Decanter EXPERT’S CHOICE
July 2015 Edition
NZ PINOT NOIR 2013
Dubbed 'the vintage of a generation', the best 2013 Pinot Noirs show a freshness and structure that balances the country's typical fruitiness, says Peter McCombie MW
Like it’s Sauvignon Blancs, New Zealand's Pinot Noirs tend to be packed full of fruit - popular with consumers, but sometimes criticised for being merely fruity and, by implication, lacking in complexity. But as site selection improves, vines mature and winemakers become both more experienced and confident with this fickle variety, the range of styles continues to expand.
Most of the North Island is too warm to make high quality Pinot Noir wines. However, Martinborough, at the bottom of the island, produces excellent Pinot that is typically - but not exclusively - muscular and rich. New plantings, found nearby in the cooler, higher areas of Hawke's Bay, show promise.
In the South Island, Central Otago has the biggest reputation for Pinot Noir and rivals Martinborough for the crown of top region. Surrounded by mountains and further from the sea than any of the other vineyard regions, it has a more continental climate. While the growing season can be hot, it is also short, so site selection and viticulture are key to achieving physiological ripeness. The better wines are richly fruity, with fresh acidity.
At the very top of the South Island, Marlborough has almost twice as much Pinot Noir planted as Central Otago. We expect fruity styles from its stony, free -draining soils, with more red flavours than Central Otago's black; but as vines age, especially newer plantings on sloping, clay-based soils in the Southern Valleys, we are seeing wines with more substantial structure.
Elsewhere in the south we find smaller regions producing quality Pinot Noir. West of Marlborough lies sunny Nelson, with its clay soils, which is building a reputation for a more structured style. Heading south, Waipara in Canterbury shows promise, if not yet consistency. The wines tend to be scented, but in some years their herbaceousness can be excessive. Further south again, the Waitaki Valley in North Otago has seen plantings on limestone - as opposed to the schist that is common in Central Otago. Early crops seem promising, although vintage variation has proved significant.
Almost universally acclaimed by New Zealand's winemakers is 2013: 'The vintage of a generation’ says Craggy Range's Steve Smith MW; an 'average-sized crop ... one of intensity ... One of the best vintages in the region’ according to Marlborough's Seresin. Felton Road's Nigel Greening describes a 'warm and very even growing season [which] benefited the cooler areas of Central Otago [with] very good physical ripeness', but, he adds, this favours the 'larger and generous style'. 'We were - and still are - a little nervous that this is a vintage that champions itself rather than the precision of place’ he says.
Many producers have yet to release any or all of their 2013s, but the better wines tasted so far offer freshness and structure to balance the generosity that marks the vintage. While 2013 is a crowd-pleasing, forward vintage, many of the wines will reward several years' cellaring, although fewer will be long-term prospects. Yet-to-be-released single-vineyard selections may well be more ageworthy.
There are some wines of real finesse, whose makers have tamed New Zealand's hallmark exuberant fruitiness.
Martinborough has performed well, and when we see more wines, it may be that cooler zones like Waipara and the cooler parts of Central Otago, such as Gibbston, Alexandra and Wanaka, will shine. New Zealand Pinot Noir from 2013 offers great appeal to its existing fans and the better, finer examples are likely to win new ones.
'While 2013 is a crowd-pleasing, forward vintage, many wines will reward several years’ cellaring’
McCombie's 2013 Pinots to try:
Escarpment, Kupe Pinot Noir,
Martinborough 18.5/20 (95/100)
£30-£32 Carruthers & Kent, Fine & Rare, Frontier, Hawkshead, Martinez, Seckford Agencies, Slurp, Tanners, Ten-Acre Fine Wine, The Oxford Wine Co
Heady, spicy and rich with black cherries and fruitcake; generous but not flashy - no hard edges and consummate balance. Best cellared despite immediate charms. Drink 2016-2022 Alc 13.5%
Hawkesbury Estates, Akitu (A1)
Wanaka, Central Otago 18.5 (95)
£25 Bordeaux Index, Goedhuis, The NZ Wine Cellar
Aromatic black cherry fruit with spice and teasing sage and thyme undertones, some spice too; quite intense fruit – summer pudding – with great clarity, marked bite of acidity & fine tannins. Still youthful and not quite charming (yet). One to watch and keep. Drink 2017-2023 Alc 14%
Kusuda, Pinot Noir
Martinborough 18.5 (95)
£60.46-£66.99 Bordeaux Index, The NZ Cellar
Seductive Pinot nose, yet not archetypal Kiwi lushness. Opens up gradually, showing savoury complexity; fine ly poised palate, with layers of red fruit and the merest hint of herbaceousness; lovely aci dity, fine tannins. Quite forward, yet promises much more. Drink 2015-2022 Ale 13%