Four affordable Kiwi Pinot Noirs

new zealand pinot noir

Four affordable Kiwi Pinot Noirs

seresin leah

As I write, I’m at the departure gate waiting to embark on a rather long journey to Kiwi land. So a chance to write up four affordable New Zealand Pinot Noirs I had the other night.

Seresin Leah Pinot Noir 2012 Marlborough, New Zealand
£20 Noel Young, Fareham Wine Cellar, The New Zealand Cellar
13% alcohol
A blend of all three of Seresin’s vineyards, wild fermented, with a long maceration, aged in French oak for 11 months with 15% new oak. A complex, savoury, quite mineral style of Pinot that has fruit but doesn’t let it dominate. There are red cherries, plums, herbs and pepper, with a bit of floral, aromatic lift and a fine, spicy structure. This Pinot shows restraint, elegance, and a slight wild side, with lots of non-fruit complexity. Quite lovely. 93/100

Seresin Momo Organic Pinot Noir 2014 Marlborough, New Zealand
£12.50 The Wine Society
13% alcohol
11 months in old French oak. This is delicious: it’s light, juicy and fruity with a deliciously savoury, meaty, peppery edge to the red cherry and cranberry fruit. This has a lovely savoury twist to it, and a bit of aromatic lift, making it very food friendly. This is a wine with integrity and drinkability, and a little bit of wildness. 91/100

ara pinot noir

Ara Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2014 Marlborough, New Zealand
£11.99 Waitrose, but £8.99 until 24 Jan 17
13% alcohol
This is juicy and bright with red cherries, plums and a nice savoury twist. There’s a nice freshness to this wine, and it has real drinkability and food compatibility. There’s some grip, and a hint of pepper, with a crisp, crunchy raspberry edge, as well as a hint of oak. 89/100

The Ned Pinot Noir 2015 Marlborough, New Zealand
£13.99 Majestic, £11.99 mixed six price
13.5% alcohol
This Pinot Noir has lovely floral cherry fruit aromatics, and flavours of spice, redcurrants, cherries and plums. With fruity directness and an appealing, fresh fruity presence, this is utterly more-ish, made in a new world style, and finishing with a bit of oak spice and coffee. Never aims at elegance: this is for those who like a bigger style of Pinot. 89/100

2 Comments on Four affordable Kiwi Pinot NoirsTagged ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

2 thoughts on “Four affordable Kiwi Pinot Noirs

  1. Interesting the pricing on these wines. There seem to be more NZ Pinot value options around than say 5 years back. A good thing I suppose, as long as they don’t devalue the whole category.

    Also I’m wondering how sustainable a 12 (or 9!) quid NZ Pinot is, especially with the pound at 1.72 and apparently drifting lower. I looked up “Ara Single Estate” which may be the same as “Ara Single Vineyard” at a bottle shop in Auckland and they sell is for 24 NZD = 13.95 GBP…

    Lastly am wondering what score you’d give Cono Sur Reserva, as a comparison. I couldn’t find it on your site in recent years and in the UK you can currently buy it (now known as “Reserva Especial”) for 9 quid.

  2. Interesting, unfortunately something that we in Belgium/Netherlands don’t have the same degree of visibility on as you guys. too expensive to import (there are some notable differences) or lack of interest. As for the Seresin wines, I like them but they are a bit unstable at times, especially on day 2.

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