Special Carne & Cucina Edition

This exclusive Alessa Vino presentation includes Novum Pinot Noir 2023 in a special gift box, an original recipe created by Nicola Coccia of Carne & Cucina, and Alessa Vino’s complete wine pairing guide with serving, storage and cellaring recommendations. The recipe is included inside the box and is not published online.

Why we chose this wine

A Pinot Noir with quiet confidence

Novum Pinot Noir 2023 is a beautifully refined single vineyard wine from Marlborough’s Southern Valleys.

This is Pinot Noir built around elegance, texture and a strong sense of place. It has generous fruit, but it never feels heavy, sweet or overworked. Dark berries and plum are balanced by fine tannins, fresh acidity, savoury detail and carefully judged French oak.

It is the kind of Pinot Noir that becomes more expressive as it sits in the glass. The fruit opens first, followed by cocoa, spice, forest floor and subtle mineral notes.

There is plenty of complexity here, but the wine remains graceful, silky and wonderfully drinkable.

The Novum story

Novum is a small Marlborough producer driven by the belief that exceptional wine begins with an intimate understanding of the vineyard.

The team spends years walking individual rows, tasting fruit and observing how small sections respond to soil, sunlight, wind and seasonal conditions. This detailed work has led to what Novum calls its Sweet Spot Theory.

Rather than treating every vineyard as one uniform block, Novum identifies small pockets that consistently produce fruit with distinctive concentration, fragrance and character. These selected areas are harvested and handled separately, allowing each wine to express a more precise sense of place.

This thoughtful approach is particularly important for Pinot Noir, a variety capable of translating subtle differences in soil and growing conditions into the finished wine.

Quarters Vineyard

The fruit for the 2023 Pinot Noir comes exclusively from Quarters Vineyard in the Brancott Valley.

This special three hectare site sits on the valley floor within Marlborough’s highly regarded Southern Valleys. Old walnut and pear trees surround the vineyard, while cover crops, insects, birds and healthy soil create a diverse and active environment.

The Pinot Noir vines are more than thirty years old and planted closely together. Mature vines naturally produce smaller bunches with concentrated flavour, while their established roots reach deeply into the soil in search of water and minerals.

Novum has worked with fruit from this site for almost twenty years, developing a detailed understanding of which sections consistently produce the finest Pinot Noir.

The importance of clay

Quarters Vineyard is planted on heavy clay loam soils.

Clay retains moisture and allows the vines to ripen steadily during Marlborough’s warm summer days. It also contributes richness, depth and a gentle sense of weight to the finished wine.

The narrow valleys of this area experience higher daytime temperatures than some other parts of Marlborough. This helps Pinot Noir develop ripe flavour and colour, while the region’s cool nights preserve natural acidity and aromatic freshness.

The combination of mature vines, concentrated fruit and moisture retaining clay creates a Pinot Noir with both generosity and definition.

Organically managed vines

Quarters Vineyard is managed organically, with a strong focus on soil vitality and the long term health of the vines.

The aim is to encourage the roots to travel deeper into the soil, where they can access water and minerals from the lower layers. This creates resilient vines and fruit that reflects the individual character of the site.

Novum does not follow vineyard practices simply because they belong to a particular philosophy. Every decision is made according to what the vineyard needs, with careful observation and many small adjustments throughout the growing season.

This thoughtful, soil focused approach allows the land to remain healthy while producing fruit with genuine concentration and personality.

The 2023 growing season

The 2023 season began with a warm and unusually wet spring influenced by the lingering La Niña weather pattern.

These conditions required careful attention in the vineyard. The Novum team monitored the vines closely and worked precisely to protect the developing fruit.

Conditions changed in December when the rain disappeared and summer arrived. The dry, settled weather allowed the grapes to ripen steadily and develop flavour while maintaining their natural freshness.

The result was concentrated Pinot Noir fruit with excellent aromatic detail, balance and acidity.

How the wine was made

The grapes were harvested by hand to protect the delicate Pinot Noir fruit and allow careful selection in the vineyard.

After arriving at the winery, the fruit was completely destemmed. No whole bunches were used for the 2023 vintage.

The grapes were placed into open top fermenters and remained on their skins for approximately five days before fermentation began naturally with wild yeast.

During active fermentation, the wine received one gentle pump over each day. This careful extraction helped develop colour, aroma and structure without creating hard or aggressive tannins.

The wine remained on its skins for more than thirty five days before being pressed and transferred into French oak barriques.

Twenty percent of the barrels were new. This small proportion of new oak contributed subtle spice and structure without covering the perfume or character of the fruit.

The wine matured in barrel for twelve months before the final blend was assembled. It was bottled in March 2024.

What does it look like

In the glass, Novum Pinot Noir 2023 shows a luminous ruby garnet colour.

It has enough depth to suggest concentration, while remaining bright and translucent at the edges. This visual delicacy reflects the wine’s elegant and finely composed style.

What does it smell like

The aroma opens with dark wild berries, damson plum, black cherry, boysenberry and redcurrant.

As the wine breathes, quieter layers of cocoa, cedar, dried herbs, gentle oak spice and forest floor begin to emerge.

There is also a subtle stony quality that brings freshness and definition to the richer fruit.

The perfume is detailed rather than overpowering. Each aroma appears gradually, encouraging you to return to the glass.

What does it taste like

The palate is silky, supple and medium bodied.

Dark berry and plum flavours form the centre of the wine, supported by fine tannins and fresh acidity. The texture feels soft and generous, but there is enough structure to give the wine shape and length.

Cocoa, savoury spice and restrained oak sit beneath the fruit, adding complexity without becoming dominant.

The finish is long, calm and elegant, with lingering dark fruit, mineral freshness and gentle earthy detail.

What is pinosity

Novum describes its goal as creating Pinot Noir with great pinosity.

Pinosity is the combination of fragrance, delicacy, texture and complexity that makes Pinot Noir so distinctive. It is not simply about tasting cherries or berries.

A wine with pinosity changes in the glass. Fruit, flowers, spice, earth and texture begin to overlap, creating something more interesting than any single aroma or flavour.

Novum Pinot Noir 2023 captures this beautifully. It has concentration without heaviness and structure without hardness.

Is it sweet

No. This is a dry red wine with less than one gram of residual sugar per litre.

Its ripe dark fruit and soft mouthfeel may create an impression of generosity, but the finish remains fresh, savoury and completely dry.

It is an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys Pinot Noir with depth and texture but does not want an overly sweet or jammy style.

What to serve with it

This Pinot Noir is an extremely versatile food wine.

Serve it with duck breast, roast chicken, grilled pork, veal, mushroom risotto, truffle pasta or slow roasted root vegetables.

Its combination of freshness and gentle tannin also works beautifully with seared salmon, tuna, charcuterie and soft earthy cheeses.

For a simple meal, pair it with roast chicken and mushrooms. For something more indulgent, try duck with cherry sauce or fresh pasta with truffle and Parmesan.

Serving and cellaring

Serve at 14 to 16°C.

If the bottle is being enjoyed young, open it approximately thirty minutes before serving. A large Pinot Noir glass will allow the wine’s perfume and savoury detail to develop.

The wine is already expressive, but it has the concentration and structure to evolve for six to nine years.

With time in bottle, the fresh berry fruit will become softer and more savoury, while notes of dried herbs, forest floor, cocoa and spice become more pronounced.

Wine details

Novum Pinot Noir 2023 is made from 100% Pinot Noir grown at Quarters Vineyard in the Brancott Valley of Marlborough, New Zealand.

The wine was hand harvested, naturally fermented and matured for twelve months in French oak barriques, with twenty percent new oak.

Alcohol is 13.5%. Residual sugar is below one gram per litre. The recommended cellaring period is six to nine years.

A detailed, expressive and beautifully balanced Marlborough Pinot Noir that rewards both patient drinking and time in the cellar.