A taste of crop yield - a vertical tasting of Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir

It was nice to see Paul Mason, winemaker at Martinborough Vineyard, in Hong Kong after I had earlier visited their winery in April. Instead of tasting different Martinborough wines, Paul conducted a vertical tasting of their five Pinots from 2003 to 2009.

While all wines had the same footprint of firmness and savouriness, which are the characteristics of Martinborough's terroir, the 2003 and 2007 were particularly concentrated and rich. The savoury character was more pronounced, both wines displaying a mushroomy, earthy nose backed by a lingering palate. The reason was that both years had a very low crop yield: 2003 had 50% of normal crop and 2007 only 25% due to frost and bizarre weather conditions—a winemaker's nightmare but a wine lover's delight!

In contrast, 2006, 2008 and 2009 had a more benign weather pattern. The crop yields were normal at about 5 tons/ha. All three vintages display lively red fruit characters and 2009 in particular has a floral nose and an elegant structure. Paul has experimented with partial whole bunch fermentation in the past few years and perhaps the floral character was a result of it. The 2008 had 10% whole bunch fermentation while 2009 had 15%.

I like the firmness and structure of the 2003 and 2007. The 2009 is more towards the elegant end and it will be interesting to see how it ages. Available from Northeast.

Martinborough Pinot Noir: Hidden treasure

Martinborough is the smallest wine region in New Zealand. The area under vine is about 3% of New Zealand’s total but wine production is only 1%. Although the journey is only a one hour drive from Wellington, it is a winding road up the mountain and down into the valley, with numerous twists and turns. No wonder Martinborough is easily overlooked by wine lovers.


If you think New Zealand Pinot Noir is Central Otago, think again. Most vines in Martinborough are Pinot Noir, although the quantity is nowhere near Central Otago’s. It all started in the late 1970s when a few brave souls followed the advice of a soil scientist, converted farmland into vineyards, and proved that Martinborough is indeed ideal for viticulture. Today there are some 58 growers in Martinborough. Sizes range from the smallest with less than 2 ha under vines, to the biggest (still fairly small compared to Marlborough) with 85ha.

The Martinborough Terrace, where most vineyards are.