E’ Sensual Pinot Adventure Otago

Posted: 16/08/2010 12:38:19 p.m.

Bear with me while I have a rave about my recent Central Otago wine region visit.

I was hosted by Central Otago Pinot Noir Ltd along side a few NZ wine professionals and restaurateurs, some Aussie sommeliers from flash Sydney restaurants such as Aria, Flying Fish and Est plus buyers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles. A great bunch, whom became close great mates after enduring 4 days of intense hospitality.

The wine people in Central are a special bunch; quite diverse, but willing and able to collaborate for the betterment of the Central Otago brand. I guess it is because it is such a young industry there that they have kind of grown up together and are used to supporting each other. They are all so passionate and generous.

Take the first day; it began with a days skiing on Coronet Peak with a bunch of wine makers. It was the perfect way to be introduced to a stunning and beautiful part of our country, and to get directly immersed in the regions terroir (some painfully). We were dragged down the ‘black’ runs and filled up with their home baking and wild meat sandwiches at half time.

Next it was a vertical tasting of Pinots from 2000, 2002, and 2005 followed by dinner and 9 more Pinots from the 2003 vintage. It was massive.

And so it continued for 4 days as we explored the different sub regions of Central learning about their geographical make up, local history and climate and the personalities that work the vineyards and make the wine;

Gibbston; closest to Queenstown and the coolest most marginal region producing wine typically; “red fruit and dried fruit herb aromatics with backbones of acidity”

Wanaka; The most northerly and beautiful sub region, overlooking the lake surrounded by mountains which provide rain and protection from frosts. It produces wines with “red fruit aromas, savoury tones, complexity and minerality”.

Alexandra; The most Southern region and probably has the most varied landscape. Relatively a warmer region producing wines typically “show spice notes with overt fruit, rich in aromatics however lighter in fruit and tannin structure”.

Cromwell; a large basin surrounded by mountains that makes up 70% of Centrals plantings and is in turn is divided into 3 smaller areas;
*Lowburn; covering 25km is the largest and one of the warmest areas including the Cromwell Valley, Pisa and Parkburn areas. “Upfront aromatics, high tones with red to darker fruits, ripe fruit tannins however delicate rather than structural wines”

*Bendigo; the newest planted region and possibly the warmest with high and sun exposure due to its aspect. “Darker fruits with structural tension from fruit tannins”  *Bannockburn; the oldest and most planted area has two distinct areas within it of Cairnmuir and Felton. Both of which are very warm and dry. Typically the wine is “Spice, darker fruits and complexity, with well defined but fine tannin structure.

We tasted over 100 wines and there was not a bad one amongst them. The best were from long standing producers who had older vines and the experience of many vintages to begin to understand the climate, soils and personality of their vineyards.

One of the most interesting items on the agenda was an arranged face off between two passionate advocates for their own ethos in viticulture. Both want the same result; great fruit to make delicious wine but the methodology was poles apart. One was of the old school adding synthetic fertiliser to the soils and the other into the new wave, bio dynamics. (Although, bio dynamics have been around for thousands of years)

Personally I would prefer to buy wines produced Bio dynamically as I believe it makes sense to nurture the soils naturally and not to mess around with Mother Nature too much.

I learnt so much from hanging out with so many passionate and knowledgeable people. Overall my impression of Central Otago region has been greatly improved. Its really hard to generalise about pinots from Otago because the plantings, soils climates and producers are all so diverse, however I see the wines as typically fruit forward with spice, minerality and savoury herbal notes especially thyme. They are more medium than full bodied and have a fresh acidity that begs for our wild hare fillet with mushrooms, creamy garlic custard, and cherry relish.