Falstaff Magazin International 01/2021

wine / PINOT NOIR < NEW

wine / PINOT NOIR < NEW ZEALAND: THE PINOT NOIR MIRACLE New Zealand’s cool but sunny climate predestines it for Pinot Noir. No other New World country has achieved such global recognition for its Pinot Noirs in such record time as New Zealand. While a few Pinot Noir plantings thrived in the 19th century, for much of the 20th century the island state struggled with archaic licensing laws and a hangover from a strong temperance movement. It took New Zealand until the 1970s and 80s to start over with a modern wine industry - but they have lost no time since. In the late 1990s there were just 500 hectares/1,236 acres of Pinot Noir, today there is ten times as much. What is even more remarkable about New Zealand’s Pinot Noir is that regional styles have become crystallised. New Zealanders like to use the Maori term turangawaewae – a place to stand – to give a name to the sense of place the wines have. “It is the nearest you can get to the idea of terroir in our country,” Nigel Greening, owner of Felton Road, says. “It is about being grounded, about a place giving you strength.” While the first modern plantings of Pinot Noir were around Auckland, BEST OF New Zealand FELTON ROAD PINOT NOIR BLOCK 3 96 2020, CENTRAL OTAGO ATA RANGI PINOT NOIR MCCRONE 96 VINEYARD 2019, MARTINBOROUGH GREYSTONE PINOT NOIR VINEYARD 96 FERMENT 2018, NTH. CANTERBURY EATON PINOT NOIR WAIHOPAI 2018, 96 MARLBOROUGH BLANK CANVAS PINOT NOIR 95 ESCAROTH 2017, MARLBOROUGH BURN COTTAGE VINEYARD PINOT 94 NOIR 2018, CENTRAL OTAGO today’s main regions are in the cooler reaches that Pinot is so well suited to: Martinborough wines are wonderfully savoury and some of the most distinct in the country, while ever more exciting parcels of Pinot proliferate in Marlborough – from big brands to boutique producers. Nelson continues in its smooth vein while Canterbury makes most of its pockets of limestone. Central Otago has turned a real corner – where once there were fruit bombs now there is elegance. This refinement continues with every vintage. AUSTRALIA: THE LONG WAIT Pinot Noir arrived in Australia as early as 1817 – and we also know that James Busby, a viticulturist, brought Pinot Noir to Australia in 1832. A clone called MV6, or Mother Vine No. 6, has been preserved from these early arrivals, giving Australia some pre-phylloxera genetic Pinot Noir heritage. Australia may be better known for its Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling wines, but its Pinot Noirs – grown in the cooler regions – take their rightful place in our global varietal line-up. The Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills are the Pinot hotspots on the mainland, then there is the cool island of Tasmania, surrounded by the cold waters of the Southern Ocean. Australian Pinot Noirs often come with a lovely tinge of mint and eucalypt on the nose, but the stylistic range is wide. Steve Flamsteed of Giant Steps NEW ZEALANDERS LIKE TO USE THE MAORI TERM TURAN- GAWAEWAE, A PLACE TO STAND, TO DESCRIBE THE SENSE OF PLACE THE WINES HAVE. BEST OF Australia TOLPUDDLE VINEYARD PINOT 96 NOIR 2018, TASMANIA GIANT STEPS PRIMAVERA 96 VINEYARD PINOT NOIR 2018, YARRA VALLEY STARGAZER PINOT NOIR 95 2018, COAL RIVER VALLEY, TASMANIA YABBY LAKE VINEYARD 93 PINOT NOIR 2019, MORNINGTON PENINSULA LETHBRIDGE PINOT 93 NOIR 2018, GEELONG in the Yarra Valley expresses what probably every Pinot Noir grower and winemaker feels – referring right back to the site-specific nature of Burgundy and that lighthouse position it still occupies as the holy grail of Pinot Noir – that Pinot-makers acknowledge Burgundy’s legendary and historic status but are no longer taking stylistic clues from that region, on the contrary: “We’ve given up trying to emulate some other wine and now we are just trying to make Yarra Valley Pinot Noir – and even homing in on certain sites, like Applejack Vineyard and Primavera Vineyard.” Photos: mauritius images / Danita Delimont / David Wall, JEFF PACHOUD / AFP / picturedesk.com, Stargazer Wine, Bodeg Chacra 20 falstaff winter 2021

The vineyards at Felton Road, Central Otago, New Zealand. WE HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO EMULATE SOME OTHER WINE AND NOW WE ARE JUST TRYING TO MAKE YARRA VALLEY PINOT NOIR. STEVE FLAMSTEED WINEMAKER AT GIANT STEPS CHILE AND ARGENTINA: BETWEEN OCEAN AND DESERT The reputation of Pinot Noir in South America is recent, but there is an Argentine Pinot vineyard planted in 1932 – now belonging to Bodega Chacra – that tells us that the quest for making evocative Pinot Noir is much older. This particular old-vine parcel is in Patagonia where the world’s most southerly vineyards are, where winds of up to 130kph/80mph whip across the desert-like landscape. Maximo Rocca of Otronia calls it “viticulture at the edge of the impossible.” So yes: Pinot Noir thrives in the coolest pockets of Argentina and brings forth touching wines that seem to be the essence of ‘Pinot-ness.’ Another edge < BEST OF Chile & Argentina BODEGA CHACRA PINOT NOIR 96 TREINTA Y DOS 2019, PATAGONIA OTRONIA I PINOT NOIR 2017 94 PATAGONIA CLOS DES FOUS PINOT NOIR 92 PUCALÁN ARENARIA 2014, ACONGACUA COSTA SANTA RITA MEDALLA REAL PINOT 91 NOIR GRAN RESERVA 2020, LEYDA VIÑA ERRAZURIZ PINOT NOIR 2020, 91 ACONCAGUA COSTA winter 2021 falstaff 21