Block 9 - Wild Terrain Pinot Noir

Blue Mountain 2018 Block 9 - Wild Terrain Pinot Noir

Anthony Gismondi - www.gismondionwine.com (August 2020)

Blue Mountain revamped its pinot noir program in 2017, choosing to add three single vineyard labels that are really more like individual blocks. Block 9, or Wild Terrain, was planted in 1998 over flat and rolling terrain with numerous expositions to the southwest that build complexity. The clones are 667 and 114, and the plantings are well over two decades old. The wine opens with a savoury, desert scrub undercurrent mixed with damp earth and spice. The ferment natural, and there are gentle barrel to barrel rackings during the ageing process. Wild Terrain is perhaps the ripest of three single block labels, with notes of sweet raspberries mixed with savoury, spicy sagebrush, cranberry, and cherry that persist through a long finish. A touch of salt and minerals adds complexity to the finish. Let this age for five years. Definitely unique. 93 points. 

David Lawrason - www.winealign.com (August 2020)

This is one of three single block pinot noirs from Blue Mountain's undulating benchs above Vaseaux Lake near Okanagan Falls. The terrain provides a complex quilt of elevations and exposures. This is from a higher, steeper site with southwest exposure bring more ripeness. The nose is more like sweeter raspberry than others, with hints of cranberry, spice, sage and vague wood smoke. It is mid-weight, firm and very well balanced with fine tannin and a sense of stony minerality. The length is excellent to outstanding. I would age this two to three years. Tasted August 2020. 94 points.

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Blue Mountain 2017 Block 9 - Wild Terrain Pinot Noir

 

Treve Ring - www.gismondionwine.com (October 2019)

The 2017 vintage launched Blue Mountain's new Pinot Noir program, consisting of two vineyard blends, and three single vineyard wines. It's an exciting move for the pinot specialists, one of BC's first and foremost iconic / cult family owned wineries. Wild Terrain is considered to be the unruly sibling of the bunch, coming from a mix of plots on the estate, clones 115 and 667, and vines 20 years old. Destemmed fruit was native fermented with three weeks of maceration and gentle pigeage, before moving to French oak, new to 4th fill, where it remained until spring 2019 when it was bottled unfiltered. Bold and forward, with autumnal shaded berries and dusky dried herbs. Savoury salts, Worcestershire scents, and a gentle flush of warm cedar fills the softer palate. Tannins are equally soft, cushioning the medium bodied wine to a fading, warming finish. Thankfully, acidity is bright to manage to the end. Could easily take on roasted duck. 90 Points.

 

Anthony Gismondi - www.gismondionwine.com (September 2019)

Blue Mountain revamped its nearly thirty-year-old pinot noir program in 2017, choosing to add three single-vineyard labels that are more like individual blocks. Wild Terrain Block 9 was planted in 1998 over flat and rolling terrain with numerous exposures to draw upon for complexity. The clones are 667 and 114. At two decades plus in age, the vines are an integral part of the south Okanagan's savoury milieu, and you can smell and taste some of the wildness in the wine. The attack is alive with an enticing mix of red and black fruits, a twist of Worcestershire, and sea salt. The textures are soft and a touch warm, but overall an inviting mouth-filling pinot is the result. Of the new labels, this might be my favourite, and the most genuine and unique. 92 Points.