Special focus on Pinot Noir pays off at Marlborough Wine Show

Lawson’s Dry Hills has had their focus on Pinot Noir recognised, winning the De Sangosse NZ Champion Pinot Noir 2020 & Older trophy at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Senior Winemaker Marcus Wright says the team has been working hard to improve their Pinot Noir in recent years, and to receive the trophy for The Pioneer Tilly’s Single Vineyard 2020 was particularly rewarding, as it was the first vintage under the new regime.

He shares a little about the wine and what makes it special…

Congratulations on picking up the Champion Pinot Noir 2020 & Older Trophy at the 2023 MWS. Pinot Noir has done exceptionally well at the show over the past two years; how does it feel to be recognised as one of the best in this category?

Stoked! At the end of 2019 we embarked on a programme to really try and improve our Pinots, so to receive this for the first vintage of our new ‘regime’ is very gratifying.  

Marlborough is quickly making a name for itself as a premium producer of wines it’s not typically known for, Pinot Noir being one. What do you think makes Marlborough a great place to produce Pinot Noir?

As for Sauvignon Blanc, our cool, sunny climate allows us to achieve very good ripeness while retaining acidity and bright fruit characters. For us and many others the clay soils give depth and volume to the wines. These characters provide the winemakers with beautiful grapes to start with. We are also increasingly seeing the benefit of vine age which is giving our Pinots density and longevity.

Can you tell us a bit about The Pioneer Tilly's Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2020 and what makes it special?

We lease this block from Kevin and Kerry Tilly and they are great to work with. The vineyard is at the end of Paynters Rd and produces several small parcels of different clones. This particular wine comes off the hillside. We are focusing on all the details but not trying to over complicate things – so, a lovely site, growing healthy grapes, empathetic winemaking and getting it safely in the bottle!

Was the 2020 vintage a particularly good one, or was there anything about this vintage that made it a stand out?

2020 was in the goldilocks zone for pinot. The weather was not too hot but also not too cold, crop levels were not too high but not too low. This gave us ripe fruit characters that were right down the middle (no under-ripe greeness but also no over-ripe jammy characters). And the density of these wines is spot on as well, neither too light or heavy but instead, both elegant and powerful.

The Marlborough Wine Show is about encouraging Marlborough wine producers to put their wines out there to be assessed by their peers. Why is it an important competition for Lawson’s Dry Hills?

Firstly, there is nothing like being recognised by your peers. Secondly, Marlborough makes some of the best wines in the world so to win awards here really is something to celebrate!