New Zealand and the great Pinot paradox

Let's start with a truism: the premise of terroir is that every vineyard confers something non-replicable into the wine that it makes. Furthermore, at its best, Pinot Noir offers the most vivid examples of that diversity, most famously within Burgundy. Yet here's the paradox: we often expect great Pinot Noirs made elsewhere to reproduce those burgundian qualities.

It's an irresistible habit, firstly because it's great fun and secondly because the quest has gained urgency thanks to burgundy's exospheric prices (the...