Pinot Noir Tasting

Today our winemaking team (minus winemaker Clive Dougall who was at home with Mel and newborn Amelia), viticulturalist Colin Ross, winemaking consultant Olly Masters, Michael Seresin, GM MJ Loza and two invited independent expert Pinot tasters spent the day at Waterfall Bay tasting 31 Pinot Noir from around New Zealand, 7 from Seresin Estate. With a focus on the 2007 vintage, the purpose of the day was to understand more about New Zealand Pinot Noir and Seresin's wines as part of this landscape. Tasting blind and with independent expert opinion, we were well placed to have an open and unbiased tasting and discussion.

The wine flowed, glasses swirled, aromas wafted and tasters slurped and scribbled notes and scores before a wine-by-wine discussion.

It was a great learning opportunity and we were pleased with how the Seresin wines looked in the context of other wines. We're not naming names or scores, but two things we can share are:

• the overall high quality of Pinot Noir from New Zealand and the general high quality of wines from the 2007 vintage
• that beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so make sure you don't take someone else's word for it. Experiment, explore and discover for yourself the wines that captivate you.