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.
