New World: Pinot Noir - New Zealand
2019 Gold 5 Silver 9 Bronze 0 Commended 10
2018 Gold 5 Silver 11 Bronze 5 Commended 15
On one hand, this is a pretty good performance from the Kiwis. Five Golds is about standard for the winemakers from the Land of the Long White Cloud. On the other hand, their medal count tailed off significantly from last year, and is well down on the high of 2017.
And since both North America and Australia are seeing their awards grow pretty much year on year, it’s not too fanciful to think that in the next year or two the Kiwis might no longer ‘own’ this category in the Sommelier Wine Awards.
The problem, perhaps, is that such a lot of the entries came from Marlborough – and of all the New Zealand Pinot-producing regions, it’s the one that is most a work in progress. Styles were all over the place, and a lot of entries left with nothing.
Otago put in a strong performance (though charged through the nose for doing so), while the rest of the country provided flashes of quality, usually slightly more affordably.
All in all, considering NZ is the place outside Burgundy most associated with the grape, it rather failed to justify its reputation on this showing.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘I’m looking forward to Marlborough having more of a regional style. I don’t see that they have a direction they’re heading towards.’ Melody Wong, The Mandrake
‘Marlborough Pinot can be slightly more savoury than Otago, but here it felt like producers were trying to make them like Otago.’ Hamish Anderson, team leader
‘Every price point in the Otago flight showed good quality. It’s slightly bigger Pinot Noir than you find in France, that you can pair with food, but also serve on its own.’ Janusz Sasiadek, Bottles & Battles
‘I found the Otago versions to be very elegant, and rich in terms of red fruit and cherries, but with some herbal notes too. You could pair these with fatty, rich foods, but at the same time they’d work with vegetables.’ Corina Stanila, La Dame de Pic at Ten Trinity Square
‘As a premium New Zealand area for Pinot Noir, you obviously pay a price for Otago. This is harder in venues like brasseries, but in fine wine restaurants where the customer is more knowledgeable it’s a good upsell.’ Michael Fiducia, The Royal Automobile Club
‘Most of these I wouldn’t use – there’s a tendency to be a bit hollow or commercial – excess wood chip being used.’ Victoria Sharples, St John Wines
‘[The Greyrock] at £6.50 would be a money-making machine; it had everything Pinot Noir needs to have.’ Emanuel Pesqueira, consultant