|
Central
Otago wines:
New Zealand's new stars Circle
of Wine Writers Central Otago dinner The wines on show were apparently selected by a New Zealand
wine journalist as being the best of their type from the region, and
as an aside, I heard mutterings from some of the winemakers
questioning the choices made. These were paired with a range of
fusion-y style courses: the food was very good, but some of it was
probably a little too strongly flavoured for some of the wines. As well as a bunch of wine writers [is there a better
collective noun than this for wine journos?] there were a dozen or so
Central Otago winemakers, who were split between the tables. I was
sitting with Alan Brady (a pioneer in the region, owner of Mount
Edward) and Jeff Sinnot (ex-Isabel Estate, newly appointed at
Amersfield). What do you need to know about Central Otago? Well, for
starters, at 45 degrees South it’s probably the world’s most
southerly wine region. It enjoys a continental-style climate (unlike
other NZ regions), and until fairly recently people assumed it was
just too cool for wine growing. They were proved wrong, and
spectacularly so, it seems. The first vines were planted here in the early 1980s. Alan
Brady, in a former life a journalist from Northern Ireland, planted
500 vines in 1981, although he emphasizes that he wasn’t the only
one experimenting then. At the time he tried lots of varieties,
including Chasselas and Müller Thurgau. His first commercial wine
wasn’t released until 1987, and he points out the vast majority of
vines in the region have been planted in the last 10 years. He began
his current venture, Mount Edward, in 1997, and he makes just 1500
cases of Pinot Noir and 200 cases of Riesling each year. Jeff Sinnot trained at Roseworthy from 1990–92. He thinks
that the best wines from Central Otago haven’t been made yet. Over
recent years Sinnot reckons that the quality of Pinot Noir has gone up
by 50%, which is a bold claim, but on the basis of some of the wines
tasted here and elsewhere, one I’m prepared to believe. ‘When I
first started working in Central I was a little horrified by what
people purported to be quality’, Sinnot reports. He thinks that the
best wine from the region hasn’t been made yet. The future for
Central Otago looks to be a very bright one, just as long as there is
a strong market for relatively small production premium wines. As well
as the fabulous Pinots, Sinnot’s tip is to watch for Gewürztraminer,
which he thinks will do very well in the future. Mount Edward Riesling 2002 Central Otago, New Zealand Mount Difficulty Sauvignon Blanc 2002 Central Otago, New
Zealand Nevis Buff Pinot Gris 2002 Central Otago, New Zealand Olssens Chardonnay 2001 Central Otago, New Zealand Peregrine Pinot Noir
2001 Central Otago, New Zealand Carrick Pinot Noir 2001 Central Otago, New Zealand Valli Gibbotson Pinot Noir 2002 Central Otago, New Zealand Pisa Range Estate Pinot Noir 2002 Central Otago, New
Zealand Rippon Pinot Noir 1992 Central Otago, New Zealand Chard Farm Pinot Noir 1999 Central Otago, New Zealand Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3 1998 Central Otago, New
Zealand see also: tasting notes of New Zealand wines |