Central still top of the pinot pops

Though north Canterbury earns high praise in the latest Great New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification, Central Otago still produces the most of the more distinguished wines.

Or so say Tyson Steltzer, an Australian, and Matthew Jukes, an Englishman, a couple of the world's smartest young wine writers, after conducting what has become one of the most valuable and sensible reviews each year of our most distinguished red.

Valuable, because it is based on a rolling average of five consecutive vintages which tracks the performance of vines, wines, winemakers and terroir; sensible because it is the basic estate wines produced by the various wineries, not the most expensive special selection or single vineyard bottlings, which are also tasted, that largely determined the ratings.

As one winemaker puts it: "We think these sorts of rankings are far more valuable to the consumer than the wine show results which judge just one wine at a given time in a line-up in which hundreds of wines are tasted.

"Does the consumer want to know whether a particular wine has won a gold medal or whether a producer makes consistently excellent wines year after year?

"If they have the same good sense as that displayed by Steltzer and Jukes, then the answer should be obvious."

The classification, which was launched four years ago – "to highlight the importance of New Zealand pinot noir" the authors say – is the first of its kind in the "new" wine world and the first that works in the way that it does.

In the original classification, which uses the one to five-star rating system, just 40 wineries were listed. Four years later and Jukes and Steltzer say "there are now 100 producing this mesmerising grape variety at a level of excellence that we believe is worthy of your attention." Adding: "This is a monumental number and it represents something of a coming of age for New Zealand Pinot Noir."

It also marks the first-ever promotion of a winery from four to five stars, with Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhulzen's Bell Hill Vineyard, at Waikari, joining Ata Rangi (Martinborough), and Felton Road and Mt Difficulty (Central Otago) at the top of the tree.

It is the first winery outside Central Otago and Martinborough to do so and with Pegasus Bay, Mountford and Pyramid Valley earning four stars, cements north Canterbury's, reputation for producing pinot noirs that are described as some of the finest south of the Equator; wines noted, says Jukes, for their freshness and minerality.

However, it is the sweeter, smoother wines of Central Otago which continue to dominate the three top tiers of the of the classification (listed below) with Martinborough's typically cherried, spicy wines not far behind and the red-fruited Marlborough pinots making an impressive showing among the three-star wines (italics indicate wines which have not yet been tasted over five consecutive vintages):

Five stars: Ata Rangi (Martinborough), Bell Hill (north Canterbury), Felton Road, Mt Difficulty (Central Otago).

Four stars: Craggy Range (Central Otago/Martinborough); Dry River, Escarpment, Martinborough Vineyard (Martinborough); Mountford, Pegasus Bay, Pyramid Valley (north Canterbury); Peregrine, Rippon (Central Otago).

Three stars: Cloudy Bay, Dog Point, Envoy, Te Whare Ra, Villa Maria, Wither Hills, Seresin (Marlborough); Hinton, Mount Edward, Bald Hills, Two Paddocks, Valli, Surveyor Thomson (Central Otago); Palliser Estate, Schubert (Martinborough).