Global notes

If you’re into pinot noir, there is a world of great examples beyond France’s Burgundy. Wine writer Jane Parkinson runs through some standout regions and 12 excellent current releases.

Jane Parkinson goes beyond Burgundy for great pinot noir

I WAS ONCE accused of “setting the cat among the pigeons” with a speech I gave to delegates at the Central Otago Pinot Celebration. The newspaper that made this exaggerated claim was referring to my suggestion that local producers might (and I did emphasise “might”) benefit from more analysis of other great pinot-producing regions instead of tunnel-vision focus on Burgundy, as it seemed to me at the time. The aim was to elicit fresh conversation about the variety, which is being made brilliantly around the world outside of French borders, just as they are in Central Otago.

While there are many places to choose from, the example I gave in my speech was Germany. Now that it’s warm enough to ripen pinot noir well throughout all 13 of its wine regions, Germany has become the world’s third-largest producer of pinot, with nearly 12,000 hectares planted – more than NZ and Australia combined.

Of course, it’s not about volume; it’s about the generally very high standard of spatburgunder (as it’s locally known) across the board. Even so, spatburgunder could hardly be described as textbook.

For a notoriously fickle grape that’s one of the most sensitive to translating terroir characteristics into wine, it seems to go a bit rogue in Germany. It’s tricky to define a distinctive spatburgunder character from one region to the next, partly because geology overlaps regions. It moves from limestone to sandstone and clay, especially across the three key spatburgunder-planted regions of Baden, Pfalz and Rheinhessen.

Instead, it’s the current generation of winemakers who seem to be dictating styles, with a little helping hand from Mother Nature to help ripen the grapes. This modern German era of pinot noir began around 40 years ago with a steep trajectory in interest ever since, culminating in plantings doubling since 1990. And with improved knowledge of the grape and the land, producers are seeing benefits, including lower yields, while the drinkers are seeing a welcome slowing down of producers’ initial over-exuberance with oak.

Back in New Zealand, there is a lot of excellent pinot noir ground to cover. Marlborough, for all its sauvignon blanc dominance, was cited by Nigel Greening of Felton Road as “the one [region] to be watching, more than any other” for New Zealand pinot noir. Growers there abuzz with energy for the grape are refining clones and improving site selection, all of which has given Marlborough plenty of pinot promise for the future.

Pop across the Cook Straight to the North Island’s Martinborough and you find another hub of increasingly impressive pinot noir. Nourished in the region’s high-sunshine and low-rainfall climate with a coastal influence, it bears some similar conditions to Marlborough, and its alluvial gravel soil makes for a distinctive, moreish, savoury and saline style.

Central Otago, meanwhile, has made itself a pinot noir destination – with good reason. The number of subregions here highlights the attention to detail this region has given to honing the grape variety’s particularities, not to mention the varied soil types. While Bannockburn, Bendigo and Cromwell Basin are each known for producing more traditional styles, the examples from Gibbston and Wanaka are famous for having a fresher vibe with a spicy bite and refreshing minerality.

Whichever the subregion, the semi-continental climate of the wider Central Otago area generates major diurnal temperature variations, which intensifies the growing seasons for its pinot noir. The very dry Pinot noir is now so much more cooperative than it used to be, or so it seems. Its diva tendencies have been quashed by a combination of investment, patience and research. soils are known for their high mineral content, not only giving the wine that savoury salinity, but the low soil fertility produces small, concentrated berries resulting in intense and complex wines.

Over on the west coast of the US, Oregon has an event for worshippers and diehard fans of pinot noir, just like Central Otago. In Oregon’s case, it’s the International Pinot Noir Celebration.

The heart of Oregon’s pinot pulse beats in Willamette (pronounced like “damn it”) Valley across its six wine-growing regions. With formidable research on clones, site selection and soils, the wines have hugely improved since the modern pinot noir industry began there just 50 or so years ago.

For all their painstaking homework, the deluge of interest from the French has also helped put Willamette pinot noir on the map. Not that they needed endorsement, but when Burgundian producer Robert Drouhin bought land there in 1987 for Domaine Drouhin Oregon, it raised eyebrows across the pinot world. French investment hasn’t ended there, with investors and winemakers lured across the Atlantic by the volcanic and silty loam soils giving fragrance and weight respectively to Willamette’s pinots.

Pinot noir is now so much more cooperative than it used to be, or so it seems. Its diva tendencies have been quashed by a combination of investment, patience and research, all of which has led to a greater understanding of what makes pinot noir tick well enough to make world-class wines – no longer just in Burgundy, but the whole world over.