The prince of pinot noir

Picture / Wairarapa Times

Larry McKenna is to New Zealand pinot noir what Jean Paul Gaultier is to French fashion.

Like his fashion counterpart, the Martinborough-based winemaker achieves notoriety by pushing stylistic boundaries rather than toeing the party line. Examples include blending chardonnay with pinot blanc; making luscious low alcohol riesling and attempting, against the odds, to move pinot gris beyond boring.

But the best example of McKenna pushing the envelope with wine is with pinot noir. He's responsible for 12 of the 20 vintages made so far at Martinborough Vineyards and late last year they were all opened for tasting as part of the vineyards' 25-year anniversary celebrations.

McKenna is no longer at Martinborough Vineyards; his shoes having been filled by Claire Mulholland, who previously made wine in Central Otago and has since championed and continued to make the individual style of pinot noir that her predecessor pioneered.

While most Martinborough wineries make the boldest style of pinot noir possible, McKenna made (and still makes, under his new Escarpment Vineyard label) wines that taste light but have massive power in the mouth. The best wines were from 1998, 1996, 1994, 1988 and 1986. Generally, the younger wines seemed too light and the oldest were past their peak.

The pinnacle was the 1998 Martinborough Vineyard Reserve Pinot Noir, which seemed such a big, tight beast of a red when first released and has now morphed into a delicious, almost light red. Which illustrates perfectly the problem with thin slicing - making rapid judgments with informed, but minimal information.

It usually fails to take into account the big picture and can miss out vital details that sometimes take years to see clearly.

The fact that these wines nearly all improved in the bottle over the long haul also bodes well for anyone looking for pinot noirs to put away in the cellar for a few years. And it gives hope to winemakers brave enough to stop making show-pony wines.

McKenna pioneered the ultimate non-showy New Zealand pinot noir and Mulholland is following in his footsteps.