B-21 Top Recommendation
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"One of New Zealand's most celebrated wineries"
Wine Enthusiast
Ranking among a handful of the top-rated Pinot Noirs worldwide, B-21 Rippon fans know not to hesitate to secure the newly released 98 pt. 2019 Rippon "Rippon" Pinot Noir Mature Vines, an enticing, small production gem offering earthy, seductive red fruit pinging with bright acidity and finishing with mouth coating tannins, solidly built for collectors and lovers of the world's best Pinot Noirs to enjoy over the next decade.
Boasting spectacular vistas of the dramatic cliffs rising above the turquoise waters of glacier fed Lake Wanaka, Rippon's stunning sloping vineyards on New Zealand's mountainous South Island have earned it the title of "Most Beautiful Winery in the World," producing equally impressive award-winning Pinot Noirs since fourth generation winemaker Nick Mills took the reins of his family's winery in 2003. Among the first to plant vines in Central Otago, Nick's father Rolfe Mills was serving in World War II when he recognized the similarity of the schist soil slopes of the Douro Valley in Portugal to those back in Wanaka and returned to his family's lakeside farm decades later to experiment with different varietals before founding his winery in 1982. Located in a protected area where the indigenous Maori came for a "place of rest," Rippon's proximity to the Lake creates a microclimate that shields its 15 hectares of biodynamically farmed vineyards from the South Island's harsh winter temperatures, the 40 plus year old Pinot Noir vines planted in a mix of schist with clay and loam at an altitude of 380 meters above sea level without irrigation. Divided into unique parcels according to clone, vine age and soils, the grapes from the single Rippon vineyard are hand harvested with strict selection, then fermented separately with indigenous yeast in stainless steel. After spending 12 months in a mix of new to 4-year-old French oak barrels, Nick aged the richly concentrated 2019 Rippon "Rippon" Pinot Noir Mature Vines for a second winter in neutral oak (for a total of 16 months) before bottling without filtering or fining, yielding a deeply structured Pinot Noir that's "already beautiful" according to James Suckling with the mineral-driven tannic structure to evolve over the next decade.
An elegantly crafted Pinot Noir with velvety tannins and savory acidity, the sublime 98 pt. 2019 Rippon "Rippon" Pinot Noir Mature Vines offers pure, concentrated ripe fruit with layered complexity reflecting its pristine origins, a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire and enjoy one of the world's top rated Pinot Noirs from New Zealand's benchmark producer at best on the market pricing. | 
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