We are slowly recovering from the exhilarating journey that was Pinot Noir NZ 2017, recently held on the Wellington City Waterfront.

We were thrilled to host over 600 delegates from around the world who descended on our capital city, including 115 of the country’s best Pinot Noir producers, bringing together the largest ever group of New Zealand winegrowers in one place.

That’s quite a lot of glasses to polish…. 6000 to be precise.

But it was all worth it to celebrate of one of the world’s most revered grape varieties in one of the most exciting places it is planted on the planet.

Those that attended spent three days embarking on a virtual road trip, navigating New Zealand through its life blood – Pinot Noir. Together we could see, feel and be fully immersed in our Turangawaewae – our sense of place, where we stand, and where we draw our inspiration from.

The opportunity to be together as a community was invaluable, and the energy created as a result will propel us further on our pursuit for wine greatness.

An incredible array of speakers – both international keynotes and our own kiwi authorities – challenged us about who we are, how we define ourselves and what true greatness really is. We considered everything from the effect of music on wine, to fermenting with wild yeasts in the vineyard, to the big topic of our guardianship of our land and the process and practices of protecting and looking after the environment (kaitiakitanga).

Our chefs Al Brown, Graham Brown and Josh Emett, led by our Culinary Director Ruth Pretty did us proud, serving over 17800 plates of exciting, fresh New Zealand food.

775 different wines were poured over the three days at our comprehensive free flow tasting sessions and social events.

Everywhere on the Wellington waterfront was commandeered, from TSB Arena to The Michael Fowler Centre, to parts of Te Papa museum. This gave attendees the unique opportunity to follow a nationwide Pinot road trip within a few minutes walk of each wine region.

The wine regions themselves created some amazing spaces, which included everything from a caravan and Central Otago tussocks, to a ping-pong table complete with the vineyards of North Canterbury, and some pretty crazy taxidermy thrown in for good measure.

This didn’t detract from the seriousness of the subject at hand, which considered where New Zealand sits in the international wine world. While we produce only a small percentage of the world’s wine it became obvious we have a unique and compelling story to tell.

If there was a single take-home message it was that New Zealand Pinot Noir has come of age. We no longer need to compare ourselves to other parts of the world, but rather have a strong sense of who we are, and what we can offer to any discussion about quality wine on an international stage.

It was an epic journey for everyone involved in bringing this event together. Thank you to all that contributed to its success; our wineries and sponsors, our Board, NZ Winegrowers, and of course, those that travelled from across the country and all over the world to attend.

As wine writer John Saker commented:

“Wine is, at its best, a conduit for messages sent from the place it is grown. For the conduit to work effectively, people and place must be drawn together in a tight embrace – so tight, that the people (the shifting, transitory party) themselves become deeply affected and shaped by this place.”

Cheers

The post It’s a wrap appeared first on Pinot Noir NZ 2017.

Called the world’s ‘coolest little capital’ Wellington is known for its vibrant arts scene, world class café and restaurant culture, and active outdoor lifestyle.

Set around an attractive waterfront, you’ll be hard pressed to find a city in the world that’s easier to get around. Wellington enjoys more cafes, bars and restaurants per capita than New York City, and its coffee and craft beer producers are internationally recognised. A creative, cosmopolitan city, Wellington combines the sophistication of a capital with the warmth and personality of a village.

There’s so much to see and do here, so to get you started, here are some suggestions:

Join in the festivities with The Summer of Pinot and Pinot Palooza

The Summer of Pinot

From Friday 27 January, grab your ‘Pinot Passport’ from any of the participating establishments (see link above) and simply purchase a glass of pinot noir to collect a stamp. Collect at least three stamps to complete your passport to go into the draw to the ultimate wine cellar starter package.

Pinot Palooza

On Monday 30 January, Wellington City Waterfront will be transformed into a Pinot Pavilion where 117 of New Zealand’s best Pinot Noir producers will congregate to show their wines to the general public for ‘Pinot Palooza’.

Early morning: Explore Wellington’s natural beauty

Situated on a beautiful harbour, surrounded by rolling hills, Wellington is a city on nature’s doorstep. If it’s nice day, we recommend exploring our blue waters, green hills, and native wildlife.

Wellington Waterfront

Blessed with a beautiful natural harbour the Wellington waterfront is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Many activities are based around the waterfront from harbour cruises, strolling from Queens Wharf to Oriental Bay, and swimming at the golden sand beach to rollerblading and rock-climbing for the more adventurous. Many prefer to grab a coffee or gelato and sit back and enjoy beautiful views of the Wellington Harbour and cityscape.

Oriental Bay

Just a few minutes’ walk from the city centre, this popular, golden sand beach is a top spot for a bit of walking, cycling or people watching. This popular bay is also home to some of the swankiest real estate in the city, and some of the city’s top eateries, ranging from a cafe on a tugboat and a retro fondue cafe, to fine-dining establishment Whitebait. It’s a safe swimming spot for families, and during summer it hosts sporting events like beach volleyball and football.

Mount Victoria Lookout
Head to the Mount Victoria lookout where you can see Wellington city, the Hutt Valley and Cook Strait. There is a parking area and plenty of spots to sit down and take in the beautiful scenery. There are several routes you can take up Mount Victoria. Most of them will lead you through beautiful bush and a pine forest before reaching the peak. One of the best places to start the walk is from the park at the top of Majoribanks Street.

:: The walk up Mount Victoria to the lookout takes you through a forest environment on unpaved, sloped paths. Please be aware of your surroundings and wear footwear and clothing appropriate for outdoor pursuits. Follow all signage and stick to the paths. Only attempt this walk if you have a reasonable level of fitness as it involves an unphill walk of around 30 minutes. 
Mid-morning: Grab your caffeine hit

Caffe L’affare 

Iconic Caffe L’affare is Wellington’s original cafe and coffee roastery. The flagship café on College Street is a compulsory stop for coffee aficionados worth their salt. L’affare is loved for its fresh counter eats, all-day breakfast menu and delicious a la carte lunches.

Customs Brew Bar

Customs is Coffee Supreme’s flagship hospitality location in Wellington and is a centre for what’s current in the world of specialty coffee. Customs offers a range of coffees to drink as well as roasted coffee and brew equipment for the home or the office. Modelled off a mid-century American modern domestic kitchen, Customs provides a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Flight Hangar

The Flight Hangar on Dixon Street is a specialty roaster and café serving only ethically-traded single-origin coffee. Flight specialise in non-pressurised brewing methods, so now is the time to indulge in cold drip, Chemex, Aeropress, siphon or good old filter. Each coffee comes with tasting notes to help drinkers get the full experience from their cup of coffee. Flight serves delicious food all day long (the mac and cheese is pretty incredible) and quirky cocktails in the evenings.

Havana Coffee Roastery 

Havana is not just another roasting company. In 1990, they designed and built a fluid-bed, hot air roaster that runs on electricity. Their method is eco-friendly, fast, resulting in cleaner, sweeter tasting coffee. Many of Wellington’s top cafes stock Havana coffee, and their on-site shop, café and tasting room mean a caffeine fix is never far away.

Late morning: Visit Te Papa or Weta Workshop

You’ll find plenty to ignite your imagination here in New Zealand’s culture capital. It’s a place packed full of the surprising, the creative and the inspirational.

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Visit Te Papa and experience New Zealand in one building at this bold and innovative museum. Te Papa is New Zealand’s national museum, where you can explore the great stories of this fascinating land and the people who live there. Recently named in Lonely Planet’s top 500 places on the planet, the past, present and future are exhibited here in provocative, challenging and entertaining ways.  Be sure to pop in to the Te Papa Store for high-quality souvenirs, books, clothing, jewellery, and treasures.

Weta Studio Tour

Join the Weta Workshop crew on an exclusive behind-the-scenes Weta Cave Workshop Tour to see the authentic practical effects created for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, District 9, Elysium, and more, or visit the Thunderbirds Are Go Behind-the-Scenes Experience to see an authentic shooting stage and discover the Weta Workshop models and miniatures behind the popular TV series.

Lunch: Check-out one of these delicious eateries

Prefab 

Prefab is an all in one eatery, coffee roastery, community hub, events facility and showcase for New Zealand design. Prefab has a fresh and unpretentious approach to daytime dining, from abandoning cabinet food in favour of fresh from the kitchen fare to free sparkling water and bottomless single origin filter coffee. The ACME & CO breads and bakery items are baked and served warm from the Prefab oven throughout the day.

Loretta 

Loretta is the sister restaurant and café to Floriditas. A casual but smart eatery that serves delicious food with lots of vegetables and grains. This new eatery to Wellington has already been name-checked in a piece by Australian Vogue which chronicled the hippest places in the capital. It’s also picked up a few top architecture awards, including New Zealand’s best hospitality interior, for it’s design. The Cuba Street space is earthy, practical and has a coolness that doesn’t rely on bells and whistles. Pale timbers and Thonet furniture decorate the room but the star of the show is the pottery by Wellingtonian Paul Melser (he made the tableware too) which lines one wall.

Nikau Cafe 

Situated on the ground floor of the City Gallery Wellington, Nikau Café serves simple, stylish and authentic food, using the best ingredients. The small menu changes often and features seasonal, local and organic produce where possible.

Charley Noble 

This much-anticipated eatery showcases wood-fired cooking, local ingredients, natural wine and craft beers. Charley Noble is a haven for lovers of both seafood and meat. The seafood bar has a choice of freshly shucked oysters and diamond shell clams, along with crudo kingfish, tuna & salmon, ceviche and house gin-cured salmon. The Zesti wood fired char grill and rotisserie (the first of its kind in New Zealand) serves up organic cuts of aged, pasture fed and grain fed beef.

Poneke 
Poneke is one of Wellington’s newest restaurants, located in the ultra-modern Clyde Quay Wharf complex. This light and airy space features a menu designed by legendary restauranteur Martin Bosley, coffee by Wellington institution Mojo, and a selection of local wines and beers. The atmosphere is elegant yet relaxed. Share a selection small plates with friends or order large ones to enjoy all by yourself, and don’t forget dessert.

After lunch: Take a look around the shops

From Cuba Street’s vintage vaults to Lambton Quay’s contemporary collections, Wellington has an array of shopping experiences to suit any style whether elegant, eclectic or a bit of both. Only a 20-minute walk from one end of the style mile to the other leaves plenty of time for exploring Wellington’s department stores, new boutiques and hidden gems. Here are a few of our favourites:

David Jones

If you’re looking for a world-class department store experience, look no further than the brand new David Jones in the heart of Wellington’s Lambton Quay. With an exclusive collection of New Zealand, Australian and international brands including Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Valentino and Saint Laurent, David Jones is the epitome of elegance.

Precinct 35

Precinct 35 offers much more than just the items on the shelves. It provides a welcome respite from the mass produced, impersonal and disposable. It’s also a space for the community, to get together and catch up sharing the space with local coffeehouse Milkcrate.

Caughley

Caughley combines luxury essentials and streetwear to deliver ageless fashion. With 28 different labels from New Zealand to New York and beyond, every piece is handpicked by owner Rachael Caughley.

LET LIV

Homeware and accessories store, Let Liv, has an emphasis on clean Scandinavian style design and a minimalist approach to life. There’s some seriously beautiful stuff in this shop. Super cool cushions and stylish trestle tables sit alongside ceramic plates (so beautiful you’ll probably prefer not to eat off them).

Brown & Co

Taxidermied creatures with their beady eyes and frozen stance cover every surface that isn’t already cluttered with curios like old fashioned fold-up wooden rulers, gold embossed packs of playing cards, or delicious flavoured toothpaste from Florence, Italy.

Mid-afternoon: Explore Hannahs Laneway’s boutique kitchens

Explore Hannahs Laneway and see why it’s been dubbed the ‘world’s tastiest laneway’. This cosy culinary hub is home to bakers, roasters, grinders, brewers, chocolatiers, pizza slingers and soda crafters, who work collaboratively together to bring life to a former industrial quarter. Some of the boutique kitchens you’ll find in the laneway include the Wellington Chocolate Factory, Six Barrel Soda, and Leeds Street Bakery.

Early evening: Try a local brew at one of Wellington’s craft beer bars

Wellington has a growing number of bars that specialise in serving quality craft beers. The local brews are front and centre, but you can also taste distinctive beers made by independent micro-breweries from New Zealand and around the world.

Here are a few of our favourites:

Golding’s Free Dive

This zany little craft beer bar, tucked away down Leeds Street, is decorated largely from recycled materials, with buckets for lampshades and awnings made from old skis. Golding’s Free Dive is a free house, meaning they can put anything they like on tap. With just six taps and one hand-pull, beers are swapped out often so breweries from all over New Zealand can get their turn. Patrons can also order pizza from nearby Pizza Pomodoro and have it delivered to their table while they drink.

HUSK

Home of Choice Bros Brewery and Karamu coffee, HUSK is an eatery, bar, brewery and coffee roastery located down a private alley off Ghuznee Street, Wellington. The open layout allows guests to enjoy the food & brews produced on site whilst watching the production happen in front of them.

Fork & Brewer

Premium beer and quality food are literally made for each other. With forty beer taps, a top-flight kitchen crew, friendly staff and a brewery on the premises, Fork & Brewer’s mission is to take Wellington’s already awesome beer culture to an entire other level.

Garage Project Tap Room

Garage Project has been described in the media as the ‘darling of the craft beer scene’ and by punters as ‘rock stars’. The charm of Garage Project is their bravery in and love for the alchemical process of beermaking. They’re not afraid to experiment with unorthodox flavour ingredients, like chili & mango, golden syrup and kumara. Yet the heart of their beermaking is solid, with head brewer Pete Gillespie experienced real ale and craft brewing in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Dinner: Wine and dine at one of these top restaurants

The Bresolin 

The Bresolin is the newest restaurant venture from Wellington food personalities Lorenzo and Leonardo Bresolin. The Bresolin occupies an Edwardian villa at the top of Willis Street. Focusing on shared dining, the Bresolin’s menu features small plates and large feasts, as well as wine and beer from all over New Zealand and the rest of the world.

 Noble Rot

Noble Rot is Wellington’s newest wine bar, founded by a group of talented sommeliers and restaurateurs who saw a need for a specialist wine bar in a city nestled between two of the country’s great wine regions. With an aim to excite, inform and educate everyone from wine experts to novices, Noble Rot has a raw bar and charcuterie to pair with your favourite drop.

Ortega

Ortega Fish Shack & Bar serves fabulous food in a casual, relaxed atmosphere with great service. Focusing on fresh New Zealand seafood, the highly awarded chef and owner creates dishes of quality, flavour and integrity.

Whitebait 

When legendary Wellington fine dining establishment the White House closed its doors in 2014, the restaurant’s many fans were not pleased. Thankfully, restaurateur Paul Hoather and his wife Louise soon opened Whitebait in the ultra-modern Clyde Quay Wharf development, and the city breathed a sigh of relief. This elegant and refined restaurant has a seafood-focused menu, which is also translated into Maori as a way to pay homage to the regional kai moana (seafood) used. Other local touches include stone aggregate floor from Wellington’s Red Rocks and oversized paua shell-shaped light fittings.  

Shed 5 Restaurant and Bar 
Shed 5 was built in 1888 as a woolshed. It is one of the oldest remaining wharf stores in Lambton Harbour. Situated right on Queens Wharf and only a few paces from the city centre, the historic wooden building has been painstakingly restored and now houses one of Wellington’s finest seafood restaurants. The menu changes seasonally and includes a huge daily selection of fresh seafood and fish. It also features meat and poultry dishes. The desserts not only look stunning but taste amazing. A wide range of both New Zealand and International wines and a large selection of local and imported beers are available in either the bar or the restaurant.

After dinner: Enjoy a post-dinner cocktail

The Library

The Library is a cosy vintage-style lounge bar, reading room, live music venue, tapas joint and dessert venue all in one. Enjoy fun and frivolous cocktails and a brand new snack and dessert menu in a warm and glamorous environment, well hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the city in the heart of Courtenay Place.

Hawthorne Lounge

Based on a gentlemen’s retreat, the Hawthorn is an oasis from the hustle of downtown. Opened mid-2006 by brothers who wanted to share their vision of a public living room, The Hawthorn has all the grace one would expect from the 1920s. Big band music complements the nattily attired staff with their obscure range of spirits used to create many award winning cocktails.

C.G.R. Merchant and Co. 

C.G.R. (Coffee, Gin and Rum) is the latest spot on Courtenay Place. Owner Jonny McKenzie has created an experience that will have you instantly mellowing. Walk up the stairs and your ears will be greeted by some Afro-Cuban/Latin beats and a range of run and gin infusions – they specialise in making their own using a variety of herbs and spices.

Matterhorn

A Wellington institution established in 1963, Matterhorn is found down one of Wellington’s more famous corridors. The bar prides itself on understated yet stylish surroundings, innovative menus and great service. Winner of numerous national awards, Matterhorn regularly receives international acclaim for its cocktails.

The post Wellington Essentials, Morning, Noon and Night appeared first on Pinot Noir NZ 2017.

Wellington isn’t known as ‘the coolest little capital in the world’ for nothing. Spend some time either side of Pinot, and get amongst all that’s great about our nations’ capital. Here are our top 10 tips.

1. Take in the stunning views from Mount Victoria lookout

Get your bearings at Wellington’s iconic Mount Victoria lookout where you can see the city, Hutt Valley and Cook Strait. Mount Victoria is a short drive with easy parking, or a 30-minute walk through beautiful bush and a pine forest with plenty of spots to relax at the peak.

Note: The walk up Mount Victoria to the lookout takes you through a forest environment on unpaved, sloped paths. Please be aware of your surroundings and wear footwear and clothing appropriate for outdoor pursuits. Follow all signage and stick to the paths. Only attempt this walk if you have a reasonable level of fitness as it involves an uphill walk of around 30 minutes. One of the best places to start the walk is from the park at the top of Majoribanks Street.

Address: Lookout Road, Mount Victoria, Wellington 

2. Explore New Zealand’s history at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Visit Te Papa and experience New Zealand in one building at this bold and innovative museum. Te Papa is New Zealand’s national museum, where you can explore the great stories of this fascinating land and the people who live there. The past, present and future are exhibited in provocative, challenging and entertaining ways.  Be sure to pop in to the Te Papa Store for high-quality souvenirs, books, clothing, jewellery, and treasures.

Address: 55 Cable Street, Wellington

3. Go behind-the-scenes on a Weta Studio Tour

Weta Studio Tours is the ultimate destination for exciting, immersive filmmaking experiences in Wellington, New Zealand. From Middle-earth to Tracy Island and beyond, Weta Studio Tours reveal the creativity behind the movie magic.

Join the Weta Workshop crew on an exclusive behind-the-scenes Weta Cave Workshop Tour to see the authentic practical effects created for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, District 9, Elysium, and more, or visit the Thunderbirds Are Go Behind-the-Scenes Experience to see an authentic shooting stage and discover the Weta Workshop models and miniatures behind the popular TV series.

Address: 1 Weka Street, Miramar, Wellington

4. See rare birds, reptiles and insects at Zealandia: The Karori Sanctuary Experience 
   

Just minutes from central Wellington, step into a nature lover’s paradise and ground-breaking restoration project at the award-winning Zealandia eco-attraction. See some of New Zealand’s rarest birds, reptiles and insects living wild in their natural environment in The Sanctuary Valley. Visitors can also step back 1,000 years to the ‘day before humans arrived’ in The Exhibition, and discover Zealandia’s story, 80 million years in the making.

Address: 53 Waiapu Rd, Karori, Wellington

5. See the works of Cindy Sherman at City Gallery

Cindy Sherman has changed the face of contemporary art, by constantly manipulating her own image. For over forty years she has used herself as her own model in staged photographs, transforming her appearance through makeup, costumes, wigs, prostheses, and more recently, digital effects. Cindy Sherman is a major exhibition of Sherman’s photography since 2000, the moment where she returned to photographing herself after a decade of willful absenteeism from her own work. It features seven major series where Sherman investigates a range of new and troublesome ‘types’ (socialites, fashion victims, clowns), and includes her collaborations with fashion houses Balenciaga and Chanel.

Address: Civic Square, Wakefield Street, Wellington

6. Ride the iconic Wellington Cable Car

One of Wellington’s most popular tourist attractions, the Wellington Cable Car runs from Lambton Quay in the commercial heart of the city and emerges at the top of the Wellington Botanic Garden for a stunning view of the capital. Take a ride between 7pm and 9.30pm to be dazzled by light shows which depict famous Wellington events in the tunnels.

Address: 280 Lambton Quay, Wellington

7. Wander the Wellington Waterfront

Blessed with a beautiful natural harbour the Wellington waterfront is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Many activities are based around the waterfront from harbour cruises, strolling from Queens Wharf to Oriental Bay, and swimming at the golden sand beach to rollerblading and rock-climbing for the more adventurous. Many prefer to grab a coffee or gelato and sit back and enjoy beautiful views of the Wellington Harbour and cityscape.

8. Visit the ‘world’s tastiest laneway’

Explore Hannahs Laneway and see why it’s been dubbed ‘Little Portland’. This cosy culinary hub is home to bakers, roasters, grinders, brewers, chocolatiers, pizza slingers and soda crafters, who work collaboratively together to bring life to a former industrial quarter. Some of the boutique kitchens you’ll find in the laneway include the Wellington Chocolate Factory, Six Barrel Soda, Fix and Fogg, and Leeds Street Bakery.

Eva Street and Leeds Street, Wellington

9. Explore the local craft beer scene

Wellington has a growing number of bars that specialise in serving quality craft beers. The local brews are front and centre, but you can also taste distinctive beers made by independent micro-breweries from New Zealand and around the world. Head to Malthouse, Fork & Brewer, Golding’s Free Dive, Hashigo Zake and Garage Project’s Taproom, to try some of our favourite brews.

10. Discover some of the world’s best coffee

With cafes on almost every corner, it’s fair to say we love our coffee in Wellington. And the rest of the world agrees, with CNN recently naming us one of the top 8 international coffee destinations. Here are a few of the best places to try a local roast; Customs Brew Bar for Supreme Coffee, Milk Crate for Rich Coffee, L’affare for L’affare Coffee, The Flight Coffee Hangar and Memphis Belle for Flight Coffee, Lamason for espresso and siphon brewed coffee, Fidel’s for Havana, Prefab for Acme & Co, The waterfront for Mojo Coffee, Leeds St Bakery for Red Rabbit Coffee Company.

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Jeremy Stockman’s wine selling career has spanned three decades in three continents and has always included New Zealand Pinot Noir.

It began in the 1980s at Winerack in London. Cook’s wine was the predominant NZ label in that market place at that time.

A move to Australia in the early 1990s resulted in the marketing manager’s position at the brand new Vintage Cellars, a radical change in fine wine retailing for the Liquorland group at the time.

It suited Stockman’s story-telling style well, and relied on clever use of a database with a close connection to the buyer, manifested in ‘The Cellar Press’. This newsletter style of communication has become commonplace and has now moved online, but back then the whole concept was something new and different. There was both a reward for and record of every purchase, so the information gathered was beyond anything seen at that time.

This style of retailing allowed Jeremy to take a few NZ Pinot offerings and turn it into a category in its own right. In 1999 he travelled to Marlborough and Martinborough with a young writer for The Cellar Press, Monty James. Along the way they found more labels for their stable, and could go directly to customers drinking Pinot from other parts of the world with their offerings.

In 2010 Jeremy moved to Hong Kong to take up a position managing French Wine with Watson’s Wine Cellar, but within a year he was managing all wine, including another portfolio of New Zealand Pinot Noir.

Few others would have the insight into the evolution of New Zealand Pinot in these different market places, and Jeremy has picked up much learning along the way.

He’s seen regionality become more important, and is excited by the emerging regions and their diversity of style.

He wonders if land and not producers (or ‘cult winemakers’) might be more considered in any future grading system; will we have ‘Grand Cru’ sites for New Zealand Pinot Noir?

Organic and sustainable production should just be accepted as the best way to make the best wine, and he thinks his customers assume that is what they’ll get from a country considered to be clean, green and unpolluted.

He thinks NZ Pinot Noir represents ‘bloody good value’, even at the top end.

This year, as he approaches his 50^th, he finds himself in the best shape of his life. So the obvious thing to do is to drink more Pinot. But this time he’ll be doing it on the go, by participating in the Oxfam Trialwalker, including some of the most incredible trials in Hong Kong. Each summit will be celebrated with a bottle of pinot and there will be recovery lunches where more Pinot will be enjoyed.

For someone who has spent their life with our wines, the path ahead is on the rise

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It’s just four months until the kick-off of Pinot Noir NZ 2017 – New Zealand’s most significant wine event. The celebration, which attracts over 500 of the worlds greatest wine minds and palates, has nearly sold out.

We’ll be taking over the Wellington waterfront from 31^st January to the 2^nd February next year for one of the best Pinot Noir events on the planet.

This celebration happens just once every four years, and brings together the wines, people and places that benchmark New Zealand Pinot Noir; there will be 117 wineries bringing over 600 wines to 500 visionaries, industry leaders, influencers and lovers of this variety.

The line-up of keynote speakers is as impressive as it is diverse. This includes wine industry heavyweights such as Jancis Robinson MW OBE, described as ‘the most respected wine critic and journalist in the world’, Grammy Award-winning Tool frontman and winemaker Maynard James Keenan, Japan’s sake and wine expert Kenichi Ohashi MW and Australian wine provocateur Mike Bennie. In total there are over 25 international and homegrown heroes contributing to the thought-provoking and innovative programme.

This is the critical time if you are thinking of attending, as we have a limited number of tickets left. Pinot Noir NZ 2017 will provide you with people you want to meet, the connections you need to make, and the wine you need to taste, all in one place . Act now to secure your ticket.

Final tickets can be purchased here

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A recent article about Sam Neil’s Two Paddock winery in Central Otago played on Country Calendar in New Zealand. Here’s the film and accompanying interview:

Film Noir

Actor Sam Neill has immersed himself in a second career, growing grapes and making wine in Central Otago.

Between film commitments here and overseas, he spends most of his time at the winery and the four small vineyards that make up the Two Paddocks label.

Sam’s love for the area goes back to his Dunedin childhood when Central Otago was his familys favourite holiday place.

But his love for pinot noir came later, near the start of his acting career, when English actor James Mason and his wife took him to a restaurant in Switzerland.

The young Kiwi hadn’t much enjoyed the New Zealand red wines hed tasted and he was totally unprepared for the sensation of drinking good pinot noir.

“I asked James, What is this wine? I’ve never drunk anything like this. And he said, This is Burgundy don’t forget it. And I never forgot it.”

Years later, when he bought a piece of land in Central Otago, he visited his childhood friend Rolf Mills at Rippon Vineyard at Wanaka, who was experimenting with pinot noir grapes.

“I had a glass of his wine and it was so reminiscent of Burgundy, but it had something else and that something else was Central Otago”.

The pinot noir grape, used widely in Frances Burgundy region to produce an elegant soft-tasting wine, is notoriously difficult to grow well elsewhere. One of the few exceptions is New Zealand, and Central Otago, with its hot dry summers and cold winters, is increasingly seen as an ideal location.

Sam Neill planted his first grapes at Gibbston in 1993 and the quality of the wine it produced persuaded him to expand. He now has four small vineyards scattered through the three main Central Otago growing areas, from Gibbston to Earnscleugh.

While he provides the financial resources and has an overseeing role at the vineyards, he often travels to work on films for months at a time and relies heavily on his local team.

Vineyard manager Mike Wing has been involved for 10 years and Sam has an even longer association with winemaker Dean Shaw, with whom he owns the winery in Cromwell where Two Paddocks wines are made.

“Everything is about the wine and all we do is about excellence and perfection, he says. We don’t cut corners and we’re in it for the long haul. It’s all about looking after the soil, looking after the sites, looking after the vines, looking after each other.”

For Sam, looking after the sites means growing his vines organically. “I think it’s a bad idea for ones own land to smother it with things that kill other things”, he says.

He sees organics as the logical path for New Zealand, with its reputation for quality food and drink.

“There’s no point in competing with Chile or Argentina the labour is extremely cheap, he says. Compete at the top end. That’s the place to be. And the top end is organics.”

Although he’s still in big demand for his acting abilities, Sam believes his vineyards will have a longer-lasting impact.

“When I’m long shuffled off, my prediction is that my wine will live on. I think films become fossils pretty quickly, but I’m going to leave a wine legacy behind and that sort of gives me some quiet pride”.

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New Zealand Pinot Noir lost a huge ally and friend this week when the CEO of Palliser Estate, Richard Riddiford, passed away.

Larry McKenna came back from the USA in the late 80s full of dreams of establishing a Pinot Noir event here in New Zealand.

He’d been to the Steamboat Pinot Workshop and the International Pinot Noir Conference and imagined something with a similarly outward focus.

New Zealand was in the early years of Pinot production, and a national event celebrating the grape was a total pipedream.

A steering committee was established, and a vote on where it should happen was held. Central Otago lost out to Wellington, and so the limelight swung to the capital city and its supporting wine region in the Wairarapa.

This gaze fell on one man in particular, Richard Riddiford. Richard and his family had a huge history in the district, and he was well connected in the business community.

Power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma – Mana is an important word in New Zealand. The more prestigious the event, person or object, the more it is surrounded by tapu and mana. Mana is inherited at birth, the more senior the descent, the greater the mana.

It’s no wonder then that Larry speaks of Richard having Mana. He describes him as having a tough exterior but always being the first to put his hand up when the chips were down.

Richard needed all this Mana when he chaired the very first Pinot Noir NZ conference in 2001. The ability to translate a great vision of a few men into sold seats at a conference was a huge ask. So senior diplomats and politicians were told they needed to be there by Richard.

He was completely pivotal in its success and that laid the foundation for all that has followed it.

As is the way of the greatest people in the New Zealand wine industry Richard wasn’t motivated by the success of his own brand alone. He was determined to take Martinborough and the whole of New Zealand Pinot Noir with him.

Everybody who has benefitted from this since owes him a debt of gratitude.

The Mana of the current Pinot Noir NZ event is, in no small part, due to him.

Vale Richard Riddiford. Haere rā.

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‘The key to success is finding something you love and doing it with all your heart.’

Maya Angelou passed this wisdom onto Jen Parr when they both attended The Banquet of The Golden Plate. Jen was a young graduate attending the American Academy of Achievement’s famous dinner at the time.

Jen ended up selling financial software and discovered wine as she travelled doing this. These wise words stayed with her, and she began to realise that it was wine she had a real passion for. The opportunities she’d been given meant the motivation to find her passion was significant.

Coming to that realisation much later in her career than many people used to concern her, but with hindsight she can see it meant the bliss of ignorance and the ability to approach winemaking with an open mind.

Jen setting boundaries from the early days!

Her path eventually lead her to Central Otago, where people such as Matt Connell saw her potential and supported what she bought to this pioneering wine community.

She now has the opportunity to pay back that faith and feels strongly about doing so. She wants to continue writing the history of Central Otago wine, which unfolds as she lives it. She wants to protect the provenance created and the constitution written, fully supporting others prepared to pick up the flag and wave it.

“If you get, give. If you learn, teach.” -Maya Angelou.

A common theme in a young and pioneering wine industry such as New Zealand is the recognition that it won’t all be achieved in our lifetimes. Jen acknowledges this, and sees herself as a trail finder, or a pointer towards where things may head. Wine is undoubtedly a journey and not a destination. She currently works for Grant Taylor at Valli Wines. She’s excited by his combination of experience but continued inquisitiveness, and feels that she’s been employed to continue this energy and questioning.

The Valli team, including Grant Taylor (left).

She loves giving younger people’s ideas wings now, and can appreciate their perspective.

One of the challenges she puts to the NZ wine community is to showcase more of the diversity of our people, particularly women. She feels we are blessed with talented women but their visibility is limited.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breaths away” –Maya Angelou

Achieving balance is pretty important to Jen, both an opportunity and a challenge in a landscape like Central Otago. Its environment means you need to be open to the extremes it can deliver, and take energy from the place. If wine people can be summed up it is by the word ‘generosity’, and is seen at its best when we are sharing ideas and helping others. Both NZ’s landscape and wine command humility and tenacity. We hope nature will be generous and see bounty as karma.

Beside many amazing women is a pretty cool dad!

It’s this spirit that Jen is looking forward to at Pinot Noir NZ 2017. A sort of shared banquet of many golden plates. A seat at our table of generosity.

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Stephen Wong MW. The letters after the name are brand new, but come as no surprise for those of us who’ve listened to Stephen’s thoughts on wine for a while. The Malaysian born kiwi resides in Wellington where he has long been a key person in this city’s hospitality scene. More recently he’s emerged as a wine educator on a national level.

He has also championed the natural wine scene in New Zealand, encouraging producers to take the risk of putting these wines in bottle, and consumers to open them.

He’s an interesting person then to ask about New Zealand Pinot Noir. His answer captures all of the dynamism and energy we want to see in our wines. Phrases such as ‘still changing my mind’, ‘ridiculously exciting’ and ‘so many different directions’ encapsulate the scene.

The question he asks himself often is “what if someone asked me to open one bottle which best represents New Zealand Pinot Noir?” He feels the complexity of the answer is a sign of maturity. No longer is there an obvious choice. He can see two camps emerging which transcend regionality; the ‘lighter, floral, lacy group’ versus the ‘classic, grand cru, later harvested’ wines.

Stylistically he thinks wine making still has a hand over regionality, and wonders what role low sulphur and whole bunch decisions have in expressing the sense of place.

The immediacy of our lives provide an opportunity to produce digestibility in wine he thinks. Social media provides a platform upon which people can recommend wines to their peers and followers. What place does that leave for hard to find, expensive to buy, must cellar wines he muses.

His natural wine bent hasn’t polarised him, but he can see benefit in supporting an ‘other end’ of the spectrum. He says;

“I think that it is possible to nurture & support something without being 100% sure that the position we are taking is entirely intellectually defensible because the goal is to create conversation. It’s being able to appreciate that the world might not be changed by my generation but by the generation we inspire”.

“Just like vignerons are custodians of terroir and the land, we can be custodians of ideas. We can protect these ideas because some day, down the line, someone might be able to do something amazing with them”.

He poses many more questions on his website (http://www.winesentience.com/numatic-press/2016/1/7/wine-sentience-online-20) and that ability to create conversation is of huge value to us all.

Stephen Wong MW & Cameron Douglas MS leading the way with NZ wine education at the recent Sommit in North Canterbury.

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New Zealand has some of the most beautiful wine regions found anywhere on the planet.

Perhaps it’s not surprising then to find a winemaker in the middle of them capturing those landscapes with his camera.

Kevin Judd taken by Bob Campbell MW

Just as wine is a conduit for conveying the relationship between nature and ourselves, a photograph can do the same.

Kevin Judd from Greywacke had never thought of himself of an artist, but he does enjoy the combination of senses and science. He was drawn to photography as a boy, intrigued by the darkroom process set up by his father in their garage.

As Cloudy Bay was being established he took it upon himself to take some snapshots of the start-up for wine magazines. A fortuitous meeting with Mick Rock from Cephas Picture Library in the UK meant Kevin found his photographs being published. This inspired him to take things further.

The heyday of stock images waned, and Kevin left Cloudy Bay, all his spare time taken up establishing Greywacke.

But in the interim he created the book ‘The Landscape of NZ Wine”, which remains one of the most beautiful wine books ever published.

Greystone Vineyard captured by Kevin Judd

You’ll still find him in vineyards, fascinated by the perspective and composition they allow. Human made straight lines in natural environments, converging parallels and shadows created by vines.

He describes some of his photos as preconceived and others as ‘spur of the moment’ shots. Winemaking also has its serendipitous moments, and finding that balance between control and letting go is an important one, Kevin muses.

Over the years he’s realized that what was once thought of as non-negotiable in winemaking isn’t at all, and experience has taught him to define what needs to be done, and what not to worry about.

Settlement Vineyard

He does see one big difference between winemaking and photography though, perhaps in the contemplation of mortality.

While a captured image is there forever, wine has a life cycle; it changes to the point that it’s not consumable at the end of its life. His 1983 Selaks Sem/Sauvignon Blanc he opened recently was past it, and he laments its transient nature means that the next generation won’t be able to taste this part of New Zealand’s wine history.

Greywacke Wine Label

But perhaps history will be kind, and consider immortality for Kevin Judd for both his passions.

Pinot Noir NZ 2017 is running a competition until the end of May 2016 for the best photograph from Vintage 2016. You can enter your own photo by using the hashtag #PinotNoirNZ, and you can vote on the photos entered here.

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