9 Excellent New Zealand Pinot Noirs Up to 95 Points

Pinot Noir is the second-most widely grown grape in New Zealand, where it grows across the country’s two largest islands, North Island and South Island. (Sauvignon Blanc still reigns as the most widely grown variety.) As vintages have shown, Kiwi winemakers have established a successful home for Pinot Noir in these cool-climate areas. In this lineup, we delve into three New Zealand regions known for making excellent Pinot Noir. These wines have all scored at least 88 points, including the top scorer, which has achieved a classic score on our 100-point scale.

Martinborough is one of the three subregions of the Wairarapa wine region, largely within the province of Wellington on New Zealand’s North Island. The area is in a wide river valley between the Remutaka mountain range and the eastern hills of Wairarapa. Here, soils consist of alluvial gravel over clay silt, which creates good drainage that helps stress vines; this, in turn, concentrates the flavor and energy of the area's Pinot Noir grapes. This is on display in Craggy Range’s dense and muscular 2022 (91 points, $30), which shows blood orange, raspberry and candied cherry notes.

This lineup includes the Burn Cottage Pinot Noir Central Otago Moonlight Race 2022, this week's top scorer, which is generous and concentrated with cherry, blackberry and pepper notes. Read on to get our score and full tasting note for this fantastic New Zealand Pinot Noir and eight others.

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