Four Great Pinots Worth Trying

New Zealand – Ata Rangi 2009 Martinborough Pinot Noir.
One of the most delightful and exciting Pinots around at the moment, this New Zealand Pinot is filled with bittersweet, complex cherry, coffee and chocolate tastes, as well as damson and spice subtle tannins. It has a slight acidity and should see fit to develop into a fine and elegant, remarkable and complex wine. Get hold of a load of these now and then stash them in a dark and cool cellar for a couple of years. It will pay you dividends later.

Burgundy – Chateau Corton Grancey Grand Cru 2002, Louis Latour.
This is an excellent and majestic wine, and a classic example of a high quality Burgundy wine. Colored an off ruby garnet and with a complicated nose of cloves, figs, red fruits and damson as well as a hint of porcini mushroom, this delicate and soft palate opens up to a wine that still has a lot of time left to get better and better.

California – Sainsbury Pinot Noir 2007, Carneros
Everyone knows what an incredible vintage 2007 was, with an Indian Summer and cool weather all adding up to mean that the grapes gave off a wonderful and vibrant acidity and a real intensity of fruit. This Carneros Pinot is no exception and is the perfect example of a deeper and greater extracted ripe and rich grape with heavy texture and a red fruit that is incredibly spicy with a hit of coffee and tobacco. This is a great one for drinking right away and goes especially well with game or duck issues.

New Zealand – Saint Clair ‘Pioneer Block 15′ Pinot Noir 2009, Marlborough.
This is a bright colored ruby red wine with a real dose of plum and raspberry and some vanilla spice thrown in. It is good enough to drink now but if you’re patient will reward you for a few years in the cellar.

Alex is a journalist and blogger. He writes on everything from wine to design and writes a consumer blog for Coupon Croc .