KWFC Great Australasian Pinot Noir Challenge – 2006 Vintage

The first KWFC event held outside of New Zealand came to a conclusion on a wet and rainy night marking the start of Spring. With new vintages creeping out across NZ, it was a great way to review & farewell the ’06 releases and unwind on a Saturday night.

A challenge formed on the controversial state of the nation discussion as to which country had the upper hand in the production of Pinot Noir. It was stated that both were on a par for this seductive varietal and I took issue with this on the grounds that I believed New Zealand to be far more progressed, both in the complexity and interest factor of the wines as well as accessibility and value for money fronts - previous experience with Australian Pinot Noir under the $100 mark had been very dismal.

So the challenge was set with the mission to have a taste off between Aus and NZ Pinots exploring three different pricing brackets: Under $30, under $55 and under $100. Wines selected needed to be prime examples in each price bracket and readily accessible in both countries. Initially I thought to showcase the various Pinot growing regions in each country but decided to forego this to ensure I had excellent examples in each category.

The event was held in an informal setting with 10 ‘Pinot loving’ scoring judges, ready to pen down a myriad of descriptors for this romantic delectable wine. A selection of food was served through the evening – care taken to keep the flavours mild & creamy so as not to interfere with the task at hand. Wines were served in blind pairs progressing in price – all wines for the night were known to the judges but were only revealed on conclusion of the entire tasting.

Judges were asked to try and identify each wine, state their preference for each round and rate each wine out of 20. A rough guide was given for scoring to take into consideration nose, colour, taste and wow factor. It was fair to say that value for money also influenced some judges scoring. Finally judges were asked to give 2 points to their overall favourite wine of the night & 1 to their second – to see if any of the lower priced wines would factor in comparison to the top tier. All wines were decanted just prior to pouring.

Before heading into the findings, I just have to say that I under estimated how close these wines would be – prior to the event I felt that several of the pairs may not have been fair matches, but boy was I wrong. Every round was a close call!
I have written a tasting note for each wine with a relevant kwfc score, but have also included other judge’s descriptors to give a broader feel for the wines.

Under $30
2006 Paringa Estate ‘Peninsula” Pinot Noir vs 2006 Martinborough Vineyards ‘Te Tera’ Pinot Noir

With both names synonymous with Pinot Noir production, I thought it would be interesting to match off the lesser labels of each given that both have been well received by various publications. Te Tera took the first round vote with a win of 6 votes to 4. The NZ wine displaying a touch more complexity and depth over the Paringa. Whilst both wines were fair examples of classic Pinot neither displayed any wow factor. Both wines were enjoyable but the consensus was that if one was on a budget they would pick a different varietal than spend on Pinot in this price bracket.

2006 Paringa Estate ‘Peninsula’ Pinot Noir. Low nose with slight medicinal & clinical overtone. A deep but clear ruby colour displaying mostly tart flavours of mulberry and violets – very fruit driven wine and missing some of the earthy characteristics found in better specimens. Slightly pronounced in the mouth but a very short finish. KWFC score : 89/109

Judges: almost fragrant nose, deep red colour and deep red fruit, slight tannic finish, blackberry, doesn’t last on the palate, reminiscent of roast beef, strawberry
Group Score : 119.5 / 200

2006 Martinborough Vineyards ‘Te Tera’ Pinot Noir. Creamy nose, very sweet with a hint of candied fruit. Acid more pronounced on the palate than the Paringa but after a few slurps this settled and gave way to savoury and earthy characteristics. Deep red in colour, though a little murky with a surprising subtle orange hue. Filled with cherries and stone fruits, relatively easy drinking even though the oak was a little out of balance. KWFC score: 90/109

Judges: Rich berries & plums, dark, thick and rich in colour, full bodied more expectant of a bigger red, mellow and very drinkable though not full in flavour, opaque & smooth – butter texture and peppery aftertaste but short finish, woody & berried, buttery nose, slightly pronounced oak & acid resulting in a slight fizz feel, thick flavour and a touch of spice. Group Score: 128.5/200

Under $55
2006 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir vs 2006 Stonier Reserve Pinot Noir

At the time of selection the Pegasus Bay could be purchased anywhere between $45 to $55 – though now it seems most retailers have this in the high sixties, clearly evident as to how well this wine is performing. It was an easy decision to include this in the tasting for the night even though there are a large number of kiwi wines in this price bracket readily available that would have also performed well. Finding an Australian representative on the other hand was extremely difficult. I did my research, shopped around but I struggled to find the potential contenders that I had on my list. It seems good Pinot Noir in this price bracket is snapped up on release – reconfirming my earlier comments about accessibility of good Australian pinot at an affordable price is lacking!

These wines were on opposite ends of the pinot flavour spectrum and it was evident on pour that we were looking at apples and oranges. Again the battle was close with NZ taking out the win with a 6:4 vote in favour of the Pegasus Bay.
The step change in wines from the previous category was astounding – smiles came out from the tasters as they realised that I hadn’t duped them into wasting their spending money and they could sit back and enjoy some great drops.

2006 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir This is a thick deep plum coloured wine. It is thick, rich and silky as well as creamy, velvety and smooth – I love the texture of this wine. Sweet black cherries and a touch of sweet spice. Whilst there is immense fruit packed into the wine, the earthy savoury notes are not forgotten giving this wine a fantastic balance. Very tasty! KWFC score: 97/109

Judges: Slightly spicy on the nose, delicate mouth feel, ripe fruit on the nose, a little short on the finish but slightly tannic, berry & spice nose, touch of leather & oak, peppery, mulberry in colour & clear. Group score: 145/200

2006 Stonier Reserve Pinot Noir Very light and weak in colour, almost as though there was a splash of water sitting above the wine. Gorgeous nose of candied violets as well as earthy notes indicating underlying richness. A savoury and gamey wine begging to be served up with a hunk of roast lamb. A fair amount of depth in flavour to this medium bodied wine – mushrooms and piles of autumn leaves spring to mind. I’ve had this wine before but was far more impressed this time round. Would benefit from a little more texture, but nonetheless a great wine.
KWFC score: 95/109

Judges: Chocolatey & long lasting on the palate, smooth clear & light wine, deep red wine but very translucent, leathery flavours and a light touch of fruit, slight waxy mouth feel, a bitey wine showing quite a lot of acid – more than one glass would be a bit much. Group score: 140.5/200

Under $90
2006 Bass Phillip 21 Pinot Noir vs 2006 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir

Both these wines were no-brainer picks as far as I was concerned for the finale. Ata Rangi has been receiving accolades for years and the ’06 well known for being a stellar year. The Bass Phillip 21 marking the 21st anniversary of ‘serious’ Pinot producing by this well known name was always going to be a worthy adversary. I myself struggled with this choice – finding the 2 very similar in flavour profile & texture. After much debate the Bass Phillip was crowned king with a vote of 7:3.

2006 Bass Phillip 21 Pinot Noir A beautiful aromatic nose on this wine – currants, violets and a touch of sherbet waft off the deep burgundy colour. This wine has serious layers to work through – there are lashing of black fruit, then pangs of earthy herbal flavours and even a touch of nuttiness coming through at times. Smoke is apparent but sits well on the palate. This wine is interesting, has wow and certainly delivers if you can get it at a decent price! It will also go the distance.
KWFC score: 100/109

Judges: Full fine with lots of flavour, smooth mouth feel, mulberries and spice, very smooth buttery and creamy wine with flavour that makes its way all around the mouth, needs time to develop, slight copper hue, candied, dances on the taste buds, berry scent, wow factor – yes & want more! Group score: 170.5/200

2006 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Sweetly perfumed wine but on sampling launches into a fantastic blend of sweet and savoury. It’s smokey and woody with pronounced mushroom but tart currants as well as ripe blackfruit bring back the balance. It’s a lush silky wine with a huge amount of appeal. Delicious wine that would trounce many pinots if put side by side – unfortunately tonight the Bass Phillip had a touch more going on in the palate. Infact perhaps it’s only failing was that it is a perfect example of a classic Pinot! KWFC score: 99/109

Judges: Beautiful bouquet, piquant, smooth and silky, soft tannins, touch of coffee ,very deep & rich plum, blackberry, strawberry, slightly tannic & spicy, silky wine with sweet full mouth feel. Group score: 160/200

Overall Rankings:

1st Place : 2006 Bass Phillip with 18 out of a possible 30 points
2nd Place: 2006 Ata Rangi 7 points
3rd Place: 2006 Pegasus Bay 4 points

Whilst the Bass Phillip clearly was the crowd pleaser on the night, it is interesting to note that 4 people selected the Pegasus Bay as their second choice wine – this wine performed extremely well & I would recommend that buying up a few bottles to ensure that you’ve got a crowd pleaser in the cupboard for those last minute dinner invitations.

Another point I’d like to make is that for seasoned pinot drinkers the wines were easy to pick out – the three NZ having almost identical textures, smells and flavours. There was no denying that these wines had come from similar stables. The Australian wines however were more varied and whilst all having classic Pinot characteristics they tended to fall at either end of the sweet and savoury spectrum as opposed to smack bang in the middle.

So the verdict:

Price continues to be a huge factor with Pinot Noir – even though we’re getting better at making it in this part of the world, it is a fiddly grape and for that reason there is very little great drinking under $40 out there!

Aus vs NZ? Well I am going to have to relent & say the stakes are pretty even on this one. On a sliding scale of 1 to 9 with a country at each end, this falls smack bang in the middle at number 5.

Whilst the top wine went to Aus, 2 out of top 3 still fell to NZ indicating that you are far more likely to get great drinking wines at a lower price out of NZ and that has to factor for something. So folks it’s a hung jury in this instance – so we’ll just have to wait for another top vintage for a repeat exercise.