The Central Otago growing season was warm and dry, with settled conditions into late Autumn. This is the third release of the Coal Pit Bendigo Pinot Noir – an exciting project to further extend the sub-regional series beyond our home vineyard of Gibbston, and a lovely juxtaposition with the stable mate Bannockburn Pinot Noir.

These wines are crafted entirely from estate-grown fruit purchased from neighbouring organic growers, friends who steward their land with the same care, curiosity, and high standards we hold at Coal Pit.

Their work in the vineyard has been exceptional, and it’s a privilege to showcase fruit grown with such integrity. Cocoa and Christmas cake lead the nose, layered with lifted dusty spice and a hint of dried bark that brings both warmth and freshness. Beneath the richness, a vivid Bendigo signature emerges: bramble berries, dark plum skin, and a fine quartz-driven mineral line that threads through the aromatics.

The palate is dense and generous. Fruit wrapped in broad, chalky tannins that fill out the mid-palate with satisfying weight.

This wine has power, the wine hums with energy. That ripe intensity is carried by a pulse of bright acidity and a graphite tension that keeps the wine poised and shapely.

The finish is long and tapers slowly. A wine of presence and drive, showing Bendigo’s trademark combination of richness, structure, and electric vitality.

Abv 13%