Noir times for pinot growers

Mount Dottrel 2007 Pinot Noir. Photo / Babiche Martens.

Central Otago on a freezing June morning and a hoar frost coats the dormant vines in a dazzling, icy shroud. Beneath this ice there are grapes that have gone unharvested this year and behind the beauty and promise that's drawn so many to the region to grow grapes, lie bankruptcies and fears that not everyone will be able to sell their wine.

Much of the unpicked fruit comes from lifestyle developments, whose owners failed to find a market for their grapes. The explosion of new vineyards in recent years means that although the 2009 vintage is smaller than 2008's bumper crop, buyers can afford to be choosy, while proprietors who thought they could sit back and cash in on the gold rush for the region's wines are being forced to reassess.

Insolvencies have started to hit the region, as last year witnessed the $10 million Central Otago Vintners winery and Gibbston vineyard owner, Anthem Holdings, both go into receivership. While these ambitious projects failed to reach fruition for reasons not solely connected with the region's current dynamics, the demise in May of pioneering estate William Hill was seen as far more foreboding.

Central Otago veteran Steve Green of Carrick thinks the market for high-end Central Otago pinot is becoming crowded. "Combined with the higher capital cost of establishing vineyards and wine labels, this has resulted in a number of players struggling with cash flow, and when you can't pay your bills, receivership or administration is the result. Rumour is that there will be more of a shakedown yet," Green says.

"It's been tough," admits Tom Pinckney of Northburn Station, a grower who started up his own label in recent years. "You get the message that you're one of many and there is pressure on prices."

Despite the global credit crunch, when one would expect wine drinkers to have less cash to spend on the predominantly premium-priced wines produced by Central Otago, it's not all doom and gloom, especially for longer standing players who've built strong markets for their wines. "We've not been seeing too much of the effect of the recession on our sales," says Mark Field of Two Paddocks.

Helping the region as a whole weather the current storm is the international reputation that Central Otago has swiftly built for its pinot noirs. Its intensely fruity examples are increasingly being acknowledged as a unique style in a similar way to Marlborough's sauvignon blancs. Its wineries are also being supported by its dynamic promotional body, Central Otago Pinot Noir Limited, which in recent months has taken the region's wines to shows in London, Tokyo, San Francisco and Australia.

Green thinks that although some mergers and acquisitions are inevitable, the challenging situation in Central Otago should be relatively short-lived. "Plantings have slowed, new plantings have almost stopped and finance for new vineyards or wineries without a route to market has dried up, so production is likely to level out, inventory will be sold and there will be some sort of equilibrium."

The hardy should survive, even if the current competitive climate can seem tougher than an Otago winter.


TOP CHOICE

Mount Dottrel Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 $35

In a big blind tasting of pinots from the stellar 2007 vintage in Central Otago, this third impressive release from relative newcomer Mitre Rocks was one of my most highly rated. Satin textured, it has the region's hallmark ripe cherry fruit and spice, with complex savoury, minerally and gamey undertones. (From Caro's.)

SUPER SECOND

Two Paddocks Picnic Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 $29.99

An impressive second label pinot from Sam Neill's Two Paddocks wine label, it has soft, silky strawberry and cherry fruit fused with dusty spice and a hint of savoury. (From La Barrique, Liquorland Newmarket, Wine Vault, Don Johnson's, Bacchus Cellars.)

LUCKY LAST

Aurum 45th Parallel Vineyard Central Otago Chardonnay 2007 $23-$26

This is the last vintage of chardonnay from Aurum. It's worth snapping up, as this is a fine example with a French accent - courtesy of winemaker Lucie Pouthier-Lawrence - with elegant peachy fruit and hints of smoke, spice and mineral around a fresh grapefruit core. (From The Barrow, Artisan Fine Wines, Duffy and Finn Pukekohe, Hamilton Wine Company, Arawa Fine Wines.)