Central Otago in the south of New Zealand’s South Island has almost too much going for it: great scenery, great lifestyle, and now almost freakishly good, if not (yet?) great, Pinot Noir.
JANCIS ROBINSON
 
Central Otago has exploded onto the world pinot scene in recent years, and promising producers are emerging with every new crop of grapes. It’s here, in New Zealand’s most continental growing region, that you’ll find comparatively powerful, intense pinots with deep colors, rich dark fruit flavors, and enticing floral and mineral lift. The best of these wines offer fruit aromas and flavors as close to those of the Côte de Nuits as any non-Burgundies get. 
STEPHEN TANZER, 2007

I cannot recall a new winegrowing region, let alone one committed to a variety as demanding as Pinot Noir, that has vaulted to such a level of accomplishment in so short a time. Central Otago Pinot Noirs are dramatic – they taste like no others..... theirs is real terroir, namely a fidelity to the peculiarities of a place rather than a mimicry of something else
 MATT KRAMER, Wine Spectator

Central Otago is the Southern-most grape-growing region in the world located at latitude 45º south (similar to both Oregon’s Willamette Valley, U.S.A., and the Northern Rhone Valley in France). The region’s vineyards are located east of the resort town of Queenstown andinclude the small towns of Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra. Central Otago is well known as the foremost producer of New Zealand’s stonefruit, primarily cherries and apricots.

The first wine-grapes were planted in Central Otago in 1864.  Despite the district’s potential as a wine growing area being recognised by French and Australian viticulturists from the 1860’s onwards, wine-grapes were not commercially grown again in Central Otago for more than a century.

Modern day wine growing began with a trial wine-grape vineyard that was planted at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) orchard near Alexandra in 1972 and shortly followed in 1975 with experimental plantings at Rippon Vineyard, Lake Wanaka. The first commercial release of a Pinot Noir from Central Otago was the 1987 vintage from pioneer Alan Brady at Gibbston Valley winery. Other early pioneering wineries include Taramea, Blackridge, William Hill and Chard Farm.
www.centralotagopinot.co.nz