Cracka Wines

Of all the wine types there is no more seductive grape than Pinot Noir, maker of the best red wine. With its brilliant ruby colour, complex aromas of earthy summer fruits and silky texture, Pinot Noir is the grape that many find irresistible. While Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay impress with power and dexterity, it is the subtlety and elegance of great Pinot Noir that can soothe the savage beast.

There is though one undeniable problem with Pinot Noir. While its greatest wines are pure heaven, there are also many disappointments, and some at ridiculous prices. It seems that there are plenty of winemakers whom think that merely putting Pinot Noir on the label turns a consumer blind as to what is in the bottle. But it is not all the winemakers fault, as Pinot Noir is a difficult child.

Grab a handful of Shiraz, Chardonnay or Cabernet vines and you can be sure the resulting wine will taste like the grapes it has been made from with the character of these vines able to withstand almost anything thrown at them. But Pinot Noir is a fickle beast and can only create quality wines in a very small number of regions around the world. Grow Pinot Noir in a region that is too hot, and it will taste like a pleasant dry red without much interest. Grow it somewhere too cold, it becomes green and minty, without generosity and flesh. But it is not all about temperature, the fussy Pinot Noir must be grown on the right soils, the right slope and treated right in the vineyard before truly great wines can result.

In Australia and New Zealand, while the local Pinot Noir has for many years trailed the best of France, the last decade with increasing vine age and also a greater understanding of the best sites for Pinot Noir seeing the release of some fantastic wines, some of which are challenging the best in the world. While the cool New Zealand climate sees most wine regions capable of making some pretty damn fine wines, the best in Australia are located near the Southern coastline. To compare the two, New Zealand wines often seem to display more of those earthy, mushroom, almost compost aromas with the Australian wines often show more of the riper fruit aromas.

In New Zealand, two regions Martinborough and Central Otago, while making distinctly different styles, constantly seem to edge out their opposition. The still-expanding Otago region produces wines are marked by power and tremendous generosity of dark fruit flavours, that is almost lavish, yet retains some of Pinot Noirs silky delicacy. In comparison, the best wines from the much less expansive Martinborough vineyards are very pretty, pure and perfumed wines with subtle, earthy, spicy aromas, and structure to provide good aging potential. Close behind Marlborough and Waipara are also reliable sources of fine Pinot Noir.

From the Australian corner, while both Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills can produce some remarkable wines, it is the dress circle of vineyards around Melbourne which are the primary sources of the country’s best.  In particular wines from the very cool regions of Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula and Macedon Ranges can show ethereal fragrance, admirable subtlelty with the fines table to improve with 5 to 10 years in bottle.

Perhaps Pinot Noir’s greatest attribute is that its wines mould themselves to the winemaker, region, vineyard and vintage like no other. So much so that it creates wine types with infinite variety that are impossible to tire of, and in some ways at least, the best red wine.

Get a Free $25 Wine Voucher Plus: Win $5,000 & Weekly Penfolds Grange prizes