World class pinot noir

Its aroma resembles a raspberry coulis.

When it hits the taste buds, raspberry notes come through until it mellows out into cocoa nib and chocolate, finishing with a nice spice from the oak.

That’s what the world’s best pinot noir tastes like.

The Takapoto Single Vineyard Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2012 comes from the hands of Karapiro man Andy Anderson.

In his 19th vintage, Anderson won the Pinot Noir Trophy 2017 at the International Wine and Spirit Competition.

‘‘I think the hallmark of the wines I make, they tend to be really silky.. and it’s just how I treat the wines to start with.’’

Dubbed as ‘‘the Oscars of wine’’ by Anderson, it came as shock for the 48-year old who will accept the trophy in London this month.

It’s the first awards he has entered but there’s a reason for that.

‘‘I purposely held this wine back really for this show because this is the one you want to win.’’

The pinot is fairly new on the market - and it’s only available in New Zealand with around 150 cases made each vintage.

‘‘We’re in no rush to sell it because it’s made to age, I’d prefer it when it’s about five years old.’’

It’s all done at Te Kauwhata’s Invivo Wines in northern Waikato.

Anderson and Invivo co-owner Rob Cameron were fellow classmates in the first batch of students for the Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology at Lincoln University.

They re-connected almost a decade ago and have worked together since.

With the fruit sourced from the Viticultura’s Legends Terrace vineyard in Central Otago, the process takes up to 14 months from when the destemmed grapes arrive until bottling.

Red wines have been Anderson’s forte following two vintages in South Australia’s Barrossa Valley during his early winemaking years.

Since then he’s racked up experience in other Australian wineries, and had stints in London as well as Spain before returning to New Zealand to take over the Cambridge Fine Wine shop.