Affordable Martinborough Pinot Noirs
Claudine Earley
LAST night I learned a new word, ‘pinosity’, as I huddled with 26 other pinotphiles around tables laden with Riedel glasses trying to keep our samples of Martinborough pinot noir warm as southerly winds howled over our heads.
My new favourite word was coined by pinot noir expert Alan Meadows, and describes everything good about pinot: the floral aromas, cherry flavours and velvety tannins. Achieving pinosity requires careful use of oak and perfectly ripe fruit. Too ripe and the wine will be sweet and plummy, or suffer from the burn of too high alcohol if the sugar has been fermented out.
Our tasting was conducted blind, with wines poured from old school plastic hexagonal pub jugs so that our judgement would not be biased by personal preference.
This tactic worked a treat as many were surprised by the wines that won by popular vote. Three out of four winners were from the Te Muna Road sub-region, 5 km south of the better known Martinborough Terrace vineyards.
Wine of the week: Kiritea Pinot Noir 2008 ($19 at Regional) comes from the first commercial plantings in Te Muna Road, and is the second label of John Douglas’ Te Hera Estate.
Big names like Escarpment and Craggy Range have since followed him to the sub-region, acknowledging his wisdom and good taste. Tea rose, vanilla, bright berries and an underlying funky savouriness greet the nose, and it tastes nice too - cherries, tea and velvety tannins.
Julicher Estate ‘99 Rows’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($28) has already won 5 stars from Cuisine magazine, and a gold at last year’s Air N.Z. Wine Awards. It stood out with its buttery maraschino cherry nose, smooth cakey flavours, and long funky finish. Sold out in most bottle stores, but available on wine lists around town.
A big rich monster of a wine, Craggy Range ‘Te Muna Road’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($36) was the crowd favourite. Winemaker Adrian Baker crafts pinots from Otago too, including the famous ‘Calvert’, with which this compares favourably. Noticeably nice florals and dark fruit aromas give way to mouth-filling dense cherry flavours and big tannins.
The one wine from outside Te Muna Road to impress at the tasting? Martinborough Vineyard ‘Te Tera’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($28). Another outstanding second label, it has pinosity written all over it: an amazingly fragrant nose and complex velvety palate. Grab a bottle if you can find one.
My new favourite word was coined by pinot noir expert Alan Meadows, and describes everything good about pinot: the floral aromas, cherry flavours and velvety tannins. Achieving pinosity requires careful use of oak and perfectly ripe fruit. Too ripe and the wine will be sweet and plummy, or suffer from the burn of too high alcohol if the sugar has been fermented out.
Our tasting was conducted blind, with wines poured from old school plastic hexagonal pub jugs so that our judgement would not be biased by personal preference.
This tactic worked a treat as many were surprised by the wines that won by popular vote. Three out of four winners were from the Te Muna Road sub-region, 5 km south of the better known Martinborough Terrace vineyards.
Wine of the week: Kiritea Pinot Noir 2008 ($19 at Regional) comes from the first commercial plantings in Te Muna Road, and is the second label of John Douglas’ Te Hera Estate.
Big names like Escarpment and Craggy Range have since followed him to the sub-region, acknowledging his wisdom and good taste. Tea rose, vanilla, bright berries and an underlying funky savouriness greet the nose, and it tastes nice too - cherries, tea and velvety tannins.
Julicher Estate ‘99 Rows’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($28) has already won 5 stars from Cuisine magazine, and a gold at last year’s Air N.Z. Wine Awards. It stood out with its buttery maraschino cherry nose, smooth cakey flavours, and long funky finish. Sold out in most bottle stores, but available on wine lists around town.
A big rich monster of a wine, Craggy Range ‘Te Muna Road’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($36) was the crowd favourite. Winemaker Adrian Baker crafts pinots from Otago too, including the famous ‘Calvert’, with which this compares favourably. Noticeably nice florals and dark fruit aromas give way to mouth-filling dense cherry flavours and big tannins.
The one wine from outside Te Muna Road to impress at the tasting? Martinborough Vineyard ‘Te Tera’ Pinot Noir 2008 ($28). Another outstanding second label, it has pinosity written all over it: an amazingly fragrant nose and complex velvety palate. Grab a bottle if you can find one.
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