In last week's Sunday Star Times column I bemoaned the fact that a growing number of Central Otago Pinots are expensive wines that curiously lack soul. Afterwards, I wondered if I had been too harsh. Most Central winemakers seem like decent law abiding chaps, though it must be admitted I have only ever seen them in the daylight hours. Unfortunately I lack the vital DNA that allows me to stay up past 10.30pm unlike the Centralistas whose prodigious capacity for late night revelry hallmarks them as the nocturnal branch of the winemaking fraternity.
But a few bottles opened last night seemed to confirm my view.
2009 Soho McQueen Pinot Noir ($40.00) is made by Grant Taylor, who has been/is still responsible for some cracking wines so it was a disappointment to taste this pedestrian offering. Quite what the wine had to do with Alexander McQueen, one of the most innovative and cutting edge of designers, widely acknowledged as technically brilliant and who was described as " having a sense of daring and aesthetic fearlessness" is beyond me. An ordinary bottle, regular label and a decent if unexciting wine smacks of a marketing-led exercise.
When I opened the 2008 Cable Bay Central Otago Pinot Noir ($35.00) my husband's first comment was "it's fizzy". I decanted the wine into a jug (splashily as Geoff Kelly would say) and then back into the bottle which seemed to get rid of some of the CO2. But what of the consumer who doesn't know to treat the wine this way ? With some time in the glass the wine revealed itself as a cherryish, exuberant wine with some plum and sweet spice but ultimately a little dull.
Finally the 2009 Rockburn Devils Staircase Pinot Noir ($24.00) which was more cheerful, an uncomplicated brightly fruited wine with some fresh red fruits and a touch of oak to round out the palate. And a better price point too.
There are producers out there making decent wine and not charging the earth such as Grasshopper Rock, a shade under $30 or Peregrine's Saddleback Pinot which at $28.00 is as reliable as any. But as NZ trumpets its deft hand with pinot noir how long before buyers, especially overseas, notice that whilst a small number of producers consistently produce wines of class, there are a growing number turning out unexciting pinots at fairly fierce prices?
Browse articles by author or topic