Just 500 cases of the 2005 Hillside Pinot Noir are produced, a selection of best barrels with fruit from the center of the gentle, north-facing slope, hand-picked, destemmed and then matured for 17 months in barrel using 45% new oak before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. It has a complex brambly nose with a subtle hint of sloes which is followed by a medium-bodied palate with silky tannins and a sensuous, red-berried finish. Very pure and natural, this excellent Pinot should drink well over 8-10 years TerraVin is a boutique winery established by Mike Eaton who purchased his first 3.2-hectares of vines in 1998 with another 6.8-hectares planned in the future. The vineyard is based in the Omaka Valley on a north-facing slope with clay-rich soil that naturally reduces vigor, reduced further by high density planting of 5,000 vines/ha. Mike, himself, has almost unparalleled experience of vineyard management in Marlborough, having planted the area's first vines as a general laborer for Montana Wines at their Brancott vineyard in the 1970s. When I visited, he had just sold part of the vineyard to Spy Valley so that he could focus on Pinot Noir and Bordeaux varieties. These are full-bodied, beautifully hand-crafted wines with superb complexity and subtlety and are well worth seeking out, particularly his stunning reds. No known American importer.