Aldi Exquisite, New Zealand Pinot Noir, Wairarapa, New Zealand 2018, £5.99, Aldi Fraud is a temptation that is just too hard for some winemakers to resist. Indeed, the urge to pass off inferior wine as something more celebrated has been around for as long as drinkers have been bothered by where wine comes from. So we shouldn’t be surprised by a recent case in New Zealand, which came to a head this month when a winemaker at Southern Boundary Wines was found guilty of selling wines from other regions (and vintages) than those featured on its labels. If anything, the case shows just how important regional – or, if you prefer, terroir – expression has become in NZ (and other parts of the so-called New World), with even budget bottles such as Aldi’s red-fruited gem of a pinot projecting a sense of its Wairarapa origins.
Akarua Rua Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand 2018, £19.95, Old Bridge Wine; Noel Young Wines; Benntleys Wine Of all of New Zealand’s grape varieties, it’s pinot noir that changes the most from region to region – the one that has the most pronounced terroir character. Marlborough, for example, may be famous for sauvignon blanc, but its pinots have a juicy fruitiness that is a joy to drink in wines such as the consistently good Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2017 (£8.50, The Co-op). If you prefer more wild herbiness (but still with that NZ clear-sky freshness) then Central Otago is the place to go. Those characters come through beautifully in the silky Akarua 2017, and they reach a peak of complexity in the Rippon Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2014 (£39.95, Lea & Sandeman) and the intense Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2017 (£45, Roberson Wine).
Escarpment The Edge Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand 2018, £14.99, Waitrose Martinborough in the Wairarapa region is a challenger for New Zealand’s greatest pinot-producing area. There’s an elegance to Martinborough’s best bottles, an unforced gracefulness and ageworthiness that is most certainly a match for the pinot noirs of the grape’s spiritual home, Burgundy in France. Among the names to look out for are cult producer Hiro Kusuda, whose pristine, high-definition wines (almost all of them snapped up back home in his native Japan) are the epitome of elegance; and the pioneering Ata Rangi, with its more structured, exotically scented style (as seen in the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2016; £49.99, New Zealand House of Wine). For a more affordable, but still lithe and lovely take on a modern classic, try Escarpment’s good value The Edge.
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