The Central Dozen - 2024 Pinots Noir from Central Otago tasted and rated

A curated case of 12 Central Otago Pinots Noir, selected by Emma Jenkins Master of Wine and sent with compliments from Maddie and Carolyn at COWA

Amisfield - A plush and vibrant bouquet with core scents of black cherry and black currant laced with baking spices and some wood smoke, then a dark rose and alluvial gravelly soil ideas. Youthful and enticingly complex. A very engaging wine on the palate with a satin touch then impacts from tannins and acidity contrasted core fruit flavours that mirror the bouquet. Some floral and mineral qualities emerge as the wine develops and opens out i glass. Taut, firm and dry with a lengthy finish. best drinking from 2030 through 2040. 94 points - Excellent

Burn Cottage Moonlight Race - The first Burn Cottage wine I have tasted in over a year. A lovely wine with an organic and natural purity of fruit, fine dried herb and gentle savoury complexities, scents of black cherry and dark plum skin, wild red flowers and spices of soil and fruit skin. Complex and intriguing, engaging the senses with a voice of vibrato and quiet power. Dry with an abundance of fine tannins and backbone of acidity, along with a fine oak framing flavours of red fruits and the synergies from flavours of soil, oak and wild-flowers that can only come from excellent site, vintage and CM’s winemaking. Delicious, tauta nd new with best drinking form 2028 through 2036. 94 Points - Outstanding

Dicey The Inlet - Very youthful appearance, a core of ruby-purple with a pink rim leads to a bouquet of purity and ripeness, scents of baked raspberry and dark cherry flesh, a seam of soil and site, quietly spoken dried herb and a distinctive mineral quality captured. Dry, finely textured, pretty and floral with a core of ripe red berry fruits, wild red flowers and clay alluvial soil ideas. A delicious wine that speaks tot he finesse and captivating pretty side of Pinot Noir. Lengthy and well made with best drinking from day of purchase through 2036. 95 points - Outstanding

Grasshopper Rock Block 6 - A very bright ruby core with a hue of purple and pink rim leads to a bouquet of site and region with a savoury core framed by plum and dark cherry, raspberry , clay and silty soil qualities. Complex and youthful. On the palate a taut, dry wine with textures from tannins and acidity then red fruit flavours and dried herbs reflecting the bouquet. Chalky mouthfeel from tannins and a saline quality linked to the acid line and overall mouthfeel. Lengthy, complex youthful still. Well made with best drinking from 2030 through 2038+. 95 Points - Outstanding

Maude Estate Single Vineyard Poison Creek - A complex and distinctive bouquet with a core of soil and site ideas suggesting clay and some stone then a dried herb and kitchen cupboard spices. Intriguing and youthful. A delicious wine on the palate with an intriguing set of flavours and textures from fine chalky tannins to clove and lees, bright red berry fruit flavours of raspberry and black cherry then a smoky-bacon-oak and vanilla spice suggestions. Delicious and fine, balanced and well made, lengthy and complex. best drinking from day of purchase through 2038. 95 Points - Outstanding

Moko Hills - A dark ruby hue with a pink and purple rim leads to a bouquet of baking spices and dark berry fruits from plums to black currant the black cherry. Additional scents of earth-smoke of alluvial stones and clays then wood smoke and baking spices suggestions of vanilla and clove. A dry wine tuches the palate with textures striking first with coarse silk tannins and a backbone of acidity, some chalk and stone ideas then red fruit flavours that mirror the bouquet. Delicious, taut with a decent palate squeeze and persistent flavours into the lengthy finish. Best drinking from 2030 through 2038. 94 Points - Excellent

Mora ‘Vale’ - Bright translucent hues of ruby and pink with a bouquet of mineral and saline coated plums and raspberries, a fine savoury quality with thyme and sage, dried herb and bracken, a soil baseline of stones and clays and a floral highlight of rose. Delicious, dry, a natural organic quality with the voice of site and soil speaking first then raspberry and red cherry, and some baked strawberry. A delicious wine with fine tannins and medium+ acid line, a lengthy finish and engaging qualities both through the bouquet and on the palate. Best from 2028 through 2034+. 95 Points - outstanding

Ted by Mount Edward - Dark ruby and reds with core bouquet of perfumed and mineral laden red berry fruits. Aromas and flavours of fresh black cherries and dark raspberries, and a savoury dried herb quality. A lovely wine, dry and textured with persistent red fruit flavours, some pressed floral moments and a core of silty earth suggestions. Balanced and well made with a balanced, even finish, clove and vanilla, dried spices and bracken, a well grounded wine with the voice of Otago and pinosity. best from early 2028 through 2036. 94 Points - Excellent

Mt Difficulty - Very bright ruby core with a purple hue and pink rim with a bouquet of plums and black currant, a red berry mix with a fleshy, youthful vibrato. A dry wine with an equally fleshy and red fruited core, flavours mirror the bouquet framed by fine polished tannins, medium+ acid line and generous lengthy finish. Best drinking form2028 through 2034. 93 Points - Excellent

Pyramid Valley Low Burn - A fabulous bouquet of site and vintage, gentle power and purity of soil and fruit. Such a gentle wine on the nose and when it touches the palate, there’s a floral red fruits quality with flavours of sweet violets and soft red cherry fruits. Juicy yet tender and satin smooth. The mouthfeel showcases needle point tannins and plenty of acidity frames the core flavours of silty clay and stone, red berries and cherry with some plum. A wine that makes me think of velvet textures and floral fruit harmonies and synergies. A captivating bouquet and palate. 95 Points - Outstanding

Valli Gibbston - I love the bouquet of this wine, it captures Gibbston’s proclivity for fresh, plus red cherry and cranberry scents, there’s a wild floral and stony-hard rock soils that capture the messages of region and vintage so very well. Layers of wood spice and dried herb, a savoury seam adds complexity and rugged youthful qualities. A dry wine touches the palate and almost immediately a surge of red fruits and dried herbs take over framed by tannins and acidity. The voice of barrel, soft wood smoke and spices come next with a light bacon and clove suggestion, an excellent texture and long finish. Excellent drinking from 2029 through 2036. 94 Points - Excellent

Wild Irishman Tuturi - A captivating expression of PInot Noir with the voices of site and soil, a very complex wine that deserves your time and attention. Bare in mind this wine is still very youthful and would benefit from time in your cellar. Aromas and flavours of wild flowers, a rugged hillside voice that is the Alexandra sub-region’s voice, then scents and flavours of dark red berry fruits and dried raspberry, sage and thyme and a disticntive mineral earth quality. Excellent tannins and acidity with polish and finesse. Long and elegant, taut, dry and very plush. Best drinking from 2031 through 2040. 96 Points - Outstanding

The Central Dozen has been fortunate to showcase three excellent consecutive seasons, each with distinct personalities. If 2022 brought plush generosity and ease, and 2023 demanded patience and resilience before rewarding it with precision and complexity, 2024 arrived as something different again - and for many wine growers, something even more pleasurable. The culmination of an overall dry, broadly classic growing season shaped by waning El Niño weather patterns, 2024 produced fruit of excellent concentration and detail. It required some vigilance along the way – wind was a persistent feature, water stress required careful management, and a significant late October frost left its mark on several subregions. Yet for those who responded well to the season’s demands, the results are remarkable - wines that are composed, elegant and deeply fruited, built for the long haul yet already showing a silky accessibility. Producers were enthusiastic: “More of this, please!” said one, whilst another reflected, “Really, it was a dream year.”

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Vine age for almost all wines is comfortably over 20 years, though a few include new block portions averaging around 4-5 years, and there’s one established outlier at 33 years. Production volumes range from 50 to 12,500 cases (six wines are below 500 cases, and five wines are above 2400) while the price range is narrower than previous selections at NZ$38 to NZ$99, with a mean (average) of NZ$64.50 and median of NZ$62. At 40% of the selection (including some of the larger volume wines) organic-certified wines are again overrepresented relative to the current regional average of 30% organic plantings: five are certified (one of which is also biodynamic) and a further three are farmed with uncertified regenerative and organic practices. All 2024 wines are bottled under screwcap, with one also offered as a 2L bag-in-box.