Last issue I wrote about the initial stages of Pinot Noir 2010. To update you can I share some further learnings. First, I was encouraged so many NZ Pinot Noirs from older vintages are standing up so well. Second, it was made very clear we are benefiting from the move to screw cap by our industry. Screw cap wines are lasting much better than comparable NZ wines from the same vintage sealed by corks. Also, as one would expect, the screw cap wines are showing far greater consistency. Cork taint was unfortunately a big factor in the final big tasting at the event. Of the 10 great Pinot Noirs of the world tasted on the final day one was essentially ruined by cork taint and two others showed a similar but less dominant character.

More positively I was given a most interesting aged NZ desert wine the other day. Dating back to 1996 it was sealed with a cork. It was a 1996 Late Harvest Gewurztraminer from Martinborough Vineyard. Unfortunately, this was the final vintage of Gewurztraminer made by this company. According to the label this should be “a rich sweet style (160 g/l sugar) …exhibiting the typical lychee aromas and flavours and exemplary Gewürztraminer..[which] exhibits great palate weight and texture which will allow it to age splendidly into the next century.”

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Well ten years into the next century there were hints of lychee, but what impressed me was the fact the wine was still alive and displaying incredibly complex flavours. On the back palate it was a rich dark chocolate, while mid-palate, it was like drinking a wonderful liquid toffee. Put the two together and you get a wonderful toffee pop sensation. This was a really interesting and satisfying wine. This bottle had aged very well and probably had another couple of years to go before it was past its best. What a shame many NZ vineyards gave up on this very temperamental variety.

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