What’s next for New Zealand Pinot Noir?

In a little over three decades New Zealand has emerged from relative obscurity to become one of the world’s most exciting wine producing regions.

In 1987, around the time that New Zealand’s first commercial Pinot Noirs were hitting the shelves, there were just 5,882 hectares of vineyards throughout the entire country. Two decades later, by 2007, there were 25,355 ha, 543 wineries, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was officially ‘a thing’ and Pinot Noir had been established as the country’s flagship red grape. Today, that figure has risen to 36,192 ha, with 675 wineries producing 313.9 million litres of wine in 2016.

In the UK, New Zealand now holds the highest average bottle price, at £7.14, compared with the market average of £5.49, with this figure rising to £9.17 for New Zealand red wines, driven largely by Pinot Noir (Nielsen MAT 5.11.16).

So what’s next for the country’s Pinot ambitions? We asked some of its top winemakers what steps they should now be taking to protect and strengthen their reputation for the grape.

Click through to see what they had to say…

Jeff Fyfe, general manager of winemaking, Yealands Family Wines

“In the past few years we have seen the style of wines being produced become more defined, our confidence has grown, and we are now saying: ‘This is our style, this is our story.’ Across the board, the quality of the wines are now outstanding, and this should only improve as vines get older and we get wiser.

“Kiwis are a fiercely competitive bunch, so we are simply all trying to produce the best-quality wine we can, which, in turn, can give consumers the confidence that if they choose a New Zealand Pinot Noir then they should be rewarded with a very pure expression of high-quality, cool-climate Pinot Noir.”

Patrick Materman, chief winemaker, Brancott Estate

“No variety expresses its sense of place better than Pinot Noir, so the key to strengthening our reputation is to craft wines that wear their terroir with pride. For Brancott Estate, we are championing Marlborough Pinot Noir, which is finely structured with palate sweetness and wonderful red fruit brightness. We planted the first Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough in 1975, but most people don’t realise that we were also the first to plant Pinot Noir in Marlborough at the same time.

“We’ve spent a lot of time understanding the impact of vine age, soil structure and vineyard site selection on quality and expressiveness. You can see distinct differences between the flavours and texture of Letter Series T Pinot Noir, which comes from clay-based soils in the Southern Valleys, and Terroir Series Pinot Noir from the cooler, dryer Awatere Valley.”

Helen Morrison, chief winemaker in Marlborough, Villa Maria

“It’s an exciting time to be part of the industry, when our key focus is on the evolution of our New Zealand style of Pinot Noir. For a wine industry with a relatively short history, New Zealand has a very collaborative approach, sharing knowledge in every area of the business from viticulture and winemaking through to sales and marketing. What remains untested, but promises to deliver great results in the future, is the ability of our Pinot Noir to age well.

“With many vineyards planted only 20 years ago, our highest tiers or icon Pinot Noir wines are yet to show the world their longevity or ability to cellar but retain freshness, fruit and textures that speak of their turangawaewae for years to come.”

Claudio Heye, general manager, Domaine-Thomson (Central Otago and Gevrey-Chambertin)

“New Zealand has managed to make some very good Pinot Noir with relatively young vines, so it should be exciting to see how they will develop as we learn more about our soil, vines and how to get the best fruit out of them as they mature. There is a big movement towards organic and biodynamic farming (Domaine-Thomson is certified organic (BioGro-NZ) and practises biodynamic farming) and that has to be a good thing for future vintages.

“At Domaine-Thomson, we are also pushing the boundaries in making not only ‘single vineyard’ Pinot Noir but also ‘single block’ (such as our Explorer Pinot Noir from the Moonblock) and even a yet-to-be-released ‘single clone’ (777) Pinot Noir from a few selected rows (Domaine-Thomson ‘Rows 1-37’ Central Otago Pinot Noir 2014). I feel that small-scale, interesting wines with personality and sense of place are the Pinot Noirs that will really help build a solid reputation for New Zealand as a premium quality producer.”

Chris Stroud, marketing manager for Europe, New Zealand Wine Growers

“To maintain and, indeed, build upon this growing reputation, the next step is to highlight and promote the regionality of New Zealand Pinot Noir. There are six key regions in New Zealand producing Pinot Noir, all with their own particular signature identity (indeed, many of these such as Central Otago, Marlborough and others have a number of sub regions which also produce their own distinctive characteristics).

“As production and the number of plantings increase, it is important that wineries maintain their regional style to showcase the sense of place where the wine is produced. Many of New Zealand’s vines are still young, but as those vines age, the wines will show more complexity, structure and a definitive expression of place. This is going to be New Zealand’s strength in the future as it will be capable of producing a multitude of distinctive regional styles.”

Stephanie Hill, brand manager, González Byass (Jackson Estate)

“2017 is set to be an exciting year for Jackson Estate. Having recognised the potential of Marlborough Pinot Noir, it has decided to open its first ever cellar door and a unique new winery, which will be principally dedicated to making finely-crafted Pinot Noir.

“Jackson Estate has always focused on producing premium-quality wines, and this is the key to strengthening the reputation of New Zealand Pinot Noir. Having a dedicated Pinot Noir winery will allow them to focus on hands-on, small-batch winemaking to handcraft wines of elegance, finesse and longevity that express the individual varietal characters and unique flavours of our Marlborough vineyards and vintages.”

Liam McElhinney, winemaker, Te Pa

“One of New Zealand’s best assets is its unique geography. We have several regions producing world-class Pinot Noir, at a range of price points. I see regional and sub-regional expression as increasingly important to New Zealand’s Pinot Noir reputation. Pinot Noir provides truly diverse expression within one grape variety, giving a snapshot of different soils and microclimates.

“Pinot Noir from Omaka Valley [in Marlborough] is ethereal, with fine acidity and freshness on the palate. That from Ben Morven is bolder, with ripe cherry fruit and density on the palate. The challenge the UK trade faces is to recognise and embrace this diversity, by educating trade and consumers as to why New Zealand Pinot Noir is so special.”

Eveline Fraser, winemaker, Little Beauty

“We must continue with our vigilance towards bio security and proactively pursue the long overdue process of having official GIs for our viticultural regions. We will support any developments to improve on NZ’s sustainability programme and continue to develop our communications to raise awareness about these efforts.

“We must only produce wines with integrity and absolutely resist the urge to compromise. Pinot Noir does not take kindly to short cuts or cost cutting. For this wine to be great, it demands low yields, intensive canopy management, careful hand picking, sorting of fruit pre fermentation and sensitive winemaking with careful barrel ageing.”