2006 Surveyor Thomson Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand (£19.99, Coe Vintners of Redbridge, Essex tel. 0208 551 4966).
I was in Hong Kong a few months ago hosting a Burgundy dinner and after a thoroughly enjoyable line up of bottles and some seriously good food I made my way around the guests answering questions and reveling in the bonhomie that such wines always seem to conjour up. It was here that I met PM Chan – one of the biggest fans of the Pinot Noir grape that I have ever encountered. Not only did she have a house in the Côte de Nuits, in Burgundy, she and her husband, David Hall-Jones, also run a winery at the opposite end of the planet in New Zealand, growing this very variety. She promised to send me a bottle and this is it.
I am phenomenally picky about Pinot, particularly those from Central Otago, as regular readers know, and so I was amazed by the succulence and deliciousness of this wine (but not surprised). PM and David have achieved what so many set out to do and fail – to make and bottle their dreams. They have also managed to do it at a great price and with enormous reward for the keen Pinot fan. Make sure that you taste this wine.
