Wine reviewer Mark Henderson gets a taste of some fine Central Otago pinots.
Take nearly 200 delegates comprising wine lovers, winemakers, viticulturists, importers, wine marketers, restaurateurs and journalists from around New Zealand and around the world.
Mix well. Baste liberally with Central Otago sunshine.
Season with stimulating and instructive masterclasses, comprehensive tastings and amazing meals.
Bring to a gentle simmer with wide-ranging discussion, warmth and conviviality.
Stir in Central Otago wine, to taste.
Voila! You have the Central Otago Pinot Celebration!
I recently had the pleasure of attending the celebration as a guest of COPNL (Central Otago Pinot Noir Ltd), having attended the very first event in 2000.
The event has grown in stature and sophistication since then and runs with a smooth efficiency that only hints at the countless hours put in by the committee and volunteers to ensure that the logistics all fall neatly into place.
A key part of such an event is tasting, and the grand tasting on the second morning (under the sail at Peregrine winery) showcased pinot noirs from the 33 attending wineries. Each poured a current (or soon to be) release alongside an older vintage.
With the majority of the wineries electing to show their 2014 wine, this was a great regional snapshot of this highly regarded vintage.
Bookending the celebration were masterclasses on the first afternoon and final morning.
The first explored the theme of "whether there was a Central style'' and the winemaker influences upon that.
The discourse possibly posed as many new questions as it answered, leaving room for future debate, but I was left with the feeling (reinforced by the following morning's grand tasting) that talk of style is now redundant.
Central winemakers now have the experience, and confidence, to let each wine and site steer its own course, with only the lightest guiding hand on the tiller.
The final morning saw the international masterclass exploring pinot noirs from across the length and breadth of France.
While Burgundy is the heartland of pinot noir, the grape is grown across France.
The majority of the wines had never been seen in New Zealand before: many were thought-provoking, and at times polarising, offering myriad expressions of this grape that so many of us find beguiling.
All this tasting breeds healthy appetites, and a series of lunches and dinners continued to showcase the region with a wide selection of local wines available, including a number of rare older wines direct from the winery cellars.
The final event was the gala dinner and charity auction held at the Skyline Restaurant.
Standing on the restaurant balcony before the dinner, the majestic landscape left the overseas visitors in awe, providing a fabulous conclusion to an intense, but hugely fun-filled three days that I would highly recommend to lovers of pinot noir.
The Central Otago Celebration will take a break in 2017, ceding its place to the New Zealand Pinot Noir Celebration in Wellington in January, but will return in 2018.
Continuing the theme of older Central Otago wines, here are three plucked from my cellar from three of the attending wineries.
Price: $74.99 (current release)
Rating: Excellent
Rather brooding, ripe plum and dark fruits with charry, brambly touches: oak still noticeable here.
The palate gives up cherry liqueur and plums: that brambly hint again.
A little monolithic at first: big and powerful with the tannins resolved and some heat on the finish.
Aeration sees the oak recede, a freshening lick of acidity appear and the wine come into nice, if still big-boned, balance.
Drink now.
Price: $49.99 (current release)
Rating: Very good to excellent
A perfumed nose here with wild herbs, hints of cherry and a slightly wild, funky note in the background, dissipating with aeration.
Quite fine in the mouth with savoury, wild herb and brambly notes: very much secondary characters.
Some dusty, cigar box notes and spice touches before the zingy acidity on the finish.
A rather appealing wine which firms up a little with aeration.
Drink now.
Price: $99.99 (current release)
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
This opens to a fragrant nose with dark fruits, toffee and oak notes.
The palate leads with dark fruits and wild herbs, cherry notes come with aeration: a gravelly feel and quite chewy tannins still.
This is a powerful expression of pinot noir with intensity on the palate and a real sense of energy and drive to it.
This gives great pleasure now and will hold for a year or three yet.
