Great pinot can move you emotionally - and that doesn't necessarily mean getting drunk on it.
It's a nebulous concept, a bit like the mists that slowly enfolded the jagged peaks of The Remarkables during the Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration last weekend when almost 200 wine lovers from all over the world tasted, discussed, argued about and enjoyed this singular variety.
This mysterious ability of a great wine, particularly a great pinot noir, to move the soul, is something wine connoisseurs look for but don't often find.
It seems to be an attribute of both the wine itself, the stories and associations that come with it, and its rarity and reputation.
The celebration attracted wine nerds from as far away as Canada, US, Japan, Australia and the UK from the ranks of winemakers, importers, restaurateurs, potential investors, writers and experts, collectors and many others who simply love wine and food.
Jancis Robinson of the UK, editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine and The World Atlas of Wine, who also attended the event four years ago, said the wines now seemed more soulful, subtle and exciting and she was more conscious of how special a place this region is.
Patrick Cominsky of the US said he was (almost literally) blown away by the "tear-inducing beauty" of the region when he visited Two Paddocks' windy Last Chance vineyard in Alexandra.
Visiting a wine region and its vineyards, tasting its wines and eating its food and, if you have the opportunity, talking to the winemakers, is one of the best ways to get to understand wine.
As a pre-celebration tantaliser, Quartz Reef winemaker Rudi Bauer led a masterclass showing the different subregional characteristics from the four main valleys, Alexandra, Gibbston and the Cromwell Basin which stretches from Bannockburn up the lake on both sides, to Bendigo and Tarras, and the few but diverse vineyards in the Wanaka region.
The first day, taken up by a mammoth tasting of pinot noir from 40 Central Otago producers, was a chance for winemakers to get feedback and for tasters to meet producers and compare wines.
Networking is an major part of the industry, and no doubt several new relationships were formed between buyers and producers.
The 2007 pinot noirs stood out for their charm and purity of fruit.
It was a small vintage because of cool weather at flowering, but that meant smaller crops and more concentration.
Some of these wines are already on shelves. Others will be released over coming months but they will be well worth waiting for.
However, I felt that some which aspire to charging $35-$40 a bottle might be better priced $8-$10 less, at least in New Zealand.
The same does not necessarily apply to overseas markets.
Some of the US collectors I talked to regard New Zealand pinot as relatively cheap compared with burgundy (pinot noir from the French region of Burgundy) which can take years to develop to its best.
However, the economic downturn has put pressure on sales, and one said he is daily inundated with offers of large discounts on a huge range of wines.
There was a formal tasting of five grand cru burgundies from 2001, some extremely rare, which sell (if you can get them) for between about $400 and $1500 a bottle.
They were subtle, youthful, poised wines to sip, linger over and perhaps be moved by.
These august wines with such long histories inspire devotion and every detail of their provenance and élevage (raising) was explained by three wine luminaries from the UK, Jasper Morris, Jancis Robinson, and Neal Martin, as well as Jean-Luc Pepin of Domain Comtes Georges de Vogüé, whose charming Mussigny Grande Cru 2001 was among the wines tasted.
That is when we learnt that such wines can stir the emotions - and perhaps, if you pay attention to them, wines of this calibre can.
But if we are to be honest, I think if these wines had been presented blind with good pinot noirs from around New Zealand, many people would have preferred the fruit-filled New Zealand wines to some of these relatively unforthcoming wines - Nick Mills described them as "standing in the doorway".
However, this is the calibre of wine, with all the associated reputation, history and other trappings, that some New Zealand pinot noir makers aspire to, although not necessarily to copy.
