New Zealand 2016: Red wines to buy, including top Pinot Noir

ata rangi winery, new zealand 2016 — Vines at Ata Rangi Winery in Martinborough.

(Image credit: Blaine Harrington III / Alamy)

There is plenty to be excited about, says Rebecca Gibb MW, who picks out 15 reds to try, based on releases so far...

New Zealand 2016: A record crop. Warm and often humid. Harvest period was dry and sunny. Excellent whites and highly attractive reds

It’s all about Pinot Noir, and a small amount of Syrah, when it comes to the 2016 reds that have been released thus far.Many of the top Bordeaux reds and Syrahs have not yet reached the international marketplace, and proof is not yet in the glass.However, there’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to Pinot Noir, from Martinborough and Central Otago in particular. You know it’s been an early vintage when the coolest subregion in Central Otago – Gibbston – is picked in April with all the leaves still on the vine. It was a warm and dry season, giving full-flavoured Pinot Noirs that are fully ripe, with elegant, mouthcoating tannins.

The Syrahs are fragrant, fleshy and fresh, with fine acidity.

15 New Zealand 2016 reds to try:

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Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

New Zealand 2016: Reds to buy, including top Pinot Noir

15 New Zealand 2016 reds to try:

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Escarpment, Kupé Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2016

Felton Road, Block 3 Pinot Noir, Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2016

Fromm, Clayvin Vineyard Pinot Noir, Southern Valleys, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2016

Gibbston Valley, Glenlee Pinot Noir, Gibbston, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2016

Maude, EMW Pinot Noir, Wanaka, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2016

Rod McDonald, Quarter Acre Syrah, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, 2016

Two Paddocks, The First Paddock Pinot Noir, Gibbston, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2016

Ata Rangi, Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2016

Black Estate, Home Pinot Noir, Canterbury, New Zealand, 2016

Dry River, Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2016

Te Mata, Bullnose Syrah, Bridge Pa, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, 2016

Valli, Bendigo Vineyard Pinot Noir, Bendigo, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2016

Cambridge Road, The Graveyard Block Pinot Noir, Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2016

Pegasus Bay, Pinot Noir, Canterbury, New Zealand, 2016

Te Mata, Awatea, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, 2016