It is an important time in Wellington for New Zealand wine, and for New Zealand pinot noir in particular.
Pinot Palooza started things off on Monday with nearly 120 pinot producers showing their wines. Yesterday, Pinot Noir NZ 2017 began with 600 attendees luxuriating in all things pinot noir for three days.
Many trade and media people have been touring our wine regions; others will do so after the event, spreading the word about our pinot noir around the globe. Here are wines from six of the attendees.
Price: $27.95
Rating: Outstanding
Alluring nose, juicy and rich with vibrant red fruits on a backdrop of dried herbs. Lovely richness and depth and while youthful, this shows good balance. Lead pencil, an earthy/woodsy note and savoury elements develop: time in the glass sees the bright fruit take charge again.
Incredibly appealing and excellent value.
Price: $44.95
Rating: Excellent
A touch of wildness here, balsam, black olive and a haunting perfume. Finer and neatly poised, this has an almost Italianate feel to it.
Crunchy, tangy and with fine tannins this cherry-tinged wine is not at all a fruit bomb, but with its excellent flavour persistence, complexity and long finish is quite delicious and draws you back for more.
Price: $50
Rating: Excellent
A medicinal hint at first before the plum and spice-accented fruit and dusty notes come out to play. Quite a big wine, fruit sweetness evident with plum, cherry, spice and earth fleshing out the structured frame. This builds in fruit intensity, garnering a stewed fruit note yet with a juicy, salivating, umami quality to it.
Primal for now, with potential.
Price: $49
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
A slightly wild, dusty, earthy nose with wild herb influences. Deceptively powerful wine that dances on the palate with its bright, zingy acidity. Initially earthy and savoury, plum, cherry and oak nuances soon flood in.
There is a tantalising sweet-and-sour quality to the raw youthfulness, finishing on a long, dark-fruited note. Delicious.
Price: $45
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Subtle at first, slightly wild before the perfumed fruit struts its stuff. Almost a peppery note, then spice, plum, dark fruits, lead pencil, oak nuances and excellent length. Powerful tannins frame this young wine, yet it is neatly balanced.
This tightened up, but with further time became truly sumptuous, suggesting patience will reap rewards here.
Price: $85
Rating: Outstanding
A subtle nose at first, savoury, a hint of dry seaweed (becoming more iodine with time) and mixed fruits. The dark-fruited, tannic palate is brooding and chewy initially but softens, developing a silky texture with a bright, ripe cranberry, zesty undercurrent that flows on to the long finish.
Beguiling and sumptuous, this delicious wine draws you back for more.
