Bob Campbell is one of only 264 Masters of Wine in the world. An international wine judge, Bob judges wine professionally in ten countries and contributes regularly to publications around the world. His specialty is New Zealand wine which he reviews from an international perspective.
Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir – a vertical tasting
Winemaker Matt Dicey talks about vintage conditions
I have never been a great fan of Mt Difficulty’s standard Pinot Noir. On the other hand I’m a huge fan of their single vineyard wines. So when I receieved an invite to taste a decade of Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir it was an opportunity to see whether I’d judged their wines too harshly simply because they were young.
It was an informal tasting at Auckland’s Grove restaurant followed by lunch. I destest people who hog spittoons. Tasting etiquette demands that you taste, step forward, spit, then step backwards to leave room for others. My technique for getting the message across to spittoon hogs is to spit from a great height, splashing those within a 250ml radius. They soon get the message, especially if they’re wearing white.
Here are my scores and brief comments for each vintage with previous scores in parenthesis:
2007 Pinot Noir 93 (no earlier tasting records) – Totally charming wine with attractive floral, spice and ripe cherry flavours.
2006 Pinot Noir 88 (90) – lifted cherry aromas, tighter and more savoury than the 07 with good length. A suspicion of sulphide (not noted when tasted at an earlier date). A wine for the future perhaps?
2005 Pinot Noir 89 (93) – Similar in style to the 06 but showing more development (naturally). Once again a rather tight and slightly bony wine with a suspicion of sulphide that forces me to reduce my previous score.
2004 Pinot Noir 78 (80) – Light aroma, slightly floral but with green tannins and some herbal flavours. Lacks ripeness. Too austere.
2003 Pinot Noir 86 (85) – Tight wine with weight and power. This is a sleeper that should strut its stuff in another year or two. Quite complex, drying tannins.
2002 Pinot Noir 93 (93) – Plump, fleshy wine – an elegant fruit bomb. Sleek Pinot Noir that’s in great drinking form right now.
2001 Pinot Noir 79 (no earlier tasting records) – First year under screwcap. Austere, savoury, slightly green and a tad hard.
2000 Pinot Noir 90 (no earlier tasting records) – Lovely lifted cherry flavours with an appealing savoury influence. Supple and in good form now. Light but elegant wine with very attractive flavours.
1999 Pinot Noir 75 (85) – Well past its best. Bitter, oxidised.
1998 Pinot Noir 88 (85) – Quite developed but in lovely condition. The texture is beginning to dry out but the wine is still a lovely drink.
Conclusion: Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir ages well (the 99 excepted) and is on an exciting growth path in quality terms. The 07 is a terrific wine. I expect the 08 to be even better (If Matt Dicey’s comments can be relied upon).
October 16th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
All very fair comments, if Matt didnt mention it the 99′s in general are a classic example of why we greeted screwcaps like liberators. Huge bottle variation in the chardonnay as well – perhaps one in six drinkable at best. Even at this remove I still get really angry opening one stuffed bottle after another knowing that the wine is still drinkable where the closure has done its job. Cheers, Roger.