One of the best Pinot Noir's in NZ.

Champion Red Wine – The Real Review NZ Red Wine of the Year 2025

Steve Davie could be said is a perfectionist and this is obvious when you taste his only wine.  From his own exciting site in Bannockburn, he nuture's everything to build a Pinot with authenticity, regionality and high end quality,

"Planted in 2002, Doctors Flat is a single 3-hectare vineyard in Bannockburn. The schist subsoil was ground off the Cairnmuir Mountains by glacial ice and deposited here about 480,000 years ago. The glacial action and millennia of weathering have generated an abundance of clay and fine silt in the vineyard gravel. We know soil texture drives wine texture and this vineyard produces Pinot Noir with density, fine tannin and great texture.

We farm organically to help grow and sustain soil biology. In turn the soil microlife harvest and transport nutrient and minerals to the vine. It’s this connection between vineyard and vine that gives Doctors Flat Pinot Noir its character and sense of place.

The winemaking is a simple programme of small open tanks, close attention, minimal inputs and a very light hand in the extraction process with only three punch downs. In 2021 20% of the fruit went directly to tank as whole bunches. Fermentation occurred spontaneously and after 21 to 24 days on skins the wine was drained to French oak barrels (22% new). Malolactic was delayed until spring and SO2 not added until late summer. After a full 12 months in barrel the wine was racked to tank for a second winter, then bottled 20 months after harvest." Winery notes (2021 Vintage)

"Still reticent on the nose, a quieter, cooler style with very fine chalky tannins and detailed floral, mineral-inflected fruit. Youthfully austere even at this age, this is a slow-burner which will gain more finesse and detail with time in the cellar. No rush with this one." 5 Stars & 95/100 Stephen Wong, The Real Review, April 2025 (2021 Vintage)

This award recognises the Doctor’s Flat Pinot Noir 2021 as a singular achievement, a benchmark for Central Otago and New Zealand Pinot Noir that speaks eloquently of its place in the hands of this thoughtful vigneron. Real review...