McArthur Ridge’s Southern Tor is racking up global awards.
It was ironic that when winemaker Matt Connell heard a Pinot Noir he’d made was named as the best in the world at a prestigious competition, he couldn’t actually toast the incredible achievement with a glass of the triumphant red.
The McArthur Ridge Alexandra Southern Tor 2022 has been in high demand and Connell didn’t have a bottle at hand. “I made sure I got some after that,” he says of the Pinot Noir, which has since sold out. Fear not, however – the 2023 vintage is, in Connell’s opinion, just as exceptional. “I really rate it,” he says.
McArthur Ridge, in Central Otago’s Alexandra basin, looks set to become the next big name in New Zealand wines thanks to the phenomenal success of Southern Tor, which was the most awarded 2022 Pinot Noir in the country. In June it received a Best In Show award at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, scoring an impressive 97 points out of 100. It was one of more than 18,000 wines judged.
“The Decanter awards are the Oscars of the wine industry, so it’s a pretty big deal,” says Connell, a renowned contract winemaker who has been working with McArthur Ridge since 2020. “There’s a lot of quite expensive Burgundy in that competition – we’re talking $500 or $600 a bottle versus $40 a bottle for the Southern Tor.
“I don’t think it always comes down to price by any means but to do well against wines from well-known old-world producers is great, especially when it was judged in London by a range of international judges who, in my experience, tend to go for an old-world palate.”
The tasting notes from Decanter include references to “articulate aromas of warm red berries, red cherries and root spice” and say the wine is “softly articulated on the palate and sweet-fruited, with great grace and poise”.
Southern Tor 22 has also earned a slew of other awards, and the 2023 vintage has already been named Champion Pinot Noir and Champion Wine of the Show at this year’s New Zealand International Wine Show.
Connell’s thrilled with how well Southern Tor is doing, “not just for myself but for McArthur Ridge because it’s a real team effort and they’ve got a great team of people”.
He puts the secret of Southern Tor’s success down to great grapes, and says the vineyard’s location in the Alexandra basin is key. It sits on an elevated plateau with gentle northern slopes, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
Growing on one of the southern-most vineyards in the world outside Argentina, McArthur Ridge is on what’s known as the frontier of wine-growing. This rugged location has earned the vineyard a unique place in New Zealand’s wine story. While Central Otago wines are often associated with Gibston Valley and areas nearby, McArthur Ridge operates further south, about an hour and a half from the better-known regions.
Chief viticulturalist Murray Petrie refers to it as “farming on the edge”, reflecting on the region’s extreme weather conditions and challenging landscape. Temperatures can swing from a frigid -10C in winter to scorching highs above 40C in summer, testing the resilience of the vines and the dedication of the team year-round.
“One of the advantages of McArthur Ridge wines is that the fruit ripens a bit later than the other sub-regions in Central Otago because of the cool climate, so that buys them a bit of time for the grapes to hang there and build flavour,” explains Connell. “They tend to have a little bit more complexity and good acidity. Acid is what holds red wine together so we work with that as much as we can to give the wine a bit of succulence, a moreish taste. It makes the wine linger a little bit longer on your palate.”
Another factor in McArthur Ridge’s favour is the age of the vines. They were planted 22 years ago and are now coming into their own.
“When vines are young the fruit can be quite good, but they will go through a teenage stage where they get a bit sulky. Around 19 or 20 they start hitting their straps a bit more and the flavours settle down and are more consistent. McArthur Ridge is one of the vineyards in Central Otago where the vines are reaching an age where you see solid gains in quality.”
Of course, top quality grapes are not achieved without a committed and gifted team. McArthur Ridge’s vineyard crew is intensely dedicated under the leadership of Petrie, says Connell. “He’s been with them since the beginning, I believe, and has a really good handle on growing very good quality fruit.”
McArthur Ridge has also invested heavily in top quality French oak barrels. “We’ve changed things up quite a bit,” says Connell. “There are a number of cooperages in Burgundy that make barrels from different forests, each with different flavours, and I’ve worked with one that I think does particularly well with pinot from Alexandra. I think that really helps too.”
Connell, who’s been based in Central Otago since 2005 and has also made wines in Australia and the United States, says the one thing he’s learned about winemaking in Alexandra is the importance of taking “a good product and not overworking it. With a Central Otago pinot, you are better to be more hands-off than hands-on. Just guide it”.
His goal is simply to make wine customers will enjoy drinking. “My wines tend to be a bit richer by nature because I think that’s what people like. The awards are nice but the ultimate thing is to go into a restaurant and see a bottle of our wine on a table and people enjoying it. That’s pretty special. And a lot of people are able to do that because McArthur Ridge has kept it at a really good price.”
Other McArthur Ridge wines have been doing well in competitions including their Falls Dam Pinot Gris and Lilico Pinot Noir Rosé. The isolated vineyard is producing some of the country’s most celebrated vintages, proving that exceptional wines aren’t bound to traditional regions – they can thrive right on the edge of possibility.
“When McArthur Ridge does well, it’s good for the industry in Central Otago, and for the New Zealand wine industry as a whole,” says Connell. “It’s really great to be a part of that.”
More info: mcarthurridge.com