Palliser Pinot Noir wins world wine accolade

A coveted “Best in Show Award” has been won by Martinborough’s Palliser Estate vineyard at the prestigious 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards _ a top accolade for New Zealand’s “home” of Pinot Noir.

Palliser winery’s “Hua Nui 2021 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir” won the “Best in Show” category with a massive 97 points from the judges. It also won a Platinum medal with 97 points for its “2021 Single Vineyard Om Santi Chardonnay,” another organic entry.

 Three other New Zealand wines also won Platinum awards in competition with more than 18,500 wines which were entered into the world-wide event.

“The single vineyard premium Hua Nui Pinot Noir won the award,” Palliser CEO Pip Goodwin told The Martinborough Star, adding that “the plan has been to be at the ultra-premium end of the market … and this accolade shows we’re on the right path. 

“It’s a nice accolade for our (wine-producing) region.”

“We’re very proud of the award and the quality of wine that is now being produced from that organic vineyard (Hua Nui, or Fruits of Abundance)” she said. 

“It’s very nice for the team too to get that accolade, as organics is a journey and for the team a labour of love, so a lot of work has gone into that vineyard.”

Palliser Estate winemaker and viticulturist Guy McMaster said he’s both thrilled and humbled by the international acknowledgement.  

“To have our Palliser wine recognized by an organization as prestigious as Decanter – it just reinforces to our team we’re doing all the right things.”

The world-topping 2021 Pinot Noir was made from the six clones of the grape variety grown on the single vineyard on the Martinborough Terrace.

“Martinborough is the spiritual home of Pinot Noir in New Zealand, although its not as well known (for the wine style) as Central Otago,” Goodwin said. “It’s this region that put Kiwi Pinot Noir on the world stage to start with, but Central produces much more than us.”

“Martinborough has a different style of Pinot Noir. Here (Pinot Noir) is more earthy, while Central is more fruit forward. Ours is a more elegant style of Pinot, some say more savoury, not that fruit-forward style that Central has,” she said

“They have a different climate, so a different style,” she noted.

“We have won a lot of awards with all our varieties over the years. Now we’re more selective on the ones we enter. This (Decanter) we consider the best basically, so we only enter those now,” Goodwin said. 

Launched in 2004 and now in its 20th year, Decanter World Wine Awards is the world’s

largest and most influential wine competition. The world’s leading wine media brand, Decanter has a monthly reach of nore than 2 million via its print, digital and social channels.

Palliser’s 2021 Hua Nui Pinot Noir currently is retailing for $115.00, the Chardonnay for $85.00.

Goodwin noted that compared with previous years the 2023 season had produced only 60 percent of the wine grapes expected. It resulted from the wet and sunless La Nina-dominated growing season.