Terra Sancta celebrates rare 100-point score

Bannockburn winery Terra Sancta is celebrating a 100-point score from international wine critic James Suckling for its Terra Sancta Slapjack Block Pinot Noir 2024.

The rating is part of Suckling’s Top 100 Wines of New Zealand 2025 report. In his tasting notes for the wine, grown on historic heritage vines – the first vines ever planted in Bannockburn – Suckling commented: “This is perhaps the greatest pinot noir I have ever tasted in New Zealand”.

In the report, Suckling wrote of the Terra Sancta Slapjack Block Pinot Noir 2024: “It showed spectacular depth, structure and power, yet it was refreshing and polished. It reminded me of great Burgundy from the 1990s, when I was covering the region for The Wine Spectator as a senior editor.”

Terra Sancta’s two other single-block Pinot Noirs – Jackson’s Block 2024 and Shingle Beach 2024 – each received 99 points from Suckling.

Terra Sancta Slapjack Block Pinot Noir 2024 received 100 points from critic James Suckling.

Also from the 2024 vintage, Terra Sancta’s Mysterious Diggings Pinot Noir 2024 was awarded 98 points and named #1 Wine of New Zealand and #4 Wine in the World in James Suckling’s Top 100 Wines of New Zealand and Top 100 Wines of the World report.

Of the Terra Sancta farming system, Suckling said, “Terra Sancta’s viticulture is spectacular – low-impact farming and natural nurturing, from using their own sheep in the vineyards to no-tilling or grass cutting. They improve the life of their vines while reducing their CO2 footprint.”

Slapjack Block Pinot Noir 2024, along with Shingle Beach 2024 and Jackson’s Block 2024 will be released on 1 March 2026 through CoLab Wine Merchants.