Surprising wine to me, as I've not had much luck with New Zealand Pinot yet.
Light red cherry in color-definitely some earthy and savory notes on the nose, but still very nice Pinot cherry scents as well.
This wine is not all thick primary fruit and it's not too "sweet". Sure, there is some lovely Pinot cherry flavors-this is not a reticent wine-but there are lots of other things going on, too. Definitely the meaty, gamey note. Very earthy and mushroomy, too. And, after a half hour or so, some interesting black pepper notes came out. Even with this description, the cherry pinot notes are such that one can in no way mistake this for a Syrah. I also liked the lighter texture of this wine. Overall, solid 3*, and given the cheap price ($15 at Winestyles), it might even verge on 4*.