2023 Pyramid Valley Snake's Tongue Pinot Noir

97 POINTS

James Suckling

A structured, well-composed, layered and lively pinot noir that stays focused. It shows aromas of sour cherries, forest berries, forest floor, wet stones and some dried flowers. Medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Full of verve, but it remains velvety. Delicious wet-stone character at the center. Minerally and savory with a long finish. From biodynamically grown grapes.

96 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Pinot noir from the Lowburn subregion in Central Otago. 25% whole bunches in the mix in the '23 release and there's a lovely exotic lift and textural component on display in the wine as a result. Dark cherry and berry fruits with hints of crushed stone, mountain herbs, medina spice, raspberry pip, wildflowers and earth. There's a long, pure stretch of fruit on the palate, fine, powdered-schist tannins and a fine mineral cadence as the wine travels. Winemaker Huw Kinch says, 'the idea with the whole bunch was to tame the sunlight in the wine a little' ... nailed it. The balance is just right.

95 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Snake's Tongue Pinot Noir leads with a sweetly perfumed bouquet laden with red berries (strawberry, cherry and pomegranate pearls mostly), paprika dolce and tapenade. In the mouth, the wine is silky and supple, with fine tannins and an unbroken flow of flavor across the palate. This is a gorgeous wine. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam and wax.

94 POINTS

Emma Jenkins MW - Decanter

Within the original Lowburn Ferry vineyard – planted in 2000 and purchased by Pyramid Valley in 2018 – is a 0.7ha parcel of Abel clone, planted in 2007. From 2021 it has been vinified as a single bottling of the single-vineyard Snake’s Tongue, named for the borage common throughout the site. Fragrant with red and blue fruit, lavender, earth and wild thyme, the palate is juicy, with a polished, red-fruited sweet core and sappy tannins. A nice Campari-like bitter twist on the finish, which is fairly long and savoury. Very accessible now but should cellar well. Organic.

94 POINTS

Christina Pickard - Wine Enthusiast

If tasting in colors, this would be all purples and blues, evoking violets and bluebells on a crisp early spring day; a wild blueberry bush and a grind of white pepper. It's heady, fragrant. In the mouth, shades of light and dark; a juicy fruited vibrancy and a mushroomy core, ensconced in fine, filigreed tannins. A wine that seems to have sprung from the earth fully formed.

92 POINTS

Vinous

The 2023 Pinot Noir Snake's Tongue is a remarkably fragrant wine, with a strong floral burst giving way to raspberries, blackberries, red cherries and mint. You could spend a long time just sniffing it. This is supple and sensitively made, generous but not weighty, with fine, succulent tannins and gently refreshing acidity on the calming finish. Though young, the 2023's gentle structure makes it enjoyable from the off and for a decade beyond.