Pinot Noir, the classic grape of Burgundy, is one that produces silky wines of great elegance, but is often a challenge to grow and therefore it is critical that the correct conditions are present to enable this grape to shine. France’s Burgundy region is perhaps the benchmark for Pinot Noir in the Old World, however, New Zealand’s Central Otago region is fast becoming recognized as a rival, producing lauded wines of great acclaim; one such wine is Surveyor Thomson.
Who is Surveyor Thomson?
John Turnbull Thomson arrived in New Zealand in 1856 to perform the duty of Provincial Surveyor of Otago. During his time in this post, Thomson traveled on horseback documenting the landscape and naming inspiring landmarks such as Mount Aspiring, the Lindis Pass and Mount Earnslaw and his work became the framework for many settlements on the South Island.
Fast forward to present day and the great-great-grandson of John Thomson, David Hall-Jones, an expatriate Southlander with a passion for wine. Hall-Jones and his wife have a home in Burgundy and instantly cultivated a fascination for French wine and gastronomy which they took back to New Zealand and lead to the founding of the fourteen hectare Pinot Noir vineyard in Lowburn, in the heart of Central Otago. Hall-Jones decided to honour his explorer ancestor by naming the vineyard Surveyor Thomson.
An Expression of Terroir
The Surveyor Thomson vineyards are planted in four distinct blocks on a sloping hillside above a valley floor overlooking Pisa Moorings, with the St. Bathans Mountains on the horizon. The deep gravel combined with loess and clay soils and the fairly frost free conditions are ideally suited to the capricious Pinot Noir grape.
James Dicey, a fourth generation viticulturist, has implemented ‘sustainable viticulture’, putting the safeguard of the environment as paramount importance and is working towards attaining a wholly organic enterprise in the near future.
As David Hall-Jones has a love of Burgundian wine, so too does the winemaker, Dean Shaw, who has spent many a vintage in the region making wine. He brings this knowledge and experience to the grapes of Surveyor Thomson and has gained a respected reputation for producing expressive wines with as little winemaker interference as possible. The Surveyor Thomson Pinot Noir encompasses the unique sense of place and respect for the land that John Turnbull Thomson discovered so many years ago.
The current vintage is the 2006 and will delight with dense blackberry, plum and black cherry aromas. The palate shows beautiful intensity and complexity through a union of fruity and earthy characteristics creating a balanced, structured and protracted wine.
