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Home / The Listener / Life

Weekend wine guide: Burgundy reveals its secrets to a Central Otago pinot noir grower

Michael Cooper
By Michael Cooper
Wine writer·New Zealand Listener·
23 Jan, 2025 04:00 PM3 mins to read

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In semi-arid Central Otago, the surfaces of the land were mostly formed during the ice ages of the last few hundred thousand years. Photo / supplied

In semi-arid Central Otago, the surfaces of the land were mostly formed during the ice ages of the last few hundred thousand years. Photo / supplied

Some of us tramp the Routeburn or Heaphy tracks and others hike the Camino de Santiago. Phil Handford, a Central Otago winegrower, decided to walk the famous Côte d’Or (Slope of Gold) in Burgundy, home of the world’s most prized pinot noirs.

Handford, who has an academic background in agricultural science, co-founded Grasshopper Rock, near Alexandra, in 2003. The vineyard, planted exclusively in pinot noir, is today renowned for its consistently graceful, scented, savoury and supple reds.

Last May, Handford travelled to Europe to attend the unveiling of a memorial to his uncle, Ron Baker, whose Spitfire was shot down over Belgium in 1943 when he was just 23. “From there, we stayed in Chablis and then Beaune, walking from Aloxe-Corton to Gevrey-Chambertin, where most of the grand cru vineyards are located.” His goal? “To compare Central Otago to Burgundy.”

Handford emphasises that “Central Otago’s geography is made up of extremes from one basin to the next, compared to the Côte d’Or’s relatively uniform geography along the slope”. One key observation was that the Côte d’Or is a “tightly planted monoculture. Bees and bumble bees are something of a rarity”. In Central Otago, the inter-row areas are generally biodiverse, he says.

Burgundy’s climate is also more challenging, with a greater risk of hail. “The weather is wetter and therefore disease pressure is higher.” Vine irrigation is illegal in the Côte d’Or, but in Central Otago, the vineyards “have all been established with irrigation.” Why?

Handford points out that the Côte d’Or’s soils have had “millions of years to break down and evolve, building up the tiny clay particles so important for holding moisture”.

In contrast, in semi-arid Central Otago, the surfaces of the land were mostly formed during the ice ages of the last few hundred thousand years, he says. “The soils have very little clay and are free-draining with low water retention.”

While heat waves from the Mediterranean are threatening to speed up ripening in Burgundy’s vineyards, consistently cool overnight temperatures in Central Otago slow the grapes’ ripening, helping to “achieve maximum complexity in flavour and aroma precursors in the fruit”.

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Are Burgundy producers interested in Central Otago pinot noir? Handford doesn’t think the French have a great interest in New Zealand wine, “which is probably overshadowed by sauvignon blanc. That said, the best gift you can give a local vigneron is a bottle of your pinot noir.”

Wine of the Week

Misha’s Vineyard Cantata Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022

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Estate-grown at Bendigo, this softly mouthfilling red has generous ripe cherry, plum, spice and nut flavours showing good complexity, and a finely textured, very harmonious finish. (14% alc/vol) $35

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