The land

Central Otago sits in the interior of New Zealand’s South Island, in a series of valleys surrounded by mountains. The region is the southernmost serious wine zone on earth (latitude 44-45°S). The climate is continental — hot dry summers, cold winters, dramatic diurnal swings, and significant elevation (200-400 metres). The soils are alluvial gravels and schist, often shallow over bedrock. The region effectively did not exist as a commercial wine zone until the 1990s; today it is one of the most respected Pinot Noir regions in the world.

The sub-regions

Six sub-regions: Bannockburn, Cromwell Basin, Wanaka, Gibbston, Alexandra, Bendigo. Each has slightly different elevation, exposure, and soils. Bannockburn and Bendigo produce some of the most concentrated and age-worthy Pinot. Gibbston is the highest and coolest. Cromwell Basin is the largest. All are oriented toward Pinot Noir, with smaller amounts of Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer.

Style of the wines

Central Otago Pinot Noir tends to be more concentrated and structured than other New World Pinot — closer in style to top Vosne-Romanée or Gevrey-Chambertin than to Russian River or Willamette Valley. Dark red fruit, herbs, sometimes a thyme-and-rosemary aromatic lift, savory depth. The high elevation and dramatic day-night swings preserve acidity even at full ripeness. Top wines age twenty years and longer.

Vintages to know

2021 — outstanding. 2018 — exceptional. 2014 — superb. 2010 — legendary.

Producers we know

Felton Road (the regional reference — the Block 3 and Block 5 single-vineyard Pinots are some of the most respected in the Southern Hemisphere), Rippon (one of the most ethereal Pinots in the country, from a single biodynamic vineyard on the shores of Lake Wanaka), Burn Cottage, Mt Difficulty, Two Paddocks (Sam Neill’s vineyard project), Mount Edward, Quartz Reef.