92 points Wine Spectator: "[$55 list] Light on its feet, this is harmonious and beautifully focused to show its bright açaí berry and blackberry flavors in a spotlight. The finish sails on, letting the fruit linger. Drink now through 2015. (12/15/09)"

5 stars, Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines: "The Bannockburn winery's 'standard' Pinot Noir is a distinguished wine in its own right, and the 2008 vintage is another top example. Matured for 11 months in French oak casks (30 per cent new), it is very finely balanced, with deep colour and notable richness and harmony. A graceful red, already delicious, it is generous, warm and supple, with deep, ripe cherry, plum and nut flavours, savoury and complex, and good tannin su8pport. Best drinking 2011+. Drink: 2009-20. (2010)"

Producer notes: "Deep garnet with purple hints. A rather brooding nose of ripe raspberry countered with earth, toast and dark perfume... maybe deep red rose petals. The palate displays a plush, cushioned silkiness, with interplay of juicy, mouthwatering acid and ripe, rich raspberry and boysenberry fruit, offset with dusty bramble leaf. The finish is long and relatively complex for such a youthful wine, displaying minerals with dusty tannin and a kick of mocha."