By Dan Parker
Some of the world’s most finely tuned taste buds have descended on Wellington for a conference which specifically focuses on the country’s best pinot noirs.
World champion wine taster, Oz Clarke, arrived in Wellington fresh from an expedition to the Wairarapa and full of praise for our local wine industry.
Mr Clarke is in the country for Pinot Noir 2010 – a conference held in the capital every three years.
The four-day event will see 300 of the world’s most influential critics jetting in to Wellington, where they will be tasked with the difficult assignment of tasting wine from 107 of New Zealand’s best vineyards.
As well as being an exhibitor, Alistair Maling has helped organise the event which will see 12,000 glasses used and 3,000 bottles of wine consumed.
“We have real credibility in the pinot noir that we are making,” he says.
“It’s unique, we have diversity between our regions and people just love coming to see what New Zealand is doing with our pinot noir.”
The event will feature experts from all over the world, including Mr Clarke – whose BBC wine show with Top Gear’s James May reaches an audience of millions.
Mr Clarke says he is bringing an important message.
“As long as you keep your prices up and your quality up, your reputation is sky high,” he says.
“One of the things that really worries me at the moment is, for the first time ever, we’ve started seeing a great slurry of cheap New Zealand wines coming on to our market.”
With a billion-dollar industry at stake, Clarke says he hopes New Zealand remembers the old adage of quality over quantity.
3 News