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Late last year we had the pleasure of tasting the 2020s from Pyramid Valley with Steve Smith MW.  This is the second vintage in which Steve and winemaker, Huw Kinch, have had full control over the winemaking process from flowering to bottling. We have been great fans of Pyramid Valley from the start and, whilst we thought that the 2019s were their best wines ever, the 2020s have reached a whole new level.

The wines of Pyramid Valley are born in the dramatic soils and slopes of the Waikari Estate in North Canterbury. Waikari is a unique site where rich, rocky, limestone and clay derived soils sit on high-altitude north and east facing slopes.

The climate here is genuinely cool and the winemaking is totally biodynamic. There are few winemakers in any part of the world who are so dedicated to their wines speaking of the place that they are from and we are great fans of what is being made here.

The wines are undoubtedly Burgundian in style. The Field of Fire Chardonnay and the Angel Flower Pinot are the more approachable of the quartet; the Lion’s Tooth Chardonnay and the Earth Smoke Pinot arguably want a little time to unwind in the bottle. All are outstanding examples of just what can be done with exceptional terroir, assiduous viticulture and winemaking, and no little skill on the part of Steve and Huw.

The 2020 vintage was thankfully bigger than the tiny 2019 crop, though these remain very rare wines. They are packed in 6 bottle cases and have just arrived with us direct from the winery.

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