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Pinot Noir

Wine of the week... 23 January 2023 - Clayvin Pinot Noir

January 23, 2023

When is the best time to drink Pinot Noir - when it's young or when it's old?Like people, wines age in very different ways and there's no reliable barometer, but a five year old Pinot Noir from Marlborough makes a great case for waiting half a decade, especially seeing ...

The Hard Pressed Podcast and Chard Farm The Viper

December 24, 2022

As if the year hasn't been busy enough, a friend and wine lover suggested we launch a podcast. Great idea! I'm in, I said, about eight months ago. Last week, we finally did it, in the middle of work, family and other life busyness. The result is The Hard Pressed Podcast, whi...

Tasting note... 2021 Pegasus Bay Vergence Red MK II

December 9, 2022

18.5/202021 Pegasus Bay Vergence Red MK II Pegasus Bay has forged a reputation for great whites and powerful reds modelled on the great classic wines of the world, so here's one that breaks the mould. The second edition of Vergence is a blend of mostly Pinot Noir w...

Tasting note... 2019 Doctors Flat Pinot Noir RRP $56 to $57

December 3, 2022

Doctors Flat is an elevated three hectare vineyard in Bannockburn, Central Otago, where schist sub soils, clay and fine silt all provide Pinot Noirs with great density and complexity. This is a full bodied, dark take on the Central Otago Pinot theme, made from three Dijon cl...

New tasting room in Martinborough...

November 5, 2022

Nga Waka grows visitor numbers with new facility

Growing visitor numbers to Martinborough now have a new tasting room to visit before they even enter the village with the official opening of Nga Waka's new cellar door tasting room this week.The small winery is has more than doubled its vineyard holdings in the past seven y...

New Huntress Pinot Noir best yet - wine of the week

October 7, 2022

Wairarapa winemaker Jannine Rickards new and old

What's the most important decision in winemaking? It's a bit of cliché these days but it is true to say the most important winemaking decision is when to the pick the grapes. And the when is becoming earlier each year, says Wairarapa winemaker Jannine Rickards, wh...

Where does the best Kiwi Pinot come from?

August 26, 2022

Which region makes the best Pinot Noir in New Zealand? A winemaker with two decades of experience in Pinot Noir production suggests that no region is superior to any other and, to prove his point, Ben Dugdale has produced a triptych of Pinot Noirs from three extre...

Friday drinks with an unreliable, moody, thin skinned (but strangely likeable) red grape...

August 23, 2022

Temperamental, needing constant care and attention and highly changeable, why is Pinot Noir a natural fit for New Zealand?

Haunting, subtle, thrilling and brilliant. Pinot Noir production is on the rise globally with a 24 per cent increase since 2021 according to Wine-Searcher. Pinot Noir has always been a problem child. Unstable, thin skinned and constantly changing so that it is unreliable at ...

Wine of the week - Isle of Man meets Central Otago

August 14, 2022

It's a long way from the Isle of Man to Bendigo and much as the Kerruish family is looking forward to the trip, they are not holding their breaths. Theirs is yet another story of how covid has irrevocably changed lives in unforeseen ways. A trip to Europe with their children...

Friday drinks - Best is yet to come for Martinborough winemaker Tim Bourne

July 29, 2022

Tim Bourne is the winemaker at Escarpment Vineyard in the majestic Te Muna Valley, Martinborough. A place where Pinot Noir finds its greatest expression in good vintages of Kupe; one of four single vineyard wines released this month in New Zealand. Bourne has worked with Lar...