Freemans Bay Pinot Noir 2011 from New Zealand

Freemans Bay Pinot Noir 2011 from both Marlborough and Central Otago in New Zealand, this wine comes from Aldi Supermarkets and at the price of £6.99 it is good value - where can you buy a Pinot from NZ for less that £10? New Zealand has 3 main Pint producing areas, Marlborough ( North end of South Island), Martinborough ( south end of North Island) and Central Otago ( near the south of South Island ), for me - I prefer Martinborough Pinot to the other 2, but Central Otago has a great reputation - I think watch this space.
Now onto the wine - is it good?  It is very, very pale and infact it could nearly be termed a Rose, but on the nose I would recognise it as a Pinot Noir, expressive strawberry, plum with a little vanilla and slightly vegetal, positive I thought. On the palate, good acidity, slightly spirity on the alcohol front ( it is 14%) and not well integrated - but it is young..... maybe with a little time it will integrate better. It has a silky texture, the body feels in the right place and sweet fruits come through beautifully as well as a little licquorice but an out of kilter bitter, nearly pithy finish, so this was the only minor disappointment and maybe this is due to oak usage which again may improve with age. Even so at the price - this is a good quaffing, party wine that will not let you down! And it is an IWSC silver medal winner - tasted blind by a large panel of wine experts - would they have awarded it the medal if they had not tasted it blind, Aldi labelling may have interferred with their judgement. But a cracking wine - BUY, BUY, BUY !