Grant Taylor, winemaker for Gibbston Valley Vineyards in Central Otago, has also set up his own operation called Valli. He is currently sourcing fruit from two excellent Pinot Noir vineyards while waiting for his own vineyards to come on stream.

2002 is his fourth vintage. The wines are quite stunning with ripe, pure Pinot aromas, focused flavours and real richness with fresh, balanced structures. The tannins are fully ripe and are very silky. The Bannockburn (Bald Hills) is, as usual, more spicy and denser than the Gibbston (Colleens) which shows more elegance and finesse at this stage. One could say the Bald Hills is Nuits St Georges in character whereas the Colleens is more Morey St Denis! Both are very fine and will age well. From the 2002 vintage onward Grant is bottling these two Pinot’s with their regional origin to the fore on the labels rather than the vineyard names being emphasized on the labels (although both wines originate from the same two vinyeards as before).

The 2001 vintage produced a small crop and he has bottled two exceptional Pinot Noir’s. These are deep in colour, aromatic, spicy, ripe and already showing complex flavours from two excellent terroirs. There are superbly ripe tannins and the oak is subtly integrated with lots of classic Pinot Noir red fruits flavours. They have excellent structure and will age comfortably for several years. Two of the most impressive Pinot Noir’s to have come from New Zealand. Both vintages are available now.

2002 Pinot Noir Gibbston
(Colleen’s Vineyard)

2002 Pinot Noir Bannockburn
(Bald Hills Vineyard)

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