Blind Tasting of NZ Pinot with New Plymouth Wine Club

A blind tasting of interesting pinot noir from all around New Zealand. Conducted by Charles Gill for the New Plymouth Wine Tasting Club. One bottle from each of the major pinot growing areas

Pinot noir is not my first favorite grape, but I'd love to see how some Burgundy fanatics liked these wines. I think two of them reach world class.

2009 Peregrine Pinot Noir Saddleback - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
Menthol, deep, well extracted, smooth with drying coffee. A little thick and dense for pinot noir. Big but not sweet and a little out of balance.
B/B-

2008 Milton Vineyard Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Gisborne
Smooth and elegant. Broad. Lovely. Mature and integrated.
B

2002 Dry River Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough
Dense, thick. Heavy for a pinot noir. Good herbal complexity. Some oxidation on nose, not much on palate. Hot. Still fresh but a note of VA. Long very nice finish.
B

2007 Neudorf Pinot Noir Moutere - New Zealand, South Island, Nelson, Moutere
Well integrated. Silky and smooth. Good firm acidity. Good mix of floral fruit and bright acidity. Very very nice. My second favorite of the evening.
B/B+

2004 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir Prima Donna - New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara
Very nice. tight sweet fruit. Sharp and peppery. Smooth, silky, glycerine. Lovely but not subtle. Umami. Floral and lovely. Tight with a long finish. All works together very well. Compelling to drink. My WOTN.
B++

2006 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3 - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
A bit light and a bit tight with bright acid. Menthol. Lots of coffee.
B-

2010 Villa Maria Pinot Noir Cellar Selection - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough
On the sweet side. Light. Menthol. Tight, bright with high toned acid. Pretty.
B-


I also had this note for a wine I am drinking tonight, which is one of the finer pinot noirs I've had in New Zealand.

2006 Wild Earth Pinot Noir (New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago)
Smooth, silky with deep dark espresso flavors along with some cola. A very friendly, easy to drink wine. Velvety texture with beautiful soft edges and just a touch of acid. A lovely wine with a lot of class.
B+

Matt,
Thanks for the notes. I like exploring NZ Pinot (though drink them very rarely, but am intrigued by the potential in some of the growing areas there, particularly in Otago and Hawkes Bay), and have some fairly similar impressions from the wines I've had - like Pegasus Bay and Neudorf quite a bit, and have found Dry River's wines a little too heavy handed in all directions with more oak, extract and general heaviness than I want in a Pinot.
Hearing good things about Wild Earth too, should keep an eye out.

BTW - have you tried many of the Pyramid Valley wines? They're making some pretty amazing Pinots (though the pricing in the US is pretty ambitious for the top wines).

Pyramid Valley was recommended to me by the same Kiwi who recommended the wonderful Dog Point pinot, so I'm sure it's a good one, although I've not tried it yet.

Otago is hit or miss in my opinion. I've had some very fine pinot from there, but also some thin, acidic forgettable wine. Hawkes Bay does have a lot of potential, although not for pinot noir. Syrah seems to grow best there, merlot and cabernet sauvignon too. The Gimblett Gravels area seems to be the best in Hawkes bay, if not the country. Martinborough/Waiarapa pinot noir also is worth keeping an eye on. I've had some fabulous, dense, silky pinot from there.

I believe that the wine (as with the lamb) is cheaper in the US than it is in NZ.

Pyramid Valley was recommended to me by the same Kiwi who recommended the wonderful Dog Point pinot, so I'm sure it's a good one, although I've not tried it yet.

Otago is hit or miss in my opinion. I've had some very fine pinot from there, but also some thin, acidic forgettable wine. Hawkes Bay does have a lot of potential, although not for pinot noir. Syrah seems to grow best there, merlot and cabernet sauvignon too. The Gimblett Gravels area seems to be the best in Hawkes bay, if not the country. Martinborough/Waiarapa pinot noir also is worth keeping an eye on. I've had some fabulous, dense, silky pinot from there.

I believe that the wine (as with the lamb) is cheaper in the US than it is in NZ.

Fun tasting, Matt, though remarkably I had none of the wines you tasted during my stay there. I haven't had that Felton Road Block 3 but was blown away by their across-the-board quality during a barrel tasting there in Feb. Only Amisfield in Central Otago came close for me to their wines. I didn't get to Peregrine, so I can't comment. I did get to Wild Earth, though, and had a remarkable wine-food pairing lunch at their restaurant (the owner is a Californian transplant and a fanatic about wine-food pairing -- I don't always agree with his ideas, but it's fun to explore with him). I found the Wild Earth Pinots too dark-fruited for my tastes, as I prefer red-fruit character to my Pinot Noir (wines that you might well find thin and acidic). I agree with your assessment of Hawke's Bay and I also wish that I'd got to Pyramid Valley (I tried, but it was harvest time and they were too busy to receive visitors).

Mark Lipton