The Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration is the most anticipated event on the wine calendar and each year the event goes from strength to strength.
The Celebration is held in late January every year with a break every fourth year for the national pinot event.
International interest in the Celebration continues to grow due to the consistently excellent Pinot Noir being produced and the appealing format of the event. Wine quality is only getting better as the vines age and as winegrowers become more skilled and knowledgeable in producing world-class wine from the now well established Central Otago vineyards.
The Celebration has maintained relevance by evolving with the changing needs of wineries, wine writers, the wine trade and of course the people who simply enjoy good wine.
Today the event is a mix of tasting and drinking Central Otago wines (new and old), lunches and dinners (with wine), international pinot noir tasting, socialising, meeting new people and renewing acquaintances. Queenstown is the hub of the event but during the event we travel out to the vineyards.
The most memorable moments are the great people followed by the wine, the scenery and of course some amazing cuisine.
Grasshopper Rock has been a participating winery since 2008 when we showed our first vintage (2006). The event showcases Central Otago Pinot Noir to the world with many international delegates and guests in attendance including some of the world’s most influential wine writers.
As a new winery starting out 10 years ago our first Pinot Celebration was the opportunity to have our wine tasted by international wine writers potential customers familiar with world class examples of pinot noir including those from Burgundy and Oregon.
For all wineries this exposure is important to help establish reputations and maintain relationships as well as a reality check to see if our view of wines align with international views.
At the 2018 event one of the many highlights will be a vertical tasting of Central Otago Pinot vintages from 2004 to 2016 at the Grand Opening Night. We will bring out our the Grasshopper Rock Pinot Noir 2006 which we showed at our first event 10 years ago. The Grand Open Night Pinot Noir list is:
2004 Mount Michael
2005 Carrick Excelsior
2006 Grasshopper Rock
2007 Domain Road
2008 Ceres
2009 Felton Road, Bannockburn
2010 Chard Viper
2011 Hawkshead Bannockburn
2012 Doctors Flat
2013 Prophet’s Rock Retrospect
2014 Wooing Tree
2015 Valli Gibbston
2016 Maude Mt Maude EMW
Check out the Pinot Celebration website here
