One of the great things about wine, other than drinking it, is the characters that impart their personality into wine. People who are passionate, quirky and make wines that go against the status quo and in same situations create a new status quo as people wonder why it hasn’t always been done that way.
Martinborough in New Zealand is at the bottom of the North Island about an hours drive from Wellington, the capital. In my opinion they are making the best value Pinot Noirs in the world…yes I said the world. I recently put on a tasting of France Pinot Noir (Burgundy), Australia and New Zealand (article to come) and everyone agreed that the ones from Martinborough stood out in terms of value. Sure you can easily pay AUD$200 for a Premier Cru Red Burgundy (Pinot Noir) from France but for NZ$30 you can buy Pinot Noirs from Martinborough that rival some of them.
Admittedly Martinborough makes more masculine styles of Pinot i.e. full bodied, and the French ones are generally more feminine i.e. softer, but they are lovely complex wines that age beautifully. The 2010 Hudson Pinot is going strong with very little browning and is like a fist in a velvet glove…yummy.
Anyway I digress…have a look at the following link of one of the pioneers of Martinborough Pinot who has a Swiss heritage just like Mrs Wine Matchmaker.
And in the meantime…enjoy some good wine.
The Wine Matchmaker.