Looking down from the Black Rabbit vineyard towards Cromwell
Mount Difficulty is the biggest of the
Central Otago producers. They started out as a consortium of five
vineyards each privately held but working together under the Mount
Difficulty brand, but in 2003 the structure of the company changed
and Mount Difficulty became a company in its own right with
shareholders. A new winery was built in Bannockburn in 2001, and the
nearby cellar door facilities and restaurant were opened in 2003.
I visited on a gloriously sunny day, with
sales and marketing manager Michael Herrick (below). We took
a trip out to see some of the vineyards that are part of the project
(they’re all owned and managed by the various shareholders, even
if they aren’t owned by the company itself), and then had lunch
and a tasting in the stylish cellar door restaurant.
The winery, viewed from the cellar door
A wide range of wines is made here, in
two tiers. Roaring Meg is the entry level brand, but the wines are
still fairly serious. The idea is to make more fruit forward wines
with less structure, and because the yields can be a bit higher,
they're competitively priced in an otherwise fairly expensive
region. The Roaring Meg Pinot Noir, for example, is now Mount
Difficulty's biggest selling wine, with 25 000 cases produced each
year.
Pinot Noir is three-quarters of the
production, but Mike reckons that the region is as much as 85% Pinot
Noir. ‘What Sauvignon Blanc is to Marlborough, Pinot Noir is to
Central Otago.’ Three vineyards are capable of making a
single-vineyard Pinot Noir, but not every one does each year. These
are Pipeclay Terrace, Target Gully and Long Gully.
The sluicings in Bannockburn, a relic of the 19th century gold
mining
Chardonnay is made, but it is gradually
being pulled out and replaced by Pinot Gris, which is New Zealand's
fastest growing white variety. Some Chardonnay will be left, because
winemakers enjoy working with it, but just 500 cases a year are
made.
The Rieslings impress. 'We're huge
Riesling fans, although the market hasn't quite caught up with our
enthusiasm,' says Mike. I particularly like the way that a range of
different Riesling styles are made, and they’re all interesting.
THE
WINES
Mount Difficulty Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Central Otago
Nicely aromatic: fresh with fine green herby methoxypyrazine notes
and some ripe aromatics. The palate is vibrant with nice herbiness.
Fresh, overtly fruity and stylish. 88/100
Mount Difficulty Dry Riesling 2008
Central Otago 12.5% alcohol. Fermented at 9-13 °C. Very fresh, pure,
transparent, minerally nose. The palate is minerally and precise
with no harsh edges. Nicely lemony but not overtly fruity. Stylish
stuff – a shame that just 200 cases are made. 90/100
Roaring Meg Riesling 2008 Central
Otago 11.5% alcohol. Bright, vivid and citrussy with lovely rounded
fruit and some sweetness. Nice intensity and balance. An off-dry
style. 88/100
Mount Difficulty Target Gully Riesling
Medium 2009 Central Otago 9.5% alcohol, 35 g/litre residual sugar. Very appealing bright,
fruity, subtly lemony Riesling with some nice melony richness and a
bit of sweetness, although it is not too sweet. Lovely wine. 89/100
Mount Difficulty Long Gully Late
Harvest Riesling 2009 Central Otago This is made in very small quantities. The region is very dry
and so there isn't any botrytis, and this weighs in with 120 g/litre
residual sugar and 9.5% alcohol. Very bold and pure with lemony,
melony fruit. Quite sweet with lovely rich texture. A nice wine with
real purity. 91/100
Mount Difficulty Pinot Gris 2008
Central Otago Fresh, crisp and fruity with some lemony notes and good acidity.
A bit simple but very fruity. 86/100
Mount Difficulty Mansons Farm Pinot
Gris 2007 Central Otago Richly grapey and fruity with nice melon character and smooth
texture. An off-dry, textured, fruity style. 88/100
Roaring Meg Pinot Gris 2008 Central
Otago Lively, bright, fruity and crisp with some sweetness and good
fruity purity. A nice fruity style. 14 g/litre residual sugar.
85/100
Mount Difficulty Chardonnay 2007
Central Otago 500 cases of this made each year. Taut, mineralic, slightly
herby nose with a bit of reduction. There’s a green herby edge to
the rich but fresh fruit. Hints of fig and toast with some lemony
notes. 87/100
Roaring Meg Pinot Noir 2008 Central
Otago Fresh, bright cherry and herb nose. Nice aromatics. The palate
is fresh juicy and cherryish with bright fruit and nice acidity.
88/100
Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir 2008
Central Otago Fresh, aromatic cherry fruit nose is nicely fruity with bright,
juicy cherry and berry fruits. Very appealing with some spiciness
and a bit of structure. Nicely focused. 90/100
Mount Difficulty Long Gully Pinot Noir
2007 Central Otago Very appealing fruity aromatics on the nose, which shows sweet
dark cherry fruit. The palate is concentrated and full with nice
spicy depth and structure to the cherry and plum fruit. Quite dense
and very stylish. 93/100
A
short film of the visit, with Mike explaining the sluicings, the
vineyards and the town:
Central Otago is New Zealand’s coolest wine region, and
with its location – almost at the bottom of South Island – it is
one of the world’s most southerly wine regions. But despite what
looks like on paper to be a questionable climate, with heat
summations seemingly below that required for viticulture, the local
mesoclimates in certain subregions turn out to be well suited to
growing Pinot Noir, that most fickle of grapes. It’s a continental
climate, with hot summers/cold winters and hot summer days/cold
nights.
This is definitely a happening region. Most wineries are less
than a decade old, and explosive growth has taken place here in the
last few years. New plantings continue apace, with the successful
Pinot Noir joined by Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and
Chardonnay.
Mount Difficulty began in 1998 with a production of just 1000
cases. The latest vintage, 2001, produced 15 000 cases. It is a
partnership between four privately owned vineyards with 45 ha of
vines in all and a spanking new winery. The four wines tasted here
all showed well; it will be interesting to see whether some time in
bottle adds complexity to the cool climate elegance they already
display.
Dry Riesling 2001, Central Otago Quite a rich style, with an open nose showing rounded citrus
fruit. The palate is rich, spicy, limey and youthful. Quite crisp,
but full flavoured. Very good (c. £10)
Sauvignon Blanc 2001, Central Otago There’s a distinctly herbal edge to the grassy,
blackcurrant-edged nose. The rounded palate is full flavoured and
quite rich. A richer style. Very good+ (c. £10)
Chardonnay 1999, Central Otago Quite a crisp, cool-climate style of Chardonnay. The inviting
nose displays rich fruit with a herby edge. The palate is crisp and
spicy, very full flavoured and quite savoury in style. Very good+
(c. £13)
Pinot Noir 2000, Central Otago Quite deep coloured. Pronounced intense nose of ripe berry
fruit: it’s slightly sweet with a herbaceous edge. The palate is
full flavoured and concentrated. There’s lots of fresh bright
fruit here with an almost chocolatey edge. Quite intense, but if I’m
being picky, perhaps there is just a hint of unripeness here? Very
good+ (c. £16)
