Mud House have asserted a reputation for Pinot Noir in a crowded New Zealand marketplace by proving excellent varietal and terroir driven examples like this Golden Terraces Vineyard Pinot Noir from Central Otago at some great prices. With lifted aromas of dark cherry and berry fruit with underlying notes of mocha and cinnamon giving way to a sumptuous palate of bramble and spice characters with considerable length.

Oyster Bay Pinot Noir is surprisingly a serious complex Pinot. Intense cherry and gamey, earthy notes are enhanced with quality French oak and the finish is spicy savoury and long. Terrific value.

A fruit driven style of Pinot with fragrant strawberry aromas and sweet berry flavours. Moderate acidity and feathery tannins frame an elegant palate of ripe cherry with a touch of earthiness.

Innocent Bystander eminates from Victoria's Yarra Valley and is the brain child of owner, Phil Sexton. With winemaker Steve Flamsteed on board, the Innocent Bystander wines are fantastically varietal and extremely approachable. The Pinot Noir is packed full of black cherry and cedary notes with a perfect balance of soft, but fine grained tannin.

Victoria's first vineyard is a landmark in the Yarra Valley and an icon of the Australian wine industry. Loads of lovely Pinot character on the nose with ripe cherry gamey notes and hints of "forest floor". Silky in texture the lingering flavour is enhanced by a touch of oak.

Situated in the Adelaide Hills, the altitude and cool conditions of Nepenthe's vineyards are ideal for growing the Pinot Noir grape. And it seems that the rest of the country is starting to cotton on to the fact that this region is producing some of the most exciting examples currently available. Full of ripe cherry and raspberry flavours with a complementing acid structure and soft tannin backbone make this Pinot ideal for food pairing on a wide scale.

There is no doubting the quality of Northern Tassie Pinot. This is a fine example from the Tamar Valley has elegance, length and varietal flavours of plum and cherry balanced by a touch of oak and light astringency.

A herbal, floral and slightly 'funky' nose leads to dark, brooding red fruits with impeccable poise and balance. Great length.

St Huberts 'Hubert The Stag' is a wonderful new label from the historic Yarra Valley producers. Plenty of juicy concentration on the front palate with ripe plums that give way to a quite lovely savoury body and a perfectly balanced tannin backbone. Easy to see why this wine has walked away prestigious wine show gold medals and trophies in the recent past.

The South Island of New Zealand is home to some of the worlds greatest new world Pinot Noir's and Central Otago can claim a large proportion of these. This superb Otago Pinot from South Island is an exotic light bodied red with wild fruit flavours of strawberry and ripe cherry and proves you don't have to break the bank to get great Otago Pinot Noir.