Wine: Pioneering spirit flourishes

Even seasoned writers suffer the effects of flying straight into a wine region to taste 101 pinot noirs and then enjoy drinking far too many glasses of riesling in a single day.

Not that I'm complaining about this particular tasting because it was in the heart of the most ridiculously pretty wine region that I've ever visited.

Queenstown, although not strictly in Central Otago, is the centre of this most southern of all wine regions and that was where the Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration was held.

On the second day, Blair Walter picked up carload after carload of writers who were stumbling around in the bright morning sun and took them out for several strong, long blacks before the next round of tasting hundreds of wines, followed by one of the many long lunches that stretched on, languidly, till dinnertime.

The real action came after the informal daytime activities had finished. Then the winemakers partied till as near dawn as they could manage before getting a couple of hours shuteye, then somehow summoning up the energy to do it all again.

When it was all over, four days later, and I suggested we have a few more formal tastings next time round, all winemakers unanimously agreed that they don't do formal very well in Central.

Surprisingly, they also agreed that the region is far too reliant on pinot noir. It might seem churlish to talk about the potential of white wine in a region best known for its reds, but Central Otago's whites constitute some of the best expressions of New Zealand pinot gris and riesling in the country.

Peregrine Wines viticulturist Grey Hay thinks Central desperately needs more diversity in its vineyards. Of its 1118ha of grapes, about 33 per cent is pinot noir, 10 per cent pinot gris, 6 per cent chardonnay and 5 per cent riesling.

To help redress this imbalance, Hay is planting more pinot gris and riesling, so pinot noir will soon account for only 50 per cent of Peregrine Wines' production.

Winemaker Jeff Sinnott, from Amisfield Winery, although a riesling fanatic, is putting a strong focus on pinot gris because of growing demand.

Sinnott showed some of us a wine that I regard as the best New Zealand riesling I've tasted. The 2005 Amisfield Rocky Knoll Riesling is pure Central Otago in a glass - edgy, minerally, exciting wine that is likely to be sold only at the cellar door at Lake Hayes when the tiny quantities of it are produced.

It is the low alcohol (about 9 per cent) of this riesling that I love as much as the flavour.

The rieslings from Amisfield Winery, Peregrine Winery and Felton Road Winery all show the flavours that Central Otago grapes deliver to winemakers who play to their white wine strengths.

If Sinnott's pinot gris can deliver anywhere near the deliciousness of this riesling then maybe I'll have to revise my thinking about the innocuous nature of pinot gris.

The Pinot Noir Celebration was a chance to see that the pioneering spirit of winemakers in the south is alive and well. Their strategy was not to tell us what they think we should know but to gauge opinion about their wines, their grapes, the region and their future.