Pinot Ponder

03 February 2008

I am sitting here sipping from a glass of 2004 Pinot Noir from Central Otago, the latest address in a short line of Next Big Things all set to steal Burgundy's Pinot noir crown. And very pleasant it is too. It's quite deep in colour with a crunchy, varietal black cherry nose and offers an honest freshness on the palate. Quartz Reef are the producer; Majestic Wine its source.

I feel a wave of gratitude. It felt like a lifetime of sensorial let downs: all those Pinots that tasted of anything but. At last, one is able to buy great value Pinot Noir that gives one an accurate snapshot of what the wine of that variety should actually taste like.

But hang on. This rennaissance coincides rather nicely (or not, if you happen to be a non-Burgundian producer) with an uprising in quality of "basic" red burgundy. 1er Cru delicious Santenay for £13 on the table? No problem. Perfectly satisfying Bourgogne Rouge for 10% of not a lot? Easy-peasy. What would I rather drink? Answers on a piece of paper inserted into an empty bottle of Quartz Reef and flung into the Tasman Sea...