Pinot noir leads New Zealand’s new quality baseline

Also don’t miss: 2019 Top 100 Wines of New Zealand

Although our interest at JamesSuckling.com extends to all styles of good and great wine from New Zealand, the best pinot noirs in the country continue to really impress us.

We tasted and rated more than 650 wines this year in New Zealand on a tasting trip and 250 of them were pinot noir. More than three-quarters of those wines have ratings of 90 points or more and represent a strong base level of quality for pinot. More than half the pinot noirs tasted rated 93 points or higher and we gave one wine a perfect rating of 100 points – the late release Rippon Pinot Noir Mature Vine 2010.

For those who follow New Zealand wine closely, this 2010 Rippon re-release is an important moment in the story of New Zealand pinot noir and the nation’s wines in general. The fact that a nine-year-old pinot has outperformed all others to take the top honors in this report, and not a seductive young pinot or syrah, merits further investigation. This is not something we have seen before.

This 2010 Rippon was briefly sold in 2013, then withdrawn from sale, and was re-released in September 2019. I first tasted this wine in late 2012 and was impressed yet confronted by the powerful structure and sheer intensity it possessed. The greatness was immediately apparent but the wine was so intense and so densely packed that the detail was indecipherable, in much the same way that a great Grand Cru Burgundy can appear powerfully simple when tasted young.

“The wine was opaque, you just couldn’t see any real detail,” recalls winemaker and joint-owner of Rippon Nick Mills. “We were getting tired of making apologies for a wine we knew was especially great but just not ready, so we put it away,” he adds.

Age-worthiness of New Zealand wine

Ironically, at around this same time, many of New Zealand’s greatest pinot noir makers were anxiously pondering the ability of their wines to age. Vintages through the decade 2000 to 2009 were retrospectively tasted in public and in private with much attention focused on the tannin structure of New Zealand pinot noir and aging ability. The wines were already catching a lot of attention with vibrant fruit flavor and zesty acidity but tannins were often elusive. “We can lack structure in New Zealand pinot,” says Felton Road winemaker Blair Walter. “The wines we were making 10-15 years ago were so often been based on fruit and acid. Things were different.”

Respected pinot noir winemaker Larry McKenna of Escarpment recalls the era clearly and sees the evolution in winemaking techniques as part of the improvement. But he points out that those changes have been facilitated by greater vine age and a trend to warmer vintages. “Whatever we would do to young vine pinot in the winery never really gave the structure that we expected,” he says. “And because of that we started playing around with stalks and new oak and tried to build the wines and give them something structural that maybe the younger vines weren’t capable of producing.”

Today McKenna’s pinot noir winemaking still features the inclusion of whole bunches but he says the style of wine has really changed and the use of whole bunches is vastly more focused and refined now than it was back in the 1990s. “The whole bunch was the best answer to structure,” he says. “It is interesting to look back because we were modest initially, maybe 20-40 percent whole bunches, and the wines were about right. But these days we use much less in cooler vintages and up around 50-70 percent in warmer vintages with higher ripeness.”

Speaking about the Rippon pinot noir wines of this era, Mills saw a turning point with the 2003 vintage. “The wines of the early 1990s were held together well but were all acid and fruit and they weren’t quite balanced,” he says. “But mature phenolics in 2003 alerted us to the way tannins could better underwrite our wines. Then 2010 came along and this pinot was the same shape but it had so much more compressed matter, not more volume, but more forward drive on the palate. We just had to embrace it.”

Embrace it they did and the wine has now re-emerged from their cellar with expansive richness, complexity, detail and length. It is a wine that delivers spectacular power with great allure. It has a dynamic palate that runs long and carves out an expansive wake of cresting tannin, rising in waves and delivering long and intense flavors. This is a great, great pinot noir.

A procession of great pinot noirs

And there is a procession of great and distinctive pinots right behind the 2010 Rippon in this report. No stranger to high scores, Felton Road got a 99-point rating for its 2017 Block 5 Pinot Noir. The excellent 2018 Block 5, tasted as a final blend just prior to bottling and due for release in 2020, is a showy edition of this wine. It has so much on offer aromatically, such elegant, long and firm tannins with trademark intensity and depth, as well as a bold fleshiness that really is stunning. There is more accessibility and immediate pleasure than you would expect from a young Block 5 here. It rated 97-98 points.

The Prophet’s Rock Pinot Noir Cuvée Aux Antipodes 2017 continues in the style set by the 2016 vintage of this wine (96 points) and has a keenly tuned and defined tannin structure that casts new light on the arid Bendigo terroir in which this wine is grown. From a very different part of the country and radically chalky terroir, the 2016 Bell Hill Pinot Noir has a more sleek, vibrant and detailed feel and the prominent oak in this wine seems to be bedded in deeper in this 2016 release. Both these wines rated 98 points.

Pinot followers should also look also to the Rippon Pinot Noir Tinker’s Field 2016 to see a younger expression of their unique pinots with succulent and juicy tannins in a detailed and energetic style. Larry McKenna’s Escarpment Pinot Noir Kupe 2017 comes from a cooler year in Martinborough also defined by earlier picking, lower alcohols, less whole bunches and redder fruits. It is a cooler style of wine and has a complex x-factor appeal. The Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2017 also delivers a velvety texture that few others manage to find. Silky at the core and succulent in the center, it has vibrant red cherry fruit. All three of these wines are rated 98 points.

Then there’s a set of six outstanding pinot noirs from Central Otago spanning the three most recent vintages, all rated at 97 points. Felton Road Block 3 2018, Two Paddocks The First Paddock 2018, Mount Edward Morrison Vineyard 2017, Mt Difficulty Pipeclay Terrace 2017, Rippon Tinker’s Bequest 2016 and Rippon Mature Vine 2016 collectively demonstrate outstanding quality, distinction and consistency across diverse areas of the Central Otago region and three consecutive yet quite different vintages. The broad band of pinots rated 96 points is a convincing display with too many to mention here. All major pinot noir regions are featured as are multiple vintages with many wines from 2017, 2018 and 2016 and as far back as 2009. There’s so much depth.

There’s a widespread trend in New Zealand pinot noir that sees producers heading past the strawberries and cream zone and beyond simple varietal flavors. They are dialling down to greater detail and subtlety in their wines. This shift is delivering tannins that are more sturdily carved and fitted close around the sapid lively fruit in the bottle. New Zealand pinot has always been delicious but so many are now vastly more interesting and powerful without sacrificing any straight-up appeal.

Following the thread of interest in these pinot noir wines, winemakers seem to have a greater willingness to make more individualistic wines right across the board instead of following a format. As winemakers focus on specific traits of their wines, they are delivering quality based on a regional and site-driven character. One such wine that made a huge splash in the tasting this year is the Te Whare Ra Pinot Noir Marlborough Clayvin SV5096 2017 (97 points). It is a wine that marries intense drinkability with sheer deliciousness.

In fact, Jason and Anna Flowerday of Te Whare Ra have delivered a convincing trifecta of astutely tuned and effortlessly drinkable pinots in this report that all speak to the quality and detail of biodynamic farming matched with a refined winemaking approach. Their 2017 Marlborough Pinot Noir is delicious with long, fresh and juicy plum, cherry and blueberry fruit on the palate. Ditto the spirited Greystone Pinot Noir Vineyard Ferment 2017, embracing terroir and fermenting grapes outdoors within the parcel itself, delivering a fascinating, high-quality pinot that cannot be replicated anywhere else.

New Zealand chardonnay

Enough about pinot noir. Chardonnay was another highlight of the tasting and New Zealand’s chardonnays are finding strong focus and refinement. The dialing in of bold fruit presence to find an apex of tension and energy is akin to the same shift that we are seeing in pinot noir. It means more nuanced chardonnays deliver plenty of flavor.

Examples come from a wide range of producers including Kumeu River, Vidal, Felton Road, Craggy Range, Clearview, Bell Hill, Giesen, Dog Point and more. The top chardonnay we tasted is a wine whose inspiration draws on the great wines of France’s Puligny-Montrachet but whose powerful style is underwritten by the high-density plantings of the Bell Hill vineyard in the region of Canterbury. The 2016 Bell Hill Chardonnay is intense, refined and complex. It is pure class (97 points).

As a region, Hawkes Bay creates impressive chardonnays and the Church Road Chardonnay Tom 2016 led the way with a chiseled, long and layered palate. There’s immense concentration of peach and grapefruit flavor and a bracingly powerful finish (96 points). The 2016 Vidal Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 1888 also delivers symphonic depth and complexity with cut and tension, there’s such good length to this wine (96 points). The newer Smith & Sheth project is also one to follow, their Hawkes Bay Cru Heretaunga Chardonnay 2018 is rated 95 here.

Giesen’s Fuder Single Vineyard Clayvin Chardonnay 2015 is a complex, fleshy and powerful wine with ultra-rich texture and Meursault-like dry extract and Kumeu River’s 2018 Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay has a super rich and concentrated feel. Both are rated 96 points.

Felton Road’s work in refining its chardonnay continues with the release of the 2017 Block 2 Chardonnay. It offers a juicy core of ripe peach and nectarine character with attractive, succulent texture. Dog Point’s complex and powerful 2017 Marlborough Chardonnay also delivers with signature gun flint complexity and structural depth. Both are rated 95 points.

Escarpment’s 2017 Martinborough Chardonnay also really impressed with reductive styling and piercing lemon and grapefruit character. It’s so intense and the texture is truly sophisticated (96 points).

“2017 was cooler and we get better complexity in our high solid ferments in cooler years,” says winemaker Larry McKenna. “We’ve seen the same revelation in New Zealand that happened with Australian chardonnay in places like the Yarra Valley. There’s more intelligent winemaking and every district in New Zealand is making three, four or five world class chardonnays now.”

New Zealand pinot gris, chenin and sauvignon blanc

In other white styles, Mahi’s Pinot Gris 2019 leads the way for this variety with mouth-watering peach and nectarine fruits. Mount Difficulty’s 2018 Pinot Gris displays rich fruit, succulence and long flavor with deep refreshment. These wines show how to deliver the sort of balance that is key to success with this variety. There’s still so much in the way of off-dry, vaguely savory and quite dowdy pinot gris wines being made and few nail the balance of texture, flavor and freshness like Mahi and Mount Difficulty, both of which rated 93 points in this report.

Chenin also is finding favor and Forrest has delivered a convincing 2018 Marlborough example (91 points). But the real star of this style is the Black Estate Home Chenin 2018 (93 points). This manages to build clever texture and complexity into a very assertive core of strong fruit and shows a deft touch and skilled interpretive winemaking. Fromm Winery has a 500ml format chenin from 2018 that does a similar thing with enhanced, focused fruit (93 points) and Mount Edward’s 2018 Chenin Blanc from Central Otago (92 points) has plenty of rich apple and creamy, smooth pastry-like texture and flavor.

Sauvignon blanc is plentiful (to put it nicely) and the repertoire of ultra-fruity, inexpensive wines is massive. Both there are some standouts. The Dog Point Section 94 2017 is a tight and concentrated sauvignon with flinty grilled lemon and struck-match aromas as well as passion-fruit pastry. It is right at the limit of complex savory style. The palate has a smooth textural build and flavors of peach, lemon and mango hold long (96 points). Folium is a producer to seek out if refined sauvignon blanc is your thing as well as Greywacke, Clos Henri, Nautilus, Zephyr and Te Whare Ra.

New Zealand’s value wines

Great value and highly drinkable wines are plentiful from New Zealand and the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Crimson 2018 speaks of quality tannin, freshness and concentrated cherry fruit flavor. This wine offers such consistent value (93 points). Greystone’s Norwester 2017 is a rich and succulent cherry-flavored pinot that has immediate appeal (91 points) and the Prophet’s Rock Rocky Point 2018 is a more serious pinot, all complex and full of interest with sleek tannins and a structured finish (93 points).

The newer Scout label has drinkability high on the radar with their 2019 Pinot x Pinot (a blend of 90 percent pinot noir and 10 percent pinot gris) delivering attractive fresh and upbeat pink and red berry fruits with a fragrant, lively feel to the nose and a smooth, layered and juicy palate that exudes drink-now style (91 points).

Syrah once again provides much in the way of interest led by the Trinity Hill Homage 2017. In elegant style it delivers white pepper, fresh summer berries, graphite, deeply spicy notes of cardamom and clove and swirling perfume. The juicy and succulent tannins carry concentrated blackberry fruit flavor with precision and intent. This is rated 98 points. 

High quality Bordeaux-style reds are plentiful and at the top of the list is the Stonyridge Waiheke Island Larose 2018. There’s such freshness and complexity here with violet flowers, purple cherry, mulberry and blackcurrant fruits knitted together with cedary, spicy oak, hints of terracotta and freshly turned earth. All class, the palate casts a rich and vibrant dark berry fruit core on unwaveringly long tannins (97 points).

Also from Waiheke, Man O’ War’s Tytti Kulta 2013 (a blend of cabernet franc, merlot, petit verdot, cabernet sauvignon and malbec) has a resolved and polished feel with regal depth and structure (96 points) and their Ironclad 2015 is as vibrant as it is majestic (95 points). Here’s a producer that manages to cram huge flavor into fuller-bodied reds that deliver suppleness and charm and yet remain powerfully commanding.

With so many regions and top rated wines represented in this tasting report, it is almost impossible to generalize about vintage, whether it be a particular style or quality. However, New Zealand’s best wines are at a very high quality level at the moment and this should evolve smoothly as winemakers focus on refinement and distinction in their wines – especially pinot noir.

– Senior Editor Nick Stock

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