New Zealand Reds: Making the Bucket List

BY REBECCA GIBB, MW | JULY 29, 2025

New Zealand has long held a spot on the global travel bucket list. Attractions such as bungee jumping in Queenstown, hiking through Middle Earth, visiting glowworm caves and traversing glaciers draw visitors from around the world. Despite the cinematic fame of its landscape, New Zealand wine—particularly the reds—remain curiously undercelebrated, especially considering the quality of Pinot Noir coming out of regions like Central Otago, Marlborough and Martinborough.

Since borders reopened after Covid, visitor numbers have been edging their way closer to pre-pandemic levels. Tourism New Zealand’s latest survey extrapolated that 28% of adults in the United States, equivalent to 59.5 million people, rank New Zealand in their top five dream holidays and intend to visit within three years. So why aren’t New Zealand reds on the bucket list for wine lovers around the world?

Local producers admit that their struggles are a problem of perception: most of the world thinks of New Zealand as a white wine country. If you look at export figures, 95% of all wine leaving New Zealand ports is white, principally Sauvignon Blanc. But let’s be honest, there’s a snobbery toward Sauvignon Blanc in wine circles; this is not the variety on which to establish a reputation for fine wine. There is no denying that New Zealand Sauvignon is much loved, but its general appeal as a fruity, flamboyant, early-drinking style does not pave the way for fine wine producers.

The idyllic Rippon Vineyard in Central Otago. 

Some producers believe that a growing reputation for finer New Zealand Chardonnay will make it possible for the country’s Pinot Noir to flourish, but that’s going to take time. The quality of its Pinot is already apparent, which is noteworthy when you consider that the variety was first produced in Central Otago as recently as 1987. It takes time to cultivate a vineyard worthy of vieilles vignes. It wasn’t as if the winemakers of the 1980s knew Pinot Noir would work on their sites when they planted a fruit salad of varieties in a bid to discover the best match. Pinot Noir has continually evolved since then. In the 1990s, for example, it was often planted on Marlborough’s valley floor on free-draining alluvial soils, which were better suited to fresh and fruit-forward styles than complex expressions. As a result, Marlborough is shackled with a perception that it can only yield light-hearted Pinot. But with growers gaining access to the slopes of the Southern Valleys in the early 2000s and vines now reaching their third decade, Marlborough Pinot Noir has become more impressive. Though Marlborough represents half of the nation’s Pinot Noir plantings, the regional reputation for the variety takes a back seat to Sauvignon Blanc. That said, with every passing year, Marlborough inches a little closer to the seriousness that other regions like Martinborough and Central Otago have attained.

Savory complexity is difficult to develop in a place where fruit is so abundant, but it can be achieved through increased vine age and by permitting the wines to age in bottle. It is evident that producers have not only grown more confident in their sites and their winemaking abilities, but they’re also more confident sharing their wines with the world. They know who they are, they know Pinot Noir, and they won’t apologize for not being Burgundy. As Paul Donaldson of Pegasus Bay put it, “This is us. We hope you like what we’re doing, but if not, too bad.”

The paradox is that while New Zealand Pinot Noir has never been as good as it is today, it’s never been harder to sell. Many local producers express concern over sluggish wine sales, both domestically and overseas. This is hardly unique; recent headlines have confirmed the broader wine community’s fears that global wine consumption fell in 2024 to the lowest level since 1961. That also means that producers are delaying releases of new vintages, leading to a number of repeat samples from my last report.

The 2023 Vintage: A Year of Two Islands

North Island:

Martinborough

It was a challenging year for reds on the North Island in 2023. “Jesus had an easier time turning water into wine,” lamented Martinborough producer Kai Schubert. North Island growers were subject to an act of God: Cyclone Gabrielle hit the east coast of New Zealand and brought record rainfall. Martinborough, a small town with a big Pinot reputation, received the year’s annual rainfall over the course of the growing season. While statistics show that it was generally warm, it was also a cloudy, humid season in which a lack of sunshine combined with regular rainfall produced a wash-out summer and vines with large, dilute berries. This meant that wines were light in colour and body and lacked structure and depth. Many producers decided to protect their reputations and declassify fruit, including Ata Rangi, who did not make a single bottle of estate or single-vineyard Pinot Noir in 2023. Those attempting to make reds had to pluck leaves to avoid rot, then figure out which bunches would get to the finish line. John Kavanagh, Te Kairanga’s winemaker, says, “It was a challenging vintage. We did some wild ferments, but we mostly used cultured yeasts. The fruit was not super clean, and we didn’t want rogue yeasts, so it was best to inoculate. We didn’t do any whole bunch in 2023, either.”

Hawke’s Bay

Several hours’ drive up the east coast of the North Island, the cyclone took a heavier toll on Hawke’s Bay growers. As discussed in my report on the 2023 whites, authorities declared the storm that followed over the next four days the worst storm since Cyclone Bola in 1988. Huge swells battered the coast, numerous landslides occurred, and river silts buried or swept away some homes and vineyards. The people of Hawke’s Bay climbed onto rooftops, fearing for their lives amid widespread flooding. Forced evacuations, bridge collapses and power outages left winegrowers and friends unaccounted for over several days. Many growers could not even get to their vineyards due to the damage. For example, Warren Gibson and Lorraine Leheny of Bilancia couldn’t access their hillside vineyards due to landslides blocking the highway.  Time has been a healer, as the pair now jokes that they “inherited some terroir from [their] neighbours.” As a result, there was no 2023 La Collina Syrah, the second consecutive year without Bilancia’s flagship red.

Bilancia lies on the steep slopes of Roy’s Hill overlooking the Gimblett Gravels.

Hawke’s Bay’s staple red varieties are Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, which tend to be harvested in the last third of March through mid-April. For the latest-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, there was still time after the cyclone for the vines laden with hard berries and thick skins to dry out, recover and ripen. As a result, Cabernet Sauvignon is the star of the vintage. For many years, Cabernet Sauvignon has been an anxiety-inducing variety in this marginal climate, but the cyclonic episodes of recent years have favoured late-ripeners. Gordon Russell, winemaker at Esk Valley over the last 30 years, believes this is due to climate change: “Rather than temperatures rising, what seems to have changed is that tropical cyclones tend to come earlier. Whereas cyclonic instances used to occur in late March and April, now they come in February, which makes Merlot more susceptible. Cabernet Sauvignon, on the other hand, can ripen over the Indian summer. I’d suggest it’s becoming the star variety of the Gimblett Gravels, perhaps along with Cabernet Franc. Two thousand twenty-three was my last vintage at Esk, and Cabernet Sauvignon became my most prized and treasured grape.”

The cyclone’s arrival softened and split the berries of earlier-ripening varieties. Te Mata, for example, did not make a Pinot Noir in 2023. Likewise, many top Syrahs and Bordeaux blends weren’t made, the fruit either declassified or sold as bulk. For the grapes that did make the grade, producers had to wait for the soil to dry and focus on fungal disease prevention via leaf removal and dropping any suspect fruit. The 2023 vintage clearly won’t be legendary, but there will be a few nice surprises from the most meticulous producers.

Pinot Noir has found a worthy home on the slopes of Marlborough's Southern Valleys.

South Island - Marlborough

Receiving comparatively little rain, South Islanders looked on with unease as their northerly counterparts bore the brunt of the cyclone. Marlborough’s rainfall was more or less on par with the long-term average in February and March, the key months for ripening and harvesting Pinot Noir. After the lacklustre 2022 vintage, 2023 came as a relief for many growers. Admittedly, there were viticultural pressures. A cool and wet spring naturally reduced crops, with Pinot Noir yields down 17%. Late summer was cool and cloudy, raising concerns that botrytis might get the better of the fruit, but the inclement weather in the spring led to loose bunches that helped reduce disease pressure. Cool temperatures, including a near-frost in March, the key harvest month for Marlburians, delayed harvest but reduced the spread of botrytis. The resulting Pinot Noirs are full-bodied yet juicy and remarkably fresh. The 2023 wines show a youthful, vibrant purple hue at this early stage, especially compared with the high-pH, orange-brown 2022 Pinots. The 2023s are suitably fragrant with bright, primary fruit. Acidity is fresh and crunchy with moderate alcohol. Choice of picking date was key, as some wines show an angularity that suggests premature harvesting while also lending the wines a cool finish. Others boast ripe fruit and succulent tannins.

Central Otago

While some producers remain on the 2022 vintage as their current release, others are well into their 2023s. Tasting the two side by side reveals a contrast in styles. The 2022s are ripe, supple and approachable, reflecting the warmer and less turbulent season. The run-up to harvest was dry and warm, with cool nights and no major incidents, an unusual combination in the unpredictable basement of southern hemisphere viticulture.

The 2023 Pinot Noirs, by contrast, are attractive for their drive and moderate alcohol levels, which reflect the season’s frosts and cool ending. Brian Shaw of Wild Irishman explains “I thought we were going to cruise to the finish line. Then, on March 28, everything turned on its head with three consecutive nights of frost. We went from 23 to 22 brix because we had to use water to fight frost. Ripening stopped. We had to wait a week to recover flavour. So, 2023 has ended up with slightly higher acid and lower alcohol.” There is an edge to the 2023s, and it will take time for them to come together. But that’s hardly a problem at this early stage in their lives, especially when 2022 offers an earlier-drinking proposition.

The barrel-aging cellar at Cloudy Bay. 

Nelson

I also tasted a few 2023 submissions from Nelson, which gave an accurate picture of the vintage. Much of the fruit here is contracted to Marlborough wineries, particularly Sauvignon Blanc. In Nelson, there are legacy issues with small mom-and-pop wineries, which tend to lack succession plans if the next generation is not willing or able to take over when the time comes. Several wineries have been put up for sale or converted into market gardens. However, this often-wet region in the northwest of the South Island escaped the cyclone, and the few wines I tasted are savory, round, fresh and balanced.

I tasted the wines for this report both in New Zealand and at home in England in spring 2025.

© 2025, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism.

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