If you thought great New Zealand pinot noir only poured out of Central Otago, then here's a nugget of knowledge for you. Waipara is fast becoming where it's at. Well, recently it was anyway, with the announcement that the Greystone "Brothers Reserve" 2012 ($69) scooped the prestigious International Pinot Noir trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Not only is this a massive pat on the back for their vineyard and winemaking team, it also means that in addition to Central Otago, Marlborough and Martinborough - the North Canterbury region of Waipara is letting in the limestone love. To come out on top over thousands of entries is huge, but this award has not come out of nowhere. Greystone won the Champion Pinot Noir trophy at the 2013 Air New Zealand Wine Awards for the "little brother" Greystone pinot noir 2012 - and that certainly got people talking. But what a vintage! Dom Maxwell, Greystone's winemaker says the 2012 vintage "provided fruit with intensity and vibrancy, accompanied by alluring poise and aromatic abundance". The Brothers Reserve pinot noir comes from the highest block of vines on Greystone's Omihi hill site with deep limestone soils. Maxwell says, "We're just now seeing the results of the vines getting down into this limestone and are very excited to see the future for pinot noir from these hills."
The team of international judges said the wine had all the classic textural and fruit hallmarks you could ask for in great pinot noir. Their notes described it as "a delicious wine with real presence, this is generous, rich and fleshy, with lots of bright redcurrant and raspberry aromas and concentrated plum, dark cherry and violet flavours. With an earthy character, smokey oak notes and an interesting savoury element, it's robust but with very supple tannins, a silky-soft mouthfeel and a finish full of Christmas pudding spices.
Dom has been with Greystone since its inception in 2004 following stints in Rheingau, Burgundy and Oregon. All Greystone pinot is handpicked and sorted, with the wines being neither fined nor filtered. Dom uses wild yeasts to initiate his fermentations but he's also experimenting with more unusual practices, such as vineyard fermentations. This involves the fermenter being placed in the vineyard for the entire fermentation period (usually about 30 days) He believes the native yeasts in the vineyard change from year to year and so to express each vintage in its purest form; it's important to capture that in each ferment. Well, whatever Dom and his team are doing - they're doing it right. Congratulations to them.
I doubt I'll be able to get my mitts on a bottle of Greystone pinot noir anytime soon, but I've been lucky enough to taste a smorgasbord of great wines this week. But first, a motivational wine fact from the internet: Consuming excess wine does not make you fat. It actually makes you lean. Against walls, furniture, people and trees and stuff.
Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva 2007, $19
