Proof that New Zealand is not just a one-trick sauvignon blanc pony comes in the form of the most delightful liquid summer pudding of fruits imaginable known as pinot noir. Its quality trajectory has been so rapid over barely more than a decade that it’s not fanciful to imagine that within a generation, we’ll be talking about Kiwi pinot in the same breath as we now doff a reverential cap to Burgundy’s fabled red wine villages of Nuits Saint Georges, Gevrey Chambertin and Clos Vougeot. Without the protective ring-fence of a tried and tested appellation contrôlée system, the Kiwi outline may still be a little hazy compared to its centuries-old burgundian counterpart. But as the vines and their human masters mature, a critical mass of pinot noir plantings has started to shape an identity and with it an expectation of premier cru quality today, grand cru tomorrow.

Nurturing ‘the heartbreak grape’ that thrives only in marginal climates and even then often disappoints, will never be easy. Why else are chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and merlot so dear to the bean counters of this world. But with their natural gift of riverbed gravels, free-draining soils polar breezes, Kiwis know that, but for a few exceptions, they alone hold the key to a reinvention of red burgundy in the New World. Hence plantings of pinot noir, second only to sauvignon blanc, have rocketed to 4,638 hectares this year. Yet Zealand is very different from Burgundy in so many ways, in attitude, in climate and in the spread of regions that take in Martinborough on North Island, Marlborough and Nelson at the northern end of South Island, Canterbury / Waipara further south and the spectacular lake district of Central Otago close to the bottom of South Island.

Martinborough started the pinot ball rolling with Ata Rangi, Martinborough Vineyards and Dry River. Dry and low-yielding, it now produces some of the most ‘burgundian’ styles of pinot like the 2007 Gladstone Pinot Noir, Wairarapa, £14.95 / £13.95 by the case, Lea & Sandeman, London shops (020 7244 0522), whose vivid fraise du bois perfume, polished veneer of oak vanilla and textured rich raspberry and mulberry fruitiness leaves a satisfying, lingering traces of berry and spice on the palate. And Craggy Range’s 2006 Te Muna Road Pinot Noir, £15.99, Waitrose, vanilla-infused, rich and spicy, heady pinot noir with a sleek strawberry fruit opulence and satisfyingly fresh balancing acidity.

Best known for its sauvignon blanc, Marlborough’s series of a sprawling series of valleys is starting to show that it can rival the two pinot HQs of Martinborough and Central Otago. Wine’s answer to an unputdownable page turner, the 2007 Delta Vineyard Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand, around £12.99 , Marks & Spencer wine direct, Brinkley’s Wines, Corks of Cotham, Bristol (0117 973120), Noel Young, Cambridge (01223 844744), is enticing in the seamless purity of its moreish aromatic strawberry and raspberry perfume and juicy flavours. In similar vein, the 2007 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough, £12.99 - £14.99, Booths, Wine Rack (similar to The Wine Society’s 2007 Exhibition Marlborough Pinot Noir, £12.95) is model Marlborough pinot with its succulent dark cherry and strawberry fruit concentration and clean balancing juicy acidity.

With its more extreme climatic conditions, Central Otago’s stunningly picturesque sub-districts give this mini-Côte de Nuits down south another flavour spectrum that tends towards power with an occasional green twist. Try the 2005 Carrick Pinot Noir, Central Otago, £21, Great Western Wines, Bath, a wine whose scented strawberry aromas and berry fruit richness of flavour combine with some of the mineral dryness and rusticity associated with food red burgundy, or the trophy-winning 2006 Wild Earth Pinot Noir, around £17.99, Marks & Spencer wine direct, Bennetts, Glos. (01386 840392), Philglas & Swiggot shops (020 7924 4494), The Secret Cellar, Tunbridge Wells (01892 537981), WoodWinters, Bridge of Allan (01786 834 894), so gorgeously silky, fulsome in its red berry fruitfulness balanced by a mineral savoury streak. As it fulfils its promise in the world of wine, New Zealand pinot noir is coming of age.

Something for the Weekend 22 November 2008

2007 Domaine La Croix Martelle Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Vin de Pays d’Oc,

Ok so the label may not be the most exciting in the world but decant and serve to your guests and they’ll be nicely surprised by the aromatic ripe blackberry fruitiness that gives this organic, southern French blend a juicy, moreish come hither quality. £4.99, Waitrose

Under a Tenner.

2007 Lirac, Cave de Saint Désirat.

This excellent value red is a vivid southern Rhône blend of grenache with syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault, whose vibrant raspberry and black cherry tones are underscored by spicy notes and the powerful warming effect of a wine with not inconsiderable (14.5 per cent) weight. £7.99, buy 2 = £5.99, Majestic.

Splash Out

2006 Chablis Domaine Pierre de Préhey.

Expressive aromas of ripe, buttered toast chardonnay lead to a full-flavoured dry white flecked with honey yet retaining the subtle complexity of the authentic chablis style based on a balancing crisp mineral streak coursing through its veins. £10.99, Domaine Brocard, Marks & Spencer.