As some of you know, Pinot Noir from New Zealand has become somewhat of a fetish , not only for me, but also for many of my wine tasting friends in AuZone - the wine tasting society. Luckily for us, there is quite a good number of these wines available here in Sweden - a bit surprising indeed, since Sweden and New Zealand actually are at the antipodes of each other. The boom of Pinot Noir in New Zealand is young, many vineyards are less than 10 years old and only a few are older than 20 years. Still, a sign that Pinot Noir is getting established also here is that more wineries are releasing separate vineyard bottlings. With AuZone we have already held a Felton Road tasting, learning about the differences between their regular Pinot Noir and their famous Blocks 3 and 5. Since the Martinborough winery Escarpment in 2006 released three different vineyard bottlings (Te Rehua, Moana and Voyager) I felt it was time to do a tasting of these, plus their regular Pinot and also of Kupe, another separate vineyard bottling that they have made already for a few years, the 2006 was the third time it was released. The name behind Escarpment is Larry McKenna, who made his fame as the winemaker at Martinborugh Vineyards for many years. In 1999 he started the Escarpment winery, just across the Te Muna Road from Martinborough Vineyards, together with his wife, Sue, and the Kirby couple. The Kupe vineyard is newly planted and owned by the winery, while for the other three vineyard bottlings in their "Insight Series" the grapes are bought from three different old vineyards.
2005 Premo, Waipara Springs, Canterbury
We started with a ringer. This one comes from the Canterbury district, in the middle of the east coast of the south island. On the nose there is a delicious, deep Pinot fruit with lots of ripe strawberries. The oak is a bit pronounced with smokey notes and a hint of hot dogs.
On the palate the attack is fresh and clean and with a good, chewable texture. A fresh acidity and some, fine grained tannins. It finishes a bit fiery and with a growing bitterness that unfortunately takes away some of the positive initial impressions.
2005 Kupe
Clean, fine tuned, fruity and a bit restrained nose. Finesse and freshness with deep strawberry fruit. A hint of mosquito repellent and moth balls making it a bit aromatic, in a nice way, I should add, perhaps.
Lean and very fresh attack. Clean fruit and a pronounced acidity which dominates a bit. Astringent but fine grained tannins. Dry and acidic finish. Lean and acid-driven today, will hopefully evolve to something more mellow with time, but I'm not quite sure. I would wait at least five years to expect it to approach maturity.
2006 Te Rehua
Open, fresh and charming nose with lots of fresh strawberry fruit. Good pinosity. Clean, maybe lacking a little in depth.
Fresh attack with some meat. Fresh acidity, though quite far from Kupe's almost searing acidity. A bit lean in the mid-palate. Moderate, dryish tannins. Lean and a bit unyielding finish. Hopefully this one will develop a bit with some more years in the bottle.
2006 Moana
Full bodied, almost voluptuous nose with some meat giving a hint of development. Silky and seductive, lovely Pinot character with strawberry fruit and a hint of smoke.
Broad and meaty attack with a good acidity. Chewable, almost a bit coarse texture and some bitterness growing towards the end. Fine, rounded tannins. Very nice wine. Group's clear winner and my no. 2.
2004 Pinot Noir
Strange, unfresh nose, more like old running shoes than fresh Pinot. Sweet over ripe fruit, beginning to become a tad too ripe to be fresh.
Ripe fruit in the attack. A good acidity gives some freshness to the cooked fruit. Soft tannins. Bitter finish. Hopefully something has happened here. another bottle would need to be checked in the hope that not all of them are like this.
2006 Pinot Noir
Rather full bodied with fresh, clean, aromatic strawberry fruit. Pinosity. A tad closed. A whiff of rubber and also some smoke. Good depth and concentration.
Fresh, tight attack with some sweetness. Good acidity and concentration. Notes of smoking wood fire. A bit hard and stony, almost some asphalt. Fine grained, embedded tannins. Dens, rather unyielding finish. Very good wine in the need of a couple of years rest in the cellar.
2006 Voyager
Deep and dense but closed and unyielding nose. Dark fruit, strawberries and cherries, getting more aromatic and open after some time in the glass. Also a smokiness is coming forward, giving notes of hot dogs and chocolate. Very deep.
Fresh and clean attack. Dense but also stylish. Good acidity and delicious fruit. Quite a lot of fine grained and nicely embedded tannins. Fiery, intense finish. Lots of potential for a great wine here. I will revisit it in about two years time. Group's no. 2, my winner.
To summarize, a very interesting tasting. A sense of terroir seems to be possible to find among the Kiwi Pinots now. Most of these wines felt a bit tunneling now and would need some time to open up again, hopefully to show their greatness.
Cheers,
Anders
