In April at Teddington and Richmond Wine Societies we indulged ourselves in an evening celebrating Pinot Noir. Tim explained the history and current challenges of growing this fussy grape variety, that mutates in the vineyard (sometimes into Pinot Blanc!). The objective of our tasting was to explore a variety of regions, in the old and new world, that have been making a pretty good go of producing top quality Pinot Noir, and perhaps to challenge whether Burgundy continues to deserve its stellar pricing.
Having kicked off at far from stellar pricing with a pleasant quaffing Pinot from the Veneto in Italy, we got more serious with a New Zealand comparison of wines from Marlborough and Central Otago. Although preferences were divided, the Burn Cottage ‘Moonlight’ was the overall winner (though perhaps not when its price point came into play).
A Pinot Noir from Aconcagua in Chile gave Tim a chance to reminisce about the tours he ran there this and last year, and specifically the wonderful visits we made to Montes. This was definitely well received, especially at a less stellar price point.
Two relatively pricey wines from Canada and South Africa presented very different expressions of Pinot Noir – the Niagara wine being fresher and more aromatic, though possibly a little past its best, while the Restless River from Hemel-en-Aarde in South Africa (another place we visited, back in 2018), was really powerful and in need of a few more years in bottle to mellow out a bit. This was my personal favourite.
We reached Burgundy with our last wine, a Nuits-Saint-Georges from the top quality négociant JC Boisset. It was, of course, really good – complex, balanced, mellow but still with power to keep it going for a few more years. A lovely wine, but worth its price point given the quality we had been tasting? All our wines, with the exception of the first, had spent time in French oak, all were harvested at low yields from top quality vineyards, and while the New World (a term we are not supposed to use any more) wines showed the characteristics of vibrant fruit and
The usual high standards of catering on all nights – Tabby did her usual magic at Teddington with some Cook cottage pie and cheese, and the Britannia produced a delicious two course dinner at Richmond.
For details of the wines and pricing please go to our Wines we have tasted page.
