Spicy dark cherries and a toasty cinnamon fill the nose initially, followed by inviting layers of plums and white chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and dense with sweet, dark red stone fruits lifting from all aspects of the mouthfeel, underpinned by a voluptuous pairing of new French oak. Silky fine tannins give the wine structure, along with perfectly balanced acidity. The 2021 Invivo Pinot Noir is a bold wine that will happily pair with a range of cuisine and reward patience in the cellar for at least 8 years.
Crafted in the breathtaking vineyards of Central Otago—basically the Hollywood of New Zealand wine country—this Pinot Noir is what happens when you combine world-class grapes, French oak barrels, and a winemaking team that’s just a little bit obsessed (OK, maybe a lot obsessed).
Rob and Tim, Invivo’s co-founders and everyone’s favorite Kiwi mates, treat this wine like it’s their firstborn. Sourced from three boutique growers who pour their hearts into every vine, this Pinot is nurtured with all the care of a precious heirloom. Gravity and gas are the unsung heroes in the cellar, moving the wine around gently while Rob agonizes over every single detail. French oak? Only the best. Wine nerding? To the max. And the result? A wine that’s silky, luscious, and layered with flavors that will make your taste buds do a happy dance.
This isn’t just any Pinot Noir; it’s the life of your next dinner party. It’s as at home paired with roast lamb as it is with your guilty-pleasure Netflix binge and a bowl of truffle popcorn.
Specs
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Region: Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand
Alcohol 14.5%
What’s Included
4-bottles:
4x 2021 Invivo Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
Case:
12x 2021 Invivo Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
Invivo’s story began when our two Kiwi Cofounders – old school friends Rob and Tim – got together in a bar in London to talk wine. How to make it better. How to cut through the fluff that the traditional wine companies seem to love so much. We always believed in the power of a strong brand, so we decided then and there to build a business that let us create one and have fun along the way.
Invivo is one of New Zealand’s leading producers – we have won over 600 medals and trophies since we launched in 2008. We produce wine here in New Zealand and have operations in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, and Argentina. We also produce spirits in Ireland with our local West Cork partners.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
What a treat it is to get that unexpected long awaited email and UPS notification from WCC! Without a doubt, the UPS tracking was unavailable and down when I needed it most. With luck, the Lab Rat bottled arrived, unfortunately wifey won’t be able to try any as she came down with some awful cold. I’ll have to make this quick because I know that cold is waiting for me around the corner trying to spoil my duties. Not even that or half of the kitchen I’m currently remodeling will stop me.
I opened the bottle and sampled some while the pizza dough was at its final proof. The initial sips and whiffs gave me good direction where it was headed, it was just a matter of time to get it to that point. APPEARANCE: Translucent garnet(a bit lighter than what my pictures showed). Slow long legs. NOSE: Cherries, bramble, clove, cedar, and a waft of ethanol. PALATE: Dusty cherries, a bit of overripe plum, faint strawberry jam, and a little of the bramble and clove notes from the nose. The fruit forward start leans into the cedar and oak profiles that gripped at the back of the tongue. This is a full bodied PN with a long sour grape finish that reminded me of an unsweetened framboise beer. OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: The second day takes the win. This PN would benefit if been properly decanted or cellared for the next few years. Throughout the 3 hours last night that I had this decanting from the bottle it never fully integrated but when I had 2 glasses for lunch today it was everything I thought it should have been from the initial opening. The sourness lessened and paired really well with the leftover chicken Hawaiian pizza. The wine was good, PN is not my go to top varietals that I keep in my collection and I know WD is going to try hard to make temptations worse. Cheers and thanks for the wine experience
@TechnoViking yum looking pizza! I’m not a big Hawaiian pizza fan UNLESS it’s spicy Hawaiian pizza, and I see you have jalapeños on yours. That sweet salty spicy combination is
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Invivo New Zealand Pinot Noir - $40 = 20.51%
Greeting everyone. Today, I’m sampling a NZ pinot from Invivo. I know next to nothing about NZ PN, with my limited knowledge of that region confined to Sauvignon Blanc. SWMBO and I were looking forward to trying something very new for us.
One of our favorite pairings for pinot is sushi. It’s delicate enough to let the lighter flavors of the fish come through, with enough oomph to stand up to stronger flavors like wasabi and soy sauce. We are regulars at a local AYCE/BYO sushi place (as anyone who reads the ‘what are you drinking’ thread can attest to). It seemed like the perfect venue to sample this wine.
We brought along another bottle so we could do a compare/contrast, selecting a moderately priced 2019 Our Wines pinot from Oregon. It was an interesting comparison.
The Invivo poured a pale, garnet color. The Our Wines was clearly darker, showing a bit more body as well.
Aromas were hiding, but we did pick up a bit of cherry and alcohol. The 14.5 abv is not unheard of for pinot, but a bit on the higher side.
The wine was definitely dry with decent acidity that had no problem cutting through fatty tuna and yellowtail. Tannins were a bit more pronounced than expected. This may be due to its youth, and along with the alcohol, added a sharpness on the palate. This was the dominant flavor with fruit more in the background. I detected some faint cherry but not much more. The finish was short/medium.
We kept half the bottle for the next day and tried a small amount this morning. Not much has changed. We’ll finish the bottle this weekend and jump back on with any updates.
Overall, this wine was not our favorite. It did ok with food but would not work very well on its own. It may need more time in the bottle. The Our Wines was clearly the better wine for us with more complex flavors, better fruit, and overall balance. It also had 2 more years in the bottle, so that should be taken into consideration. New Zealand is a cool climate region and I think that showed with minimal fruit influence, although the higher alcohol is a bit out of step with that. That said, the $13 case price is very reasonable for those who like this style.
Thanks for Alice and WD for the opportunity to participate in the labrat program. We’ve learned so much from these tastings, getting a chance to try new varietals and regions in this wide, wide world of wine.
2021 Invivo Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
93 Point Vintage, Wine Spectator
94 Points, Wine Orbit
91 Points, Decanter
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website, $360/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Friday, May 2 - Monday, May 5
2021 Invivo New Zealand Pinot Noir
4 bottles for $64.99 $16.25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $154.99 $12.92/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Uhm, this looks awesome! Any idea how long it’s been on oak? Rats, what say you?!?!
MEALS! DEALS! EELS! AWESOME!
INVIVO PINOT NOIR 2021
Central Otago New Zealand
What a treat it is to get that unexpected long awaited email and UPS notification from WCC! Without a doubt, the UPS tracking was unavailable and down when I needed it most. With luck, the Lab Rat bottled arrived, unfortunately wifey won’t be able to try any as she came down with some awful cold. I’ll have to make this quick because I know that cold is waiting for me around the corner trying to spoil my duties. Not even that or half of the kitchen I’m currently remodeling will stop me.
I opened the bottle and sampled some while the pizza dough was at its final proof. The initial sips and whiffs gave me good direction where it was headed, it was just a matter of time to get it to that point.
APPEARANCE: Translucent garnet(a bit lighter than what my pictures showed). Slow long legs.
NOSE: Cherries, bramble, clove, cedar, and a waft of ethanol.
PALATE: Dusty cherries, a bit of overripe plum, faint strawberry jam, and a little of the bramble and clove notes from the nose. The fruit forward start leans into the cedar and oak profiles that gripped at the back of the tongue. This is a full bodied PN with a long sour grape finish that reminded me of an unsweetened framboise beer.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: The second day takes the win. This PN would benefit if been properly decanted or cellared for the next few years. Throughout the 3 hours last night that I had this decanting from the bottle it never fully integrated but when I had 2 glasses for lunch today it was everything I thought it should have been from the initial opening. The sourness lessened and paired really well with the leftover chicken Hawaiian pizza. The wine was good, PN is not my go to top varietals that I keep in my collection and I know WD is going to try hard to make temptations worse. Cheers and thanks for the wine experience
@TechnoViking yum looking pizza! I’m not a big Hawaiian pizza fan UNLESS it’s spicy Hawaiian pizza, and I see you have jalapeños on yours. That sweet salty spicy combination is
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Invivo New Zealand Pinot Noir - $40 = 20.51%
2021 Invivo Pinot Noir
Greeting everyone. Today, I’m sampling a NZ pinot from Invivo. I know next to nothing about NZ PN, with my limited knowledge of that region confined to Sauvignon Blanc. SWMBO and I were looking forward to trying something very new for us.
One of our favorite pairings for pinot is sushi. It’s delicate enough to let the lighter flavors of the fish come through, with enough oomph to stand up to stronger flavors like wasabi and soy sauce. We are regulars at a local AYCE/BYO sushi place (as anyone who reads the ‘what are you drinking’ thread can attest to). It seemed like the perfect venue to sample this wine.
We brought along another bottle so we could do a compare/contrast, selecting a moderately priced 2019 Our Wines pinot from Oregon. It was an interesting comparison.
The Invivo poured a pale, garnet color. The Our Wines was clearly darker, showing a bit more body as well.
Aromas were hiding, but we did pick up a bit of cherry and alcohol. The 14.5 abv is not unheard of for pinot, but a bit on the higher side.
The wine was definitely dry with decent acidity that had no problem cutting through fatty tuna and yellowtail. Tannins were a bit more pronounced than expected. This may be due to its youth, and along with the alcohol, added a sharpness on the palate. This was the dominant flavor with fruit more in the background. I detected some faint cherry but not much more. The finish was short/medium.
We kept half the bottle for the next day and tried a small amount this morning. Not much has changed. We’ll finish the bottle this weekend and jump back on with any updates.
Overall, this wine was not our favorite. It did ok with food but would not work very well on its own. It may need more time in the bottle. The Our Wines was clearly the better wine for us with more complex flavors, better fruit, and overall balance. It also had 2 more years in the bottle, so that should be taken into consideration. New Zealand is a cool climate region and I think that showed with minimal fruit influence, although the higher alcohol is a bit out of step with that. That said, the $13 case price is very reasonable for those who like this style.
Thanks for Alice and WD for the opportunity to participate in the labrat program. We’ve learned so much from these tastings, getting a chance to try new varietals and regions in this wide, wide world of wine.
@hscottk Unfortunately, Franny Beck, the maker of Our Wines, has closed. All vintages of Our Wines are now sold out.