Charles had an article ready on Chateauneuf-du-pape _but decided to shelve it in favour of a hot off the press account of the Pinot Noir 2010 Conference which he was attending in Wellington.

The morning has focused on how NZ should market and brand Pinot Noir and on the 2007 vintage. Kevin Roberts from Saatchi and Saatchi, UK Wine Writer Matthew Jukes and Australian writer Nick Stock were the keynote speakers.

Their message was surprisingly similar - don’t do to Pinot Noir what has happened to Sauvignon Blanc - don’t make it a commodity. For Roberts this means going beyond building a brand, he wants companies to sell “lovemarks” building on both love for the individual product and respect for the integrity of the producer.

Roberts was rather critical of the lack of a NZ global trade brand. Jukes and Stock were more interesting on the qualitative side, both saw clear improvements in quality since the last Conference in 2007. They thought NZ was well positioned in the global marketplace, but the message was very clear - we should not become complacent, and we need to sell our story better.

Of the wines tasted from 2007 two stood out for me. These were the Peregrine 2007 (80% Cromwell basin fruit and 20% Gibbston Valley) and the Neudorf Moutere 2007. These were very different styles. The peregrine was very much fruit driven with sweet plum and cherry flavours. It was dark and concentrated in colour with a concentrated red cherry nose.

The Neudorf was a very different style. It was much lighter in colour and far more delicate in the mouth. Perhaps reflecting its greater vine age, the Neudorf had a real minerality and complexity to it which was lacking in the Central Otago wine. It has a lovely almost stain finish. Both were excellent wines. The Peregrine was a great example of a typical Central Otago wine from the vintage. Neudorf was a bit harder to pick but was again a good example of a pinot made in the Moutere Hills. It is great to see such a great turn out for this Conference, particularly from overseas.

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