A couple of weeks ago I wrote about some of the more burgundian Pinot Noirs available from outside Burgundy. They were all grown outside Europe, a fact picked up, quite rightly, by enthusiasts for the better non-burgundian European Pinots.
I first tackled the rising quality of German and Alsace Pinot Noirs back in 2014, and added some observations on the same phenomenon in Sancerre 10 years later, having written about the quality, scarcity and price of Pinot Noir in German Switzerland in 2022. I will try to nose out some of the better current European alternatives to red burgundy from the Côte d’Or in a future article as there is clearly strong interest in the topic.
But just after writing the recent article I had a chance to immerse myself in the non-European (sorry) country that is keenest on Pinot Noir. New Zealand’s area of Pinot Noir vineyard is six times greater than the area planted with its second-most-planted dark-skinned grape Merlot. Only Oregon (not a country) and Burgundy itself are more Pinot-centric.
The NZ tasting was the result of married Masters of Wine Peter Richards and Susie Barrie tasting more than 200 NZ wines sent to their home in the UK from which they chose their favourites, 112 in all, dubbed NZ Wines of the Year. The had already done this exercise for Chile, a country Richards knows extremely well. They chose New Zealand this time, perhaps partly because another Master of Wine Tim Atkin already has much of the rest of the world covered by his regular special reports. These are meaty documents, the result of many weeks spent in the relevant region. His South African 2025 report, for instance, runs to 319 pages, includes reviews of more than 2,000 wines with awards for the best, and costs £20. Sales of these reports and related bottle stickers are his source of revenue, with generic bodies paying his air fares, accommodation and for the necessary driver. There are associated daytime trade tastings and, increasingly, consumer events, too.
Richards’ and Barrie’s initiative was also in conjunction with the generic body, New Zealand Winegrowers in this case, and was more modest. They may be great fans of New Zealand wine but it’s a shame that Barrie hasn’t been there since 2010 and Richards not since 2016. I suspect that had they visited more recently and more prominently, they would not only have had even more information to share but might have found even more top producers willing to send samples to them – although apparently only seven of the producers on their wish list declined to participate.
None of the top NZ Pinot producers I suggested a couple of weeks ago (Bell Hill, Kusuda, Rippon and Valli), for instance, was represented in their selection of 29 Pinot Noirs, nor such other high-profile Pinot producers as Felton Road, Prophet’s Rock and Pyramid Valley. But there were certainly some very well-priced examples. For no more than £20 a bottle there was Nanny Goat Vineyard 2024 from Central Otago and Hunter’s 2024 from Marlborough, both recognisably Pinot.
New Zealand’s four principal regions for Pinot Noir are Central Otago in the far south of the South Island, Marlborough in the north of the South Island, North Canterbury in between them, and Martinborough/Wairarapa in the south of the North Island. (See this World Atlas of Wine overview map of the country’s wine regions.)
Of these, Marlborough – heartland of Sauvignon Blanc production – is the newest to establish a reputation for its Pinot Noir and so prices tend to be the keenest. I found a slight ‘green’, less-than-fully-ripe note in many of the Marlborough Pinots. They tended to be lighter and simpler than most, although relatively new producer Blank Canvas, the personal project of international consultant winemaker Matt Thomson and his Master of Wine wife Sophie Parker-Thomson, managed to imbue their Upton Downs 2023 bottling with real potential. Richards and Barrie were hugely impressed by the Blank Canvas white wines, too, and gave Matt Thomson their Best Winemaker award.
Ridiculously scenic, mountainous Central Otago is to NZ Pinot Noir what Marlborough is to NZ Sauvignon Blanc. This is ski and bungee-jump country and is currently under threat of a large open-cast gold mine in the heart of the Bendigo wine subregion that has been proposed by an Australian company and has so far been fast-tracked by the government. The 140-odd wine producers in the region are exceptionally collaborative and, worried about the long-term effect on the environment, are doing their best to fight the development. Central Otago Pinots were initially characterised by ripe sweetness rather than subtlety but over the years they have become much more complex and appetising.
With no fewer than four different bottlings in the recent selection, actor Sam Neill’s Two Paddocks of Central Otago was the best-represented Pinot Noir producer of all. The 2023 blend is the best value at £35.95 but all of the 2022s, about £55 each, have their own, more complex personality.
But the real Pinot Noir discovery for both the organisers and me was the current quality of the wines of Pinot Noir specialist Akitu of Wanaka, one of Central Otago’s most-photographed locations. There were two in the selection: A1 2020 at £40 was the more complex but, as so often, the less ambitious, cheaper stablemate, A2 2021 at under £30, was just as charming even if it may not live as long.
The most expensive wines in the Pinot Noir selection came from Ata Rangi, one of the most respected producers in the North Island Pinot region often known as Martinborough after the attractive Victorian town at its centre and sometimes as Wairarapa, the name of the surrounding area inland from the capital Wellington. Each of Ata Rangi’s 2021s sells for close to £75 and certainly has the potential to develop even more layers of flavour but at these prices burgundy fans may well prefer the originals to these antipodean upstarts. All Wairarapa Pinots tend to carry a price premium and both wines from Schubert, single-vineyard 2022s at around £45, were certainly impressive.
There were just three Pinots from North Canterbury, the region north of Christchurch in the South Island that seems particularly well-suited to the red burgundy variety. The sophisticated 2021 vintage of Greystone’s North Canterbury Pinot Noir was included in the recent tasting but it is the 2023 vintage that constitutes Berry Bros & Rudd’s own-label New Zealand Pinot Noir, at £20.95, which is worth investigating.
And a wild card in the tasting was one Pinot Noir from Waitaki, a relatively new wine region in North Otago: an exuberantly young 2024 called Q from Waitaki Valley Winery.
Other whites
I have long argued that, although New Zealand’s commercial success has been with Sauvignon Blanc, its Chardonnays are truly special. Julia had the pleasure of tasting these two categories of white wine in the recent NZ selection while I had a look at the wines New Zealanders call ‘aromatics’.
Pinot Gris, the pink-skinned mutation of Pinot Noir, dominated the selection in the tasting but there were also a couple of Gewürztraminers (typically spelled without the Umlaut in NZ) and four Rieslings, as well as a surprisingly successful version of Galicia’s Albariño from Misty Cove winery in Gisborne. The best two Pinot Gris of the seven selected were the appetisingly dry 2024 from Ata Rangi of Wairarapa and a 2023 from aromatic specialist Framingham of Marlborough that had more fruity sweetness but enough tension and excitement to carry it off. It reminded me of a good Alsace Pinot Gris. Some of the other aromatics seemed a bit weighed down by their residual sugar.
But Lawsons Dry Hills of Marlborough has long had a way with Gewürztraminer just as Pegasus Bay of North Canterbury, along with Framingham, is the acknowledged Riesling specialist of New Zealand. Of the two Pegasus Bay Rieslings selected, for once I found the sweeter one better balanced even though it’s one of those medium-dry whites that are so difficult to pair with food. Chicken-liver parfait?
Recommendations
Annoyingly, all too few of my favourite wines from the Richards/Barrie selection are currently available in the UK so I have added some other recommendations from other tastings.
NZ Pinot Noirs
Hunter’s 2024 Marlborough 13.8%
£16.99 Direct Wine Shipments of Belfast
Nanny Goat Vineyard 2023 Central Otago 13.5%
£20 Waitrose
Berry Bros & Rudd New Zealand Pinot Noir 2023 North Canterbury 13%
£20.95 Berry Bros & Rudd
Akitu, A2 2021 Central Otago 13.5%
£29.25 The Champagne Company
Two Paddocks 2023 Central Otago 13%
£35.95 The Vinorium
Valli, Gibbston Valley 2019 Central Otago 13%
£180 per case of 6 in bond Mr Wheeler
Sato, La Ferme de Sato Sur Les Nuages 2022 Central Otago 14%
£42.95 AG Wines
Felton Road, Block 5 2021 Central Otago 14%
£527.15 per case of 6 Justerini & Brooks
Felton Road, Block 3 2020 Central Otago 14%
£140 Brunswick Fine Wines & Spirits
Kusuda 2023 Martinborough
£150 Hedonism
Aromatic NZ whites
Framingham Pinot Gris 2023 Marlborough 13.5%
£19 VINVM, £20.50 Givino, £21 Tim Syrad Wines, £22 Vin Neuf, £23.95 South Down Cellars
Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris 2020 Central Otago 13.5%
£29.99 Wine Tasting Adventures
Kusuda Riesling 2022 Martinborough 12%
£55 Waud Handford
For detailed tasting notes, scores and suggested drinking dates, see our tasting notes database. For international stockists, see Wine-Searcher.com.
