Climate: Most of New Zealand shares a similar, cool climate. New Zealand’s weather mostly comes from (and is blamed on!) Australia, but is generally cool in the regions growing pinot noir. There are, however, many different microclimates resulting from the varied terrain in most of the regions, as well as some differences between the regions themselves. For example, Central Otago is more continental as it lies quite far inland, as opposed to the Waipara or Martinborough, which are near the coast.

Soils: Soils are fairly similar throughout the country, mostly alluvian. There is some calcerous soil in Waipara (Canturbury), but otherwise not much limestone in NZ.

Vines, vine age and clones: Although there were vines in New Zealand as early as the 19th Century, the modern wine industry only dates from the mid- to late-1970’s, and was initiated by a bunch of “enthusiastic amateurs.” So most NZ pinot is from relatively young vines, and mainly is made from 3 to 8 different (mostly Dijon) clones.

Yields: Generally 2-6 tons per hectare (roughly ¾ to 2½ tons per acre), and fermentation is usually initiated with inoculated yeasts.

Oak: Overoaking is not a significant problem; most wines do not show a strong oak signature. Most wines are made using only a small percentage of new oak barrels.

Maturity: Most NZ pinots age 70% in the first 3-5 years, then plateau for considerably longer, although there are not many old bottles around to evaluate their ultimate longevity.

Differences arise from different approaches to the winemaking, of course, such as the amount of stem inclusion, barrel types and aging regimens, and different levels of ripeness at harvest (although almost all NZ pinot seems to be between 13%—14.5% alcohol). Of course, vintage differences also exist in New Zealand, and are perhaps a bigger factor here than in the U.S. The wines selected for this tasting were all from 2003, which was described as an excellent vintage across New Zealand, and just now entering its prime drinking window.

The wines tasted represent all of the main pinot-growing regions of New Zealand. Although the very important region of Martinborough was not represented, the region in which Martinborough is located, the Wairarapa, did provide one of the wines, although perhaps not a typical one.

Carrick (Bannockburn, Central Otago):

Open nose showing good ripeness and berry-dominated fruit. Bright berries and a bit of stemminess, slightly sharp acids, tight structure but with nice complex flavors, light body and high-toned style; more an intellectual style than hedonistic. Not the typical ripe-fruit style of Central Otago. I like it, but panelist Michel Bettane (below) calls it “simple.”  Find this wine

Michel Bettane
Photo Mark Coote ©

Cloudy Bay (Marlborough)

Closed nose with shy fruit and some typical Pinot spice. Slightly richer than the Carrick, but still fairly lean style of pinot with nice just-ripe cherry fruit, light to medium bodied and good overall balance. Nice wine if lacking much complexity. Simple (this time I agree with Bettane). Find this wine

Dog Point (Marlborough)

Closed nose. Much bigger and riper; thought I got a hint of TCA, but it blew off. Ripe fruit but backed by a fairly firm structure with strong acidity and some tannins leading to a slightly bitter finish. Seems a bit heavy-handed and clumsy, made in a bigger style but awkward. Find this wine

Greenhough, “Hope Vineyard” (Nelson)

Complex nose with herbs, forest floor and spice. Round, light, elegant, very Burgundian with forest/mushroom earthiness but lifted by excellent acid balance; quite round, some tannins but elegant and long. I like this one quite a bit, and I think it has considerable potential to develop in the cellar. Bettane call it “classic” in style. Find this wine

Johner Estate “Gladstone Vineyard” (Wairarapa)

Slight medicinal stink (reduction or SO2?) rather like moth balls, but this dissipates somewhat as it airs. Bright fruit with a green tomato component. Big rich style with very good fruit, mouthfilling, creamy with a long, clean finish, but rather rustic and disjointed overall; unclear if it will come together with time. Find this wine

Mountford Estate (Waipara)

Closed nose with deeper berry fruit, some marzipan, rich and brooding. Soft entry, fairly rich, ripe, lower acid than most, decent balance, rather short finish. Straightforward. Find this wine

Peregrine (Gibbston, Central Otago)

Blackberry liqueur nose, quite ripe with deep fruit, plumy. Very ripe on the palate, rich, full bodied with some pinot spiciness; more California-like than the others, slightly short finish. Delicious and forward. Find this wine

Villa Maria “Taylor’s Pass” (Marlborough)

Clean, typical pinot nose, although a bit shy. Soft, slightly stewed quality, very ripe fruit, soft, easy, decent acid, simple, ready to drink. Described by several panelists as a “crowd-pleaser”, and I agree. Find this wine

Panelists Larry McKenna, Andrew Caillard, Geoff Kelly
Photo Mark Coote ©

The panelists had some interesting comments on the wine, as well as the theme of finding “typicité” and a definable terroir in New Zealand and its various regions, and their comments reflected different ways to think about and classify pinot noir. Geoff Kelly (a NZ wine critic and consultant) believes it is simply too early in NZ’s experience with pinot to talk about region-specific terroirs. He made an interesting point that in cooler climates, the bouquet (with an emphasis on floral elements) is paramount when evaluating pinot, while in warmer climates the texture becomes the dominant factor. In the lighter, more floral wines, flavors of strawberry, cherry and peach predominate, while the bigger, darker wines are dominated by black cherry and dark plum flavors. He put the Cloudy Bay, Mountford, and Villa Maria in the lighter, red fruit camp, while the Carrick, Dogpoint, Greenhough and Peregrine are in the darker, black fruit camp. He described the Johner as resulting from carbonic maceration and thus more Gamay-like (although the wine was not made by this method). But at this point, Kelly believes the differences in the wines span the various NZ regions and thus do not allow for defining regional terroirs with any consistency.

Andrew Caillard, MW (a London-based auctioneer and writer) basically agreed that it is difficult to define terroir in NZ at this point. He described the group of wines as a “bit of a dog’s breakfast” (i.e., a mess), but not suffering from sameness. He likes the Central Otago wines for their black cherry fruit, thought the Villa Maria was a “crowd pleaser”, but criticized the Cloudy Bay and Dogpoint (shrill, too acidic), Greenhough (loose-knit, won’t age), and Johner (least liked of them all).

Larry McKenna (a pioneering wine-maker in NZ) divided the wines into those that seemed to be good examples of their respective regions (Peregrine, Cloudy Bay, Greenhough, Mountford) versus those that emphasize the stamp of the winemaker over the terroir (Carrick, Dogpoint, Johner, Villa Maria). Michel Bettane (well-known French wine critic) offered specific comments on each wine. He found the Carrick, Cloudy Bay and Villa Maria to be too simple and lacking complexity, although perfectly “nice” wines. He liked the Dogpoint, Johner, and Mountford slightly more, finding them more complex but still lacking refinement. He described the Greenhough as “classic”, with good balance, but his favorite was the Peregrine which he found to be perfumed, balanced and with good length. This was surprising to me, as the Peregrine was clearly the ripest, biggest wine, and the most “New World” in style.

My impression was generally favorable to the wines as a group. They clearly seem to be more in a “Burgundian” style in the sense that there is little of the overt ripe fruit character often seen in the bigger US pinots. The flavors have a lot more earthy, forest-floor, herbs (but not green or vegetal), and mineral elements and less of the ripe plum/dried fruit quality. And the textures are lighter, more elegant, and very food-friendly. Still, a couple of the wines were fairly ripe and “big” in style (Peregrine, Dogpoint). And in comparing wines within a region, there was little consistency; for example of the two Central Otago wines, the Carrick seemed very elegant and nuanced, while the Peregrine was much riper and more robust (which is what Central Otago pinots are reputed to be). Few of the wines show a great deal of complexity at this point (with the exception of the Greenhough), and a couple were a bit rustic or disjointed. But overall I liked the wines and suspect most would improve somewhat with another year or two of aging. They are made for enjoying with food, not for winning blind tastings. A good start to the conference!  NEXT: Great Pinot Producers

Bennett Traub
Reporting From New Zealand
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Introduction | Terroir | 8 Great Producers | Pinots of the World | Other Notable Pinots | Conclusion