Wine
different opinion on what makes excellent Pinot Noir, and that is the point. 60% of our audience are women and 60% under the age of 35, with the percentage of women increasing to 65% in the age group mentioned above. The future isn’t female; it’s now. Further to this, the average RRP price of a bottle of Pinot Noir was $45 with each person who joined on the day spending at least $57 on wine. What was that about Millennials not spending money on wine? What this data does give us is a snapshot in time of trends, personal preferences and more. Sure, this may be only from event days, but these results are based on more votes from a Morgan Gallup poll. So who took the big prize this year? Drumroll. Craggy Range! They had a tremendous year taking out the city prize in Wellington and Brisbane as well as podium finishes in a few more. Bravo to them! Previous winners have included Akitu
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in 2018 (Central Otago), Moondarra in 2017 (Gippsland) and Vinteloper in 2016 (Adelaide Hills) that shows an impressive variety of winemaking approaches as well as regions. The Top 10, listed below is a bloody solid list of Pinot Noir producers represented. Bravo to all: 1. Craggy Range (Martinborough, NZ) 2. Akarua (Central Otago, NZ) 3. Moondarra (Gippsland, Vic) 4. Charteris (Central Otago, NZ) 5. Dog Point (Marlborough, NZ) 6. Ashton Hills (Adelaide Hills, SA) 7. Henschke (Adelaide Hills, SA) 8. Burn Cottage (Central Otago, NZ) 9. Pegasus Bay (North Canterbury, NZ) 10. Ghost Rock (Tasmania) And what region came out on top from the 34 represented on the day? Double drumroll. The Adelaide Hills. For those more traditional Pinot Noir drinkers, this may come as a surprise but not to us; we’ve seen this coming. Last year
alone, four out of the top ten wineries were all from the Adelaide Hills, and the overall quality and diversity of wines from there have been on a rapid rise. Not only that, they ‘turn up’ and put on a good show. The Hills were closely followed by (in order) Central Otago, Yarra Valley, Tasmania and then, encouragingly, Gippsland. Again, showing a broad range of styles, climate and wine personalities. One question does come to mind. Are the more familiar Pinot Noir regions resting on their traditional market share laurels? What is true is there is an incredibly motivated, younger, wine audience who have never before been more interested in what they imbibe. Not just seeking new styles, producers and personalities, they want to know more about how it’s made, what goes into it and, arguably the most important, the environmental impact. I say that, again, the environmental impact. But that’s a conversation for another time.
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