2002 New Zealand Pinot Noir Tasting

Geoffrey · Post by **Geoffrey** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 6:47 pm

Attended a tasting of forty eight 2002 New Zealand Pinot Noirs late last week, the tasting was put on by an Auckland wine company, the cost for the two and a half hour tasting was nz$20, the cheapest wine was Kumeu River Villages nz$17.95 the dearest the Gibbston Valley Res. nz $100, ave. price of the 48 wines was nz$36.50.

When tasting a large number of wines like this and of one grape variety they can all start tasting the same.None the less i did manage to taste all the wines and hopefully done them justice. They were all good wines nothing that was undrinkable that you would put the cork back into and pass onto your mother inlaw :lol:

The only negative that i came away with was that a few of them are getting a tab expensive for what they are, the Gibbston Valley Res is not a nz$100 wine and at the other end of the scale the Waipara Springs Res. which i use buy lots of at nz$27 is now nz$38. I guess with the high cost of buying land for grapes in New Zealand and with it the debt servicing ( one of the biggest cost to a nz winemaker at present ) they have to get a few bucks for their wines. Wouldn't want the market to collapse if you are a winemaker.

The wines that did stand out mostly have had form in previous vintages, Carrick, Mt. Difficulty and Kawarau Estate Res. all from Central Otago and priced at about nz$38. From Marlborough Kaituna Valley nz$47, Lawsons Dry Hills nz$28, Seresin nz$40, Vavasour nz$27 and the Wither Hills nz$45 which was my pick of the night showing good p/n flavors of plums and spice soft tannins great length in the mouth and a wine that will in time develop good secondary flavors. From Martinbrough Schubert nz$51 and the Ata Rangi nz$62 while from Waipara, Pegasus Bay nz$42 and the Alan McCorkindale nz$43.
The best QPR wines of the night and something one does look out for in Kiwi p/n was the Kumeu Villages nz$17.95 ( one of the first wines to run out during the tasting) Daniel Schuster Twin Vineyards nz$22.95 and the Waipara Hills Canterbury nz$19.99
It would be great to taste all these wines in two years time as you don't really do them justice one year on from vintage, but all in all a dam good tasting and not a bad wine amongest them credit to their kiwi winemakers.

Cheers

Geoffrey

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Tue Sep 09, 2003 9:34 pm

Geoff,

Sounds like a good tasting.....did you get a chance to try the Waipara West Pinot...just wondering what the last vintage was like..as I'm off there for 3 months next April to be their lab-dood over vintage.
I'm off to a ten vintage vertical of Ata Rangi pinot tomorrow in Sydney, so I'll post some tasting notes later in the week.

Cheers

Dave

michel · Post by **michel** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:37 am

Geofrrey
thanks for the notes. You are right the prices for the top end are extraordinary.

David
look forward to your tn on the Ata Rangi wines esp 97 98 which i still have left.
98 always tends to look oaky to me.
2000 has always been a standout
cheers
michel

Geoffrey · Post by **Geoffrey** » Wed Sep 10, 2003 8:02 pm

Dave
There was no Waipara West Pinot Noir at the tasting, i haven't yet tasted the 02 but have of the last few vintages, the style tends to be a young Burgundy style black cherries etc well oaked and a wine that would improve with cellar time, the last vintages have from memory been selling between nz$22-25. The vineyard strength appears to be in its white wines Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay. I attended a tasting of Waipara wines late last year and at that tasting they had a 1999 Cabernet Franc, Bdx. style, ripe fruit and great QPR at about nz$18. Unfortunately i haven't seen much of it around, i think alot of their wines are sold overseas

The 2002 vintage in Waipara was not as badly affected as other areas in nz which were badly hit with early frosts, it was cool early on in Waipara and that did have some affect on volume at harvest but in general the quality of the wines have been good and that has shown up in other wines from the area of the 2002 vintage that i have tasted.

You will enjoy your stint at Waipara West for three mths from april,its a spectacular vineyard were the grapes are grown. Christchurch is only 40 minutes south and Marlborough 3hrs drive away, the South Alps grow away to the west of you.

Cheers,

Geoffrey

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:07 am

Geofrrey

Cheers for the info....My parents have a property at Hawarden on the other side of the Weka Pass and I did a short stint rootstocking at Waipara West about 2 years ago and it is a beautiful vineyard....gets bloody windy though..but I'm looking forward to coming home for a while.

michel

The Ata Rangi tasting was a blast!
The 97 we tried was from a magnum, so a bit under-developed compared to the others...lovely funky, farmyard, fungal aromatics with a slight green thread that ran through the wine, which along with the sweetness of the fruit will allow the 97 to age beautifully for some time.
The 98...was huge....a difficult season...a few people commented that it had a almost Nebbiolo-like quality....BIG mouthfeel...dark stone fruit(Cherrys/plums), Chocolate, leather and tar....very big and complex...quite tannic but one of the standouts on the night.
The 2000 was also a standout...Clive Paton says it was one of the best vintages they have had....more tightly structured than a lot of the other wines..with a beautiful weight and balance.
I'll whip up some notes for the other wines today....

Cheers

Dave

michel · Post by **michel** » Thu Sep 11, 2003 10:46 am

thanks Dave
look forward to them
michel

SueNZ · Post by **SueNZ** » Fri Sep 12, 2003 6:26 am

DaveB wrote:The 98...was huge....a difficult season...a few people commented that it had a almost Nebbiolo-like quality....BIG mouthfeel...dark stone fruit(Cherrys/plums), Chocolate, leather and tar....very big and complex...quite tannic but one of the standouts on the night.

Mmmm, interesting. Ata Rangi have some Nebbiolo in their vineyard, don't they!