The Peregrine Pinot Noir 2023 is a fragrant, finely built Central Otago pinot noir drawn from the organically certified Bendigo and Pisa sub-regions. A hot, dry summer followed settled flowering weather and brought harvest forward, which shows in the ripe, dark-fruited core and generous mid-palate.

Wild berry and dark cherry lead the aromatics, with cardamom-like spice, a touch of cocoa and the faint earthiness that Bendigo fruit tends to bring. Around 18 per cent whole-bunch fermentation on selected parcels adds a stemmy lift and a whisper of dried herb above the fruit. The palate carries red and black berries with more spice than sweetness.

Eleven months in French oak barriques, 22 per cent of them new, gives the wine a fine-grained frame rather than any obvious oak flavour. Tannins are supple but present, acidity runs clean through the middle, and the finish is long and savoury, closing on cherry skin and warm spice.

Decant an hour ahead if you are opening a bottle now, and enjoy with duck, mushroom risotto, roast pork or a rare-cooked piece of venison all suit it.

Drinking well from 2025, with the structure to reward cellaring through to about 2032.