Blah Pinot Noir
Friday 9 April
New Zealand has become renowned for its Pinot Noir. There are some great examples out there – Felton Road and Ata Rangi are the true greats while Waitaki Pinot from Ostler and Valli, and Pyramid Valley are up there in my opinion. But there is a lot of expensive dross.
I was invited to judge for tizwine.com yesterday and while I can’t reveal the outcome, after almost 60 Pinot Noirs, I felt depressed. Admittedly we were tasting the 2008 vintage, which wasn’t great by any means but my God they were boring.
Too many ‘blah’ wines as one of my fellow judges aptly put it: “lacklustre”, “soft”, “falls away on the finish”, note after note read. And a rather strange metallic note ran through one of the flights. If you’re a winemaker and can tell me why, we judges would be interested to know. Of course, there were a few good wines but nothing that would suggest New Zealand is renowned globally for its Pinot Noir.
Perhaps it was the selection that was sent in but there are clearly major improvements needed to bring the general standard up. And the prices that are being asked for them? The phrase ‘daylight robbery’ springs to mind.
There are certainly days where wines don’t perform as one might expect. Pinot would be at the fore and as a variety more bound to expectations than many others. I certainly do agree that there is a major issue with pricing, though if the market supports it, as happens to a large degree in many French appellations, then who cares? Not me as a sales person on the retail front, nor my over-earning customers who simply must drink Central Otago!
- by hughthewineguy
I agree whole heartedly, the Pinot scene is seen as a cash cow and, to be quite frank, tasting like one. The new world wine scene is far to homogenous and boring and the prices do not reflect the quality.
With irrigation, yeast inoculation, and travelling wine makers it’s no wonder why they are boring as they are all made by chemists rather than artisans!
- by Jayson Bryant