Massive Pinot Noir Event in New Zealand

Sam Neill

Massive Pinot Noir Event
 in New Zealand


Actor and now wine-maker Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, Reilly Ace of Spies, The Piano, The Dish, Dead Calm, Hunt for Red October) will be among the speakers when Pinot Noir 2013 NZ gets underway on 28 January 2013. Emmanuel L.T. Bourguignon, Tim Atkin MW and Ned Goodwin MW are listed among the other speakers.

New Zealand wine-maker Larry McKenna, during his recent visit to Cork, told me enthusiastically about the huge wine event on the Wellington Water Front. No surprise to see Larry pushing it. After all he is better known as Larry McPinot and makes some fantastic examples himself as he showed recently in Ballymaloe.

Pinot Noir 2013 NZ  is going to be massive. The website tells me there are over 120 days to go and there will be almost as many New Zealand wineries there showing their examples of this grape. Some competition here for Burgundy!

All the country’s famous wine regions will be represented: Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Nelson, Wairarapa/Martinborough, Marlborough, North Canterbury/Waipara Valley, Waitaki and Central Otago. Many of the wine-makers will be unfamiliar to us but some that I know are Tim and Judy Finn’s Neudorf, Villa Maria, Cloudy Bay and McPinot's own Escarpment.

"Initiated in 2001, and now dubbed as the "fresh thinking" event, Pinot Noir NZ digs deeper into New Zealand's five Pinot producing regions, bringing the latest developments from the grass roots level. Learn of new innovations direct from the winemakers as they make available over 300 wines to be tasted and reviewed. Freestyle forums allow for uncensored opinions to be heard on the fastest growing wine story of the 21st Century.

Guest speakers offer fresh opinions on the latest international thinking about Pinot. At previous events speakers have included Jancis Robinson MW, Oz Clarke, Tim Atkin MW, Allen Meadows, Claude Bourguignon, Andrew Caillard MW and more.

Pinot Noir NZ pushes Pinot to the limit, testing whether Pinot really is one of the most versatile red grape varieties to match with food. Both the wild and the raw are explored as guests are offered the freshest cuisine from the welcome party to the final gala dinner.

The Pinot story in New Zealand is continuing to develop at pace. Pinot Noir NZ is the place to be to keep ahead of the game.”

Delegate registrations are open now and you can find all the contact information here! Bon voyage and Bon Pinot!