In the second half of our extensive Pinot tasting, at the premium level, above £30, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa proved very strong
In a three-day Pinot Noir marathon in late September, we three judges tasted 273 premium examples from North and South America, Australasia and South Africa. There were so many high-scorers – 215 at 90 points or more – that we had to split the results. The wines from Canada, US, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay featured in last month’s November issue, while it is now time for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to shine.
And shine they did – especially Australia, which provided the top-scoring wine (opposite) plus four further Outstanding wines scoring 95. The overall standard was incredibly high, with all three judges charmed by the 44 entries.
Down Under has hit its stride with Pinot Noir. ‘Australia is making some beautiful, truly mouthwatering Pinots in lighter, sapid, refreshing styles,’ said Justin Knock MW. I can only agree: there is a purity and a willingness to let Pinot be Pinot here; there is no fear of translucency or tenderness, and the scores bear this out. Re-reading our tasting notes shows how much more voluble these wines made us, with attributes such as ‘pure’ and ‘precise’ cropping up frequently, accompanied by aromatic descriptors that go well beyond the generic. This is what we looked for and we found it in abundance here.
New Zealand had the largest entry of the whole tasting, with 63 wines, and two wines from Martinborough and one from the cool Gibbston Valley in Central Otago earned Outstanding scores. While a few wines, mostly from Central Otago, were still too oaky and bold, the bright, vivid, snappy wines far outnumbered this old-fashioned, heavier style.
Savouriness was beautiful to behold in New Zealand, above all in Martinborough, while Marlborough impressed with more regional definition between its valleys. Dirceu Vianna Junior MW observed: ‘On the evidence of this comprehensive tasting, we can see that Pinot Noir is capable of revealing its origin and sense of place well, as it was easy to notice regional characteristics.’ For Knock, ‘New Zealand is capturing most freshness and probably makes the most beautiful New World Pinot Noirs overall’.
That 27 entries were fielded by South Africa was impressive, considering there are fewer than 1,200ha of the variety in the country (the most-planted, Cabernet Sauvignon, had 9,811ha at the end of 2021, SAWIS figures reveal). These were lovely wines, imbued with herbal (fynbos) top notes, oceanic freshness and great poise. Decanter readers should take note of the Hemel-en-Aarde: all our four Outstanding wines hailed either from the Valley, the Upper Valley or the Ridge. Elgin and the high-altitude vineyards of Elandskloof in Overberg also stood out.
After three long but enthralling da
