Cork v. Screwcap

Have a look at this supplement I stumbled upon. There is much in here I disagree with. I wonder what the advertisers paid Harpers for this supplement? What worried me most is the article by Paul White. He lives in New Zealand.

Cork v. Screw Cap

We are really getting into reduction in these posts!! One of the arguments used against screw cap is that screw cap increases the chances of reductive character in wine. This article would suggest that the opposite is more true.

But Then Again Reduction Can Be Bad

At a BBQ tonight. Not fantastic weather. By chance there was a 2004 Central Otago Pinot Noir Mt Maud. A real contrast to last night's wine. This was fermented onion and rhubarb in the mouth masked by a burnt rhubarb nose. The saving grace was that the aftertaste morphed into a nice nectarine type flavour. Not really what you expect from a Pinot Noir, but interesting.

The Mt Maude 2004 is probably all Wanaka fruit. Wanaka is much colder than the Cromwell Basin. So while both areas were hit by frosts that year, the Cromwell Basin fruit had more nitrogen available to it so the reduction was not as great.

Moral - a limited amount of reduction can be a useful component in a great wine, too much can ruin.

I marked tonight's wine 12/20. The night before for would be an 18/20.

The Value Of Age, And Why Reduction Can Be A Good Thing

I opened a bottle of a 2004 Central Otago Pinot Noir last night. It was a famous wine. It was rated early on as a great wine (a best NZ red) by a well known magazine. Everyone in the business tried it, and most disagreed with the review. It was a wine that showed too much reductive character. There was fruit there, and good oak handling, but everything was masked by a burnt rubber and forest floor character. I was one of those in the negative camp.

But hats off to the judges back in late 2005. This wine is great. So complex. Oak, lovely concentrated cherry, and still that reductive character, but only in the background. In France and New Zealand there are Pinot Noir makers who don't see reduction as the fault that others do. This 2004 shows why.

The good news is that I no longer regret having three more bottles in my cellar.

2007 New Zealand Pinot Noir

I am back now from Hamner Springs where I have attended one of the most important winemaking events of the year - the Southern Pinot Noir Workshop. Winemakers gather from aroung New Zealand and further afield to discuss wines from the barrel prior to bottling. It is usually held in the last week of the summer school holidays, and because no one else puts up their hand, Canterbury winemakers put it on for the rest.

This is a great chance to reach a snapshot view of a vintage, in this week's case 2007.

Unfortunately, as we knew might be the case, nationwide it was not a great vintage. Canterbury, Marlborough and Martinborough were all affected by frosts, bad fruit set etc, while Central Otago only had a middling season. And unfortunately, while the quality was down so are quantities.

There are real stresses apparent in the wines and many are also showing some pretty unripe fruit and stem character. My preference was for the Central Otagos, but even for them it wasn't a great year. But there is considerable variation in Central and some wines will be much better than others. Some of the better wines will be on a par with the 2006 vintage.

The good news is that 2008 vintage is looking much better for most areas. There is a bit of frost damage around and there is some set variation, but stresses will be lower. The yields and quality in Central is looking fantastic at this stage.

I çan't claim to be a Central Otago veteran by any means, but what is interesting me is that Central Otago is proving to be the most consistent area compared to Canterbury and Martinborough. Consistent low yields in the Wairarapa and Canterbury must be heartbreaking for some operators.

To end on a positive note, I was really pleased with the quality of work done by the winemakers with the 2007 material.