Long ago I bought new world wines for a blue chip wine merchant. So with some curiosity I pitched up to a tasting of New Zealand’s trophy wine. Would the Nose be charmed? Yes and no. Here are the highlights and low lights.

Let’s start with bubbly. Nautilus Cuvée Brut Marlborough NV is a rich, toasty, vigorous sparkling wine made with 70% Pinot Noir using the Champagne method. Ahh… the nose inhaled with pleasure. Pinot Noir is second in popularity only to Sav Blanc in NZ, representing 8% of production, and it excels in sparkling wine. This example had plenty of Pinot punch and is a bargain at twenty quid.

If you prefer your Pinot without bubbles, I can heartedly recommend Waipara West Pinot Noir 2013. A worthy winner of the International Wine Challenge Pinot Noir Trophy; it’s a pure and fresh wine with silky tannins, a taut mid-palate and a crisp bite to finish. It’s a whopping 14.4% alcohol so should not taste this trim and energetic…but it does. Fairly priced at £25.

New Zealand has a cool climate… no more so than in Central Otago on the South Island. Good for skiing, marginal for grape growing. Among the most Southerly wine growing regions in the world, it’s all about Pinot Noir down here. When it’s good, it’s lovely, but when it not, it’s green and stalky. There’s lots of schist in the soil, which can make for interesting wine, but with a shorter season than elsewhere in NZ, it’s a challeng to ripen the skins. Crown Range Signature Selection teeters on the brink – herbal tannins and capsicum flavours are at odds with spicy rich sweetness. 2013 is a warmer vintage than 2012, but not warm enough. At £64 it should be pitch perfect.

I can’t really ignore the Sauvignon awards. Sav Blanc represents 69% of production in NZ and we all trust it to deliver upfront, pungently fruit whites with zesty acidity. The current fashion in NZ is to tinker and upscale the variety; to give it a bit more focus, intensity and complexity. I’m not convinced. Winner of the Decanter Wine Awards Saint-Clair Reserve Sauvignon is pure, intense and spot on for green pea typicité, but £25 is more than I want to pay for Sauvignon.

However I would part with £20 for Man O’War Gravestone Sauvignon Semillon 2013 (named after Captain Cook’s Man O’War Bay) which snaffled the International Wine Challenge Trophy for NZ white. This comes from Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, more commonly known for reds. It’s a concentrated, powerful wine with grip. The winemaker has goes off piste to make a more ‘serious’ wine using artisan wine making with cloudy juice and wild yeast and very subtle oak ageing. This works well with the blend of Semillon with Sauvignon – a combo that’s used in white Bordeaux. There is plenty of lime-like fruit on the nose and finish, but it’s dense on the palate. A good food wine… and a winner for me.

Another exhale – New Zealand Chardonnay. I didn’t take to Vidal Legacy, hailed as Air New Zealand’s Wine Champion. Chardonnay as a varietal wine is pants… a boring ‘blond’ of a wine. It becomes a thing of beauty only as a conduit to the complexities of geology and geography. I had failed to find a NZ Chardonnay in my travels as a wine buyer and the trophy selection brought me no closer.

Moving on swiftly to a pair of appetising reds which set the Nose a quivering. Mission Estate Jewelstone Syrah Hawke’s Bay 2013 won the IWC NZ Syrah Trophy. This is a funky wine with plenty of spice and pepper, earth and prunes. Love the chunky tannins. It’s traditionally punched down and lingers on skins after ferment. This full-bodied, burly wine is well priced at £24.

Hawkes Bay Mission Estate winery

It comes from the Gimblette gravels in Hawkes Bay, as does the next wine. It’s a top spot for reds with its sandy, loamy top soil over gravel and warmer microclimate climate. Elephant Hill, Merlot Malbec Cabernet Franc is a blend of eleven different ferments from small parcels on the gravels. This is a delight. A flowing wine quite different from the last. The Nose enjoyed its sophisticated aroma and revelled in it’s juicy, supple and elegant palate. Clearly the IWC judges liked it too. Great value at £17.99.

New Zealand is not all about Sauvignon Blanc or even the uber fashionable Pinot Noir. I was most impressed by this red duo, which tickled the tastebuds with something unexpected.

Details of wines, wineries and stockists

Nautilus Cuvée Brut Malborough NV £20 www.negociants.com

Waipara West Pinot Noir, Waipara Valley, 2013. www.waiparawest.com £25 www.waterloowine.co.uk Man O’War Gravestone Sauvignon Semillon, Waiheke Island, 2013. www.manowarvineyards.co.nz Saint Clair Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2014. £25 www.hdnwines.co.uk *Mission Estate Jewelstone Syrah, Hawke’s Bay, 2013 £25 www.missionestate.co.nz

*Elephant Hill Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc Hawke’s Bay, 2013 www.elephanthill.co.nz £17.99 www.barwellandjones.com