I’m firmly of the view that Central Otago is one of the hottest pinot noir regions outside of Burgundy. Along with the Willamette Valley in Oregon, it has the potential to make significant volumes of pinot noir of a very high standard. It’s where I am now, and having just buzzed the entire region by helicopter, I’m able to say that there’s plenty more pinot about to come onstream. While there’s a distinct limit to the areas available for planting in the more southerly Gibbston and Cromwell subregions, many of the new developments are occurring in the warmer reaches around Bannockburn, Bendigo and Lowburn, where there is simply a plethora of suitable sites that should ripen pinot noir without difficulty in most seasons. Because these areas are significantly warmer than Gibbston, which on any given day in summer can be at least ten degrees Celsius cooler, some growers are seriously contemplating planting shiraz, which could do something special here. At this stage, the pinots from these northern parts of the region are richer, slightly more jammy and thickly constructed than those from Gibbston itself, which tends to need a warmer vintage to deliver its best. Significantly there is also a huge amount of investment here from wine producers from other countries, especially the US, in Central Otago, to produce wines exclusively for sale in the northern hemisphere. In itself this is something of an endorsement of pinot’s potential in these parts. I can’t think of a single important pinot noir vineyard in Australia that has been funded in this way. My apologies for the lack of communication yesterday; it has been an enormous difficulty getting an internet connection here in Queenstown.
