Newish to the wine scene this intensely textured wine showcases an abundance of ripe red berries with dried raspberry, plum and crushed black cherry. With 28 days on skins there’s no mistaking the texture and complexity from ripe fruit tannins and a whisper of oak. The core of fruit more than contrasts the texture from tannins, acidity and oak. A lovely wine, young and edgy, great complexity, well made. A wine and style I fell has a great future.

Raymond Chan

Huntress 2017 Wairarapa Pinot Noir

☆☆☆☆

Light, garnet-hued red colour with some depth, paler on the edge. The nose is elegantly presented with finely concentrated and penetrating aromas of soft cherry and dark-red berry fruits along with an amalgam of fresh and dark herbs, red floral elements, some nutty oak and complexing earthy suggestions. Medium-bodied, the palate is elegant in proportion with moderately intense and concentrated flavours of dark-red cherry and berry fruit along with a subtle layer of dark herbs, nutty oak and earth, unfolding red florals. The palate unfolds savoury detail and interest. The fruit is supported by grainy tannin extraction and structure with an underlying line of fresh acidity providing freshness and energy. The wine carries to a long finish. This is an elegantly proportioned Pinot Noir with moderately concentrated flavours of cherry and berry fruit with herbs, nutty oak and earthy complexities on a grainy-textured palate. Serve with lamb and beef dishes over the next 6+ years. A co-fermentation of clone 5, 828 and Abel fruit from the Crosby’s ‘On Giants Shoulders’ vineyard on the Martinborough terrace, with 20% whole bunches to 13.1% alc., the wine spending 27 days on skins and aged n seasoned French oak with MLF in tank, the wine bottled in October 2018 after 18 months maturation. 1.111 bottles made.