New Zealand Tasting Report: Can 2021 Outshine 2020’s ‘Vintage of the Century’?

It was a comparison of two light and slightly wet vintages in France and New Zealand: a 2012 Kusuda Pinot Noir Martinborough versus a 2012 Armand Rousseau Charmes Chambertin. Both reds were on the lighter side, and what the Rousseau had in wood-driven complexity the Kasuda had in freshness and purity. It was a draw, in my opinion.

“It’s not a bad comparison,” said Hiro Kusuda, the owner and winemaker of the tiny vineyard in New Zealand’s Martinborough region, as Marie and I sat around his dinner table a few weeks ago eating okonomiyaki made on the spot by his son. Kusuda makes a few hundred cases of his exquisite-quality, handmade pinot each year along with riesling and syrah.

The example also highlighted how well New Zealand pinot noirs age, even cork-finished bottles such as Kusuda’s. While Marie and I were in Martinborough for part of the harvest of our 3,000 vines of pinot in the region, I also rated more than 300 wines from the island nation, and there are plenty of excellent bottles coming out this year, particularly from the 2021 vintage.

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My impression overall is that the best wines in 2021, both red and white, have slightly more structure than the ripe and opulent 2020s. And they will also age slightly better, if that is something you look for in New Zealand wines. Honestly, I like most of them young because of their vibrant acidity and energy. But from my experience, they also age extremely well.

As I wrote in a recent Weekly Tasting Report, 2021 looks to be a terrific year following the outstanding 2020. Some people said that 2020 was the “best ever for most of New Zealand,” but we will see which vintage is better in 10 or 15 years.

“I am pretty hot on the 2021s,” Escarpment winemaker Tim Bourne said while I was tasting in his cellar in late January. “They say 2020 is the vintage of the century. The 2021s will outlive the 2020s. The 2020s have the fruit plushness. The 2021 have the length and the fruit but not in the plush sense.”

This could also be said for some of the top syrahs and Bordeaux blends of New Zealand in 2021. For example, I tasted the Te Mata Hawkes Bay Coleraine 2021 and it is a terrific young wine with superb depth and complexity as well as just the right amount of muscular tannins to give length and structure for the long term. Yet the polished texture makes it so attractive now. Is it one of the best Coleraines ever?

The 2021 whites are equally persuasive, with chardonnays and low-yield sauvignon blancs showing structure and depth. Even the few 2022 chardonnays from near Auckland I tasted show promise, but the vintage is much more uneven across the different regions of New Zealand. Kumeu River winemaker Michael Brajkovich said his 2022 chardonnays “have even more concentration than 2020.” Don’t forget that his 100-point Kumeu River Kumeu Chardonnay Mate’s Vineyard 2020 was our Wine of the Year in 2021.

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I wish I could be more positive about the 2023 vintage. We all know that torrential rains and Cyclone Gabrielle caused massive damage in the north of North Island. It was particularly devastating in Hawke’s Bay. The south of North Island, including Martinborough, has experienced high levels of botrytis and other disease from the almost nonstop rain, although I still managed to pick a few tons of pinot noir at low alcohol levels.

Meanwhile, the South Island, according to some producers, has seen dry conditions, even drought. So who really knows what the vintage will bring until it’s over.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman

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