What They Said
From a CNN report by Hilary Whiteman
“Renowned New Zealand winemaker, Grant Taylor started working with [the Hunts] before the first grapes were picked. He has his own label and is very selective about to whom he lends his expertise.
“…I have worked with many, many grape growers in 28 years of winemaking. I never try to push my thoughts on them because usually they will cost the grower money, but simply say what I think and let them make the decision’ he says.
“Blair and Estelle have listened, then acted. They have been fine-tuning their viticulture; I have been fine-tuning the wine making, and the vines have been getting older and doing their job better. But underneath it all is a shared philosophy, which is to do everything in the vineyard and winemaking to make the best wine possible. There are no shortcuts aimed at saving money.’ ”
- Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Matt Kramer, Wine Spectator, April 2010
PURSUING THE WILD PINOT
The great wine revelation of our time is the discovery of Pinot Noir. So exclusive was Burgundy’s achievement that, until the 1980s, nobody really thought that what Burgundy did…was achievable anywhere else. Then, over the past 25 years or so, it all changed. Like stars in the evening sky, Pinot Noirs that tasted like Pinot Noir appeared, at first slowly, and then in increasing numbers. What once seemed a unique repository (Burgundy) turned out to be just one of numerous mother lodes. It was all a matter of prospecting.
The newest gold mine is New Zealand’s Central Otago district at the southern end of the South Island….. And how good are these Pinot Noirs? Damn good. I cannot recall a new winegrowing region, let alone one consecrated to a variety as demanding as Pinot Noir, that has vaulted to such a level of accomplishment in so short a time.
- Matt Kramer, Wine Spectator