Discovering New Zealand Pinot Noir as a Cabernet Sauvignon Drinker

6 days ago

3 min read

If Cabernet Sauvignon is the red wine you usually choose, Pinot Noir can open a different kind of pleasure. The attraction may begin with fragrance, then deepen as you notice the texture and the flavours that remain after a sip. A fine Pinot can feel less imposing while still holding your attention through an entire meal. For a first bottle, the useful question is which qualities of Cabernet you most enjoy and where you might find those qualities expressed differently.

For our family at Clos Ostler, that conversation leads to the limestone vineyard we care for in the Waitaki Valley, North Otago. Our Pinot Noirs are drawn from one eight-hectare monopole, with Caroline’s bringing together the vineyard’s five Pinot Noir clones and EOS following a more particular selection. They give us a way to explore depth, perfume and structure within a single place, rather than treating Pinot Noir as one fixed style.

Clos Ostler EOS Pinot Noir 2022 with its fossil-shell label.

Start with fruit and texture

Cabernet Sauvignon is commonly associated with blackcurrant fruit and a firm tannic structure. Pinot Noir often moves towards red berries and a gentler tannin impression, although the vineyard, season and winemaking create considerable variation. WSET uses the two varieties as a useful tasting contrast. These broad differences explain why a Cabernet drinker may initially notice Pinot’s fragrance before its structure.

It helps to separate weight from persistence. A wine can have a relatively light feel and still leave a long sequence of flavours. When tasting a Pinot for the first time, notice whether the fruit remains clear through the middle of the palate and whether savoury or floral details continue into the finish. Those observations tell you more about the experience than the depth of colour alone.

If you love dark fruit and savoury depth

Caroline’s Pinot Noir 2021 would be our suggested starting point for someone drawn to plum, dark cherry and a generous texture. Its warm, dry season produced a concentrated expression of the vineyard, with the estate’s tasting note placing thyme, sage and clove around the fruit. The five-clone blend gives a broad account of the slope, bringing the individual components together in one wine.

Its independent recognition is specific. At the International Wine Challenge 2025, Caroline’s 2021 received 96 points and the New Zealand Red, New Zealand Pinot Noir and North Otago Pinot Noir trophies. The judges’ account emphasises both its substantial texture and its savoury character. That combination makes the wine an interesting introduction for a drinker who wants Pinot Noir to bring depth to the table.

If you love structure and a long finish

EOS Pinot Noir 2022 offers another route, especially if the lasting impression of a wine matters more to you than its initial weight. Our tasting note follows dried raspberry, rose and lemon thyme through fine tannins and bright acidity. EOS is selected principally from clones 667 and 777. In this vintage, the appeal lies in the relationship between aromatic detail and the shape that carries it.

Decanter awarded EOS 2022 Platinum and 97 points at its 2026 World Wine Awards, then included it in an international selection of fifteen Pinot Noirs. Its published assessment draws attention to herbal and savoury detail alongside the wine’s structure. For a Cabernet drinker, this is an opportunity to find complexity through a different balance of fruit, perfume and tannin.

Choose a meal that gives the wine room

For a first exploration, we would choose roast lamb with herbs and mushrooms, or duck with a savoury accompaniment, and keep heavily sweetened sauces out of the comparison. This is a suggestion from our table rather than a rule about the grape. The aim is to make the fruit and texture easy to recognise while the meal gives the wine a natural setting.

If you open Cabernet and Pinot together, give each a separate glass and taste them before returning to them with food. Notice the change in aromatic register, the drying sensation of tannin and the length of each finish. A comparison is most useful when you allow each wine to show its own character. A Pinot need not reproduce Cabernet’s weight to become a bottle you want to open again.

Finding your first Clos Ostler Pinot Noir

Begin with the wine and vintage whose description interests you, then check the estate’s current availability in your market. Caroline’s 2021 and EOS 2022 provide two documented reference points, while another release will have its own growing season and tasting note. Our family’s hope is that this first encounter makes the Waitaki landscape tangible, and gives you a reason to return to the vineyard through another year.