{"id":16972,"date":"2017-02-10T23:11:46","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T23:11:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/?p=16972"},"modified":"2017-02-10T23:11:46","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T23:11:46","slug":"new-zealand-pinot-gris-a-masterclass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/new-zealand\/new-zealand-pinot-gris-a-masterclass","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Pinot Gris, a masterclass"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"new<\/p>\n

Dom Maxwell (Greystone, above left<\/em>) and Emma Jenkins (above right<\/em>) presented this masterclass on Pinot Gris from New Zealand. It\u2019s a grape that has been neglected by wine geeks. This is because it is so often a grape used to please the masses, fashioning inoffensive Pinot Grigio-style wines with little personality. In New Zealand, it has done rather well: it\u2019s a grape that is planted throughout the country. Emma pointed out that globally it\u2019s a growth market and plantings have increased in New Zealand from 130 hectares in 2000 to 1100 in 2007. There are currently 2400 hectares in the country, which is roughly similar to Chardonnay. But Pinot Gris continues to increase! \u2018A lot of people look down their nose at it,\u2019 says Emma, \u2018but it\u2019s well suited to New Zealand.\u2019 The variety has a tendency to acid drop, but with a cool growing season this can be managed. \u2018It should be treated with a lot more care: it\u2019s relatively easy to make an anodyne style, but people should do better with it,\u2019 she concludes.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is an exciting time for NZ Pinot Gris,\u2019 says Dom Maxwell. \u2018it hasn\u2019t been here in quantity for very long. There has been an understanding of canopy management, getting the acid balance right through leaf removal and crop size. As the vines get a bit older beginning to see site differences.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of the areas Pinot Gris is doing well is in the natural and orange wine field, with people playing around with skin contact. \u2018They are thick skins and you can pull a lot of structure from them,\u2019 says Dom.<\/p>\n

Here are my notes on the wines we tried.<\/p>\n

Craggy Range Te Muna Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016 Martinborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nLight, clean, pure and textural with lovely freshness, a bit of grapiness and some stony citrus fruit. Very crisp and well balanced. 89\/100<\/p>\n

Kim Crawford Pinot Gris 2016 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nRounded and a bit nutty with some grapiness. Simple, rounded and appealing with faint spicy hints. Nice fruit purity. 88\/100<\/p>\n

\"jules<\/p>\n

Jules Taylor Pinot Gris 2016 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nFresh, lively, bright and fruity with a bit of grapefruit freshness and some smoky, spicy complexity. Quite mineral with a smooth mid-palate and a tangerine tang on the finish. 90\/100<\/p>\n

Nautilus Pinot Gris 2016 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nPretty and pure with a lychee-like edge to the fresh fruit. Detailed and fresh with crisp table grape and some grapefruit characters. 89\/100<\/p>\n

Aronui Single Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016 Nelson, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nLively and bright with a spicy lemon and grapefruit freshness backing up the smoky grape characters on the palate. Attractive and detailed, with a nice mineral finish. 90\/100<\/p>\n

\"greystone<\/p>\n

Greystone Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2015 Waipara Valley, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nTextured, pure and pretty with a slight nutty edge to the sweet pear and apple fruit. There\u2019s a hint of smoky complexity here. This is all about the texture and fruit sweetness. 90\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Seresin Pinot Gris 2015 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nComplex, nutty, appley with a lovely core of ripe pear fruit and some peach kernel notes. Lovely fruit here with nice precision and balance. Lovely complexity. 92\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Greywacke Pinot Gris 2015 Marlborough, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nReally smoky, spicy and mineral with lovely precision to the textured pear, grape and melon fruit. Lively and bright on the finish with real weight on the mid-palate. The sweetness is beautifully integrated. 93\/100<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/p>\n

Gibbston Valley La Dulcin\u00e9e Pinot Gris 2012 Central Otago, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nSpicy and textural with a complex apricot, honey and stony mineral character. Very detailed and expressive with lively grape and citrus fruit. Lots of interest here: flirts with reduction. 93\/100<\/p>\n

\"prophets<\/p>\n

Prophet\u2019s Rock Pinot Gris 2015 Central Otago, New Zealand<\/strong>
\nLovely nutty, spicy, pear and peach notes adding interest to the grape and citrus fruit. There\u2019s a tightness on the finish but also some lovely depth on the mid-palate. So attractive with a serious side. 92\/100<\/p>\n

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dom Maxwell (Greystone, above left) and Emma Jenkins (above right) presented this masterclass on Pinot Gris from New Zealand. It\u2019s a grape that has been neglected by wine geeks. This…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,89],"tags":[352,390],"class_list":["post-16972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-zealand","category-pinot-gris","tag-new-zealand","tag-pinot-gris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16982,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16972\/revisions\/16982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}