Vinoculation

The annual pinot noir roadshow arrived in Christchurch on Monday night with touring winemakers from some of New Zealand’s most respected and well regarded wineries: Greg Hay (Peregrine), John Kavanagh (Neudorf), Duncan McTavish (Waipara Hills) and Helen Masters (Ata Rangi). The three hour tasting of nearly one hundred pinots from the ‘06 vintage provided a broad overview of vintage conditions and the styles of wines conducive to a particular season, appended by reinforcing comments from the winemakers themselves. And hell, I worked the ‘06 vintage, so I ought to have an idea myself!

Despite the vast geomorphological influences that make each pinot noir growing region so unique within New Zealand, the weather patterns lead to a season that unfolds with little inter-regional variation. Thus, stylistic trends arise each vintage, with the wines manifesting subtle differences to express their terroir. The 2006 vintage was, in short, quantity and quality driven; the winemaker and bank manager dream vintage. Good rains during winter 2005 provided adequate soil moisture for the vines to burst and grow rapidly. Conditions during flowering were ideal and fruit set was exceptional; many bunches were so well set that premature shrivel of certain berries occurred because the clusters were so tight. Summer temperatures were warm, but not blistering like the ‘98 or ‘00 vintages. Temperatures cooled as Autumn approached and if picking was judged correctly amongst sporadic rain events, the quality was very high. As Helen Masters put it “the bunches at harvest were truly beautiful”.

Now, what does this say about the wines? Allow me to generalize. Firstly, crops in ‘06 were much, much higher than the two preceding vintages. In the more marginal climates (Central Otago and Martinborough), frosts hit hard for 2004 and a very cold flowering period hurt crops for the 2005 vintage. Yields were down severely - we’re talking upwards of 60-70% down in some places. So, whereas the previous two vintages had little fruit on the vine and produced wines of tremendous concentration and extract, 2006 allowed a more balanced ripening cycle and typical crop load to produce pinot noirs that are more characteristic of varietal nature. More structural. The wines are less cuddly and affectionate in their youth, relying upon their tannin profiles, true pinot aromatics and structural integrity to provide you with a glimpse of their future selves. Future selves that, unquestionably, will have benefited from time.

So what was good? Whilst the super cult pinots are missing from these sorts of tastings (Felton Road, Dry River, Neudorf Home Block, Escarpment Kupe, etc), there is still an excellent range of wines on hand that have already been culled down to the select best by a tasting panel at FWDC. My picks from each major region were:

• Ata Rangi (Martinborough)
• Neudorf Moutere (Nelson/Marlborough)
• Danny Schuster Omihi (Waipara)
• Peregrine (Central Otago)

Given my historical proclivity for the minnows and somewhat esoteric pinots at these tastings, I was surprised by my arrival at a list of what are considered mainstream and very popular wineries. A credit to how they have achieved their status. The one surprise of that list was the Danny Schuster Omihi Hills Pinot. Now, I’ve tasted previous vintages of this wine for the last three or four years, and I’ve never been enamored by the results. Sure the wines have some Burgundian character to them and are often tasted far too young, and you can’t take anything away from such a critical component to the NZ wine industry as Danny Schuster, but the wines were weedy, thin, lacking in fruit and incredibly overrated. That is, until this vintage. His ‘06 Omihi Pinot has oodles of dark berry fruits, plenty of weight, deft handling of oak and retains for every second the Schuster fingerprint of elegance, pinosity and craftsmanship. Schusterphiles and anti-Dannys unite - here is something worth rediscovering.

John Kavanagh, it must be said, is a champion. One of the few warm and genuine winemakers to have graced the circuit. And it’s reflected in his wines. As he adds a notch to his belt of winemaking years at Neudorf, it would seem that he grows and develops his relationship to the vineyard, the fruit, the sites and the people. The relationship is becoming more intimate. And with this greater intimacy comes greater depth to the wines, if that were considered possible. The tannins, in particular, would give my tongue wet dreams. In fact, they have.

I particularly enjoyed the Ata Rangi and Peregrine wines this year more so than previous years for one reason. The aromatics. These wines are complex already, with bouquets that have been complemented with perfume, florals and briar in addition to the surplus fruit abundance that remains as a backbone. Both epitomize balance.

Though not afforded the luxury of its own wine region, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Kumeu River Estate Pinot Noir. This wine was chunky, as only a young Burgundian replicate could be. I still cannot fathom how Michael Brajkovich continues to craft such amazing wines from fruit grown in lowly Auckland, but here he is, doing it year in, year out. One for the cellar, as most of these wines are.

Other worthy mentions included the Clayridge Excalibur (exotic and unusual), Desert Heart (pure Central Otago), Escarpment (a very close second to Ata Rangi - impeccable wine), Gravitas (very, very good), Terravin Hillside (’04 and ‘05 vintages - lashings of fruit), Montana Terroir Series Corbetts Legacy (a surprise pinot from Waipara), and Ra Nui (an undiscovered gem from Marlborough).

The slight disappointments included Valli Gibbston Vineyard (lots of capsicum and greenery), ‘04 Pegasus Bay Prima Donna (lacked X-Factor), Kaituna Valley (the eucalypt is back this year), ‘05 Carrick (seemed empty on the day), and Craggy Range Te Muna (lacked the poise and polish of previous years). Whilst I won’t make excuses for these wineries and stand by my judgment on the day, remember that impressions from these sorts of tastings need to be taken with a grain of salt.

The verdict? The 2006 vintage looks like a cracker for New Zealand pinot noir.