New Zealand Pinot Noir

San Francisco Chronicle

New Zealand Pinot Noir

W. Blake Gray
Friday, March 9, 2007
Top Wine in Tasting of 59 NZ Pinot Noirs

For the past 15 years, New Zealand has been the site of a new type of gold rush. Fanciers from around the world have been flocking to find the perfect spot to plant Pinot Noir.
[Podcast: Discussing the 2003 TerraVin Omaka Valley Pinot Noir.]
Once known as the "heartbreak grape," Pinot Noir doesn't prosper in just any place -- it needs, among other things, weather so cool that it produces magical wines, though some years it doesn't ripen at all. Windy, moist, pastoral New Zealand offers the right climate.
2003 TerraVin Omaka Valley Pinot Noir ($36) Mike Eaton established Clayvin Vineyard in Brancott Valley in the Marlborough region in the early 1990s, first selling the fruit to another winery, and then, in 1998, selling that winery the vineyard. He moved to nearby Omaka Valley and started again as TerraVin. Now the fruit of the new vineyard is ready for harvesting, and good fruit it is: This was the panel favorite, with dense cranberry flavors and notes of mushrooms and pine needles on a long finish. Kudos to Eaton, who began his career as a general laborer at a large corporate winery for less than $3 an hour. There's hope for us all.

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