As requested a Pinot.

Colour: Deep although light red. Quite transpearant to.
Nose: Soft sweet cranberry and strawberry nose, a light spice, hints of vanilla and a little sharp on the nose.
Palate: Silky with high acids, the tannins were well bound to the acids so the wine appeared dryer than it actually was. The fore and mid palate were both excellent. Excellent length.
Overall: A pleasant and enjoyable wine. Needs a little bit of age -about another eighteen months would make this considerably more enjoyable.About a B+ on the QPR scale and I would score this a 87/100. It costs 28$ NZD (about $14 USD).

Jeremy -

You are one cool cat for doing this...

Where would you rank Pinot Noir in popularity among NZ wine drinkers / collectors?

I bought a NZ PN once (recommended by MudPuppy) and really enjoyed it. I can't remember the name though....(MudPuppy? Some help!?)

Jeremy,
The wine guy at my local store just handed me - and forced me to buy - things are different in America - my first NZ PN:

2001 Matua Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir $11 USD

He told me this was the first PN from NZ that had a good QPR that he had run into.

Care to tell me anything you know about it, and also, what distinguishing characteristics NZ PN have versus the West Oast PN's and naturally the Burgundies?

Au Revoir, Messrs. Kistler & Lafon!

Short,
Pinots are considered expensive by many so not many NZers buy them as regular drinking wines. Kiwi's don't earn a great deal and so to spend more than about $25NZD on a NZ red wine is rarity.
Amongst collectors and people with money pinot noirs from NZ are amongst the most collectable wines. They are leaders in the "cult" status of NZ wineries far more than any other grape variety.
Tua,
Matua is a comercial winery (although small by US standards) but like many wineries does produce good wines across the board. However at the lower end their reds tend to be a little one dimensional. I've tried the wine you have and gave it a 85/100 but didn't write TNs (generally a sign I found the wine boring.) They are often well made good quality reds just not stunning. For $20NZD ($10-11$USD) though it's not a bad buy and I would consider it.
In comparison to Burgundy (cause I've only tried Kistler Pinot so I don't think thats a fair represent of Western Coast Pinot) most NZ pinots tend to have greater fruit and higher acids. The best are often comparative to the Burgundy Premier Crus with one or two comparative to some Burgundy Grand Cru's, in both texture style and elegance. They tend to be very consistant but lack the longevity of the best Burgundy Grand Cru .Labels to look out for include Mt Difficulty, Carrick, Dry River (probably NZ's best), Felton Rd , Martinborough Vineyards, Ata Rangi , Palliser, Akarua, Olssens, Gibston Valley, Alexander Vineyards and Alexandra Winery.

Thanks Jeremy - you must have tasted something from damn near every vineyard in NZ! A quick follow-up - for the high end PN's (say Dry River), what would I expect to pay - and would it ever make it to the Eastern seaboard of the US?

Just about every publication I've read over the past 2 yrs. indicates that NZ Pinot Nior is the wine to be watching. I've not had many, but the ones I've had seem ready to burst open w/flavor...and I admit to drinking them too early but damnit, I just can't help myself.

I've had some '00 Ata Rangi PN that I thought exceptional, and I'm sitting on some '00 Nga Waka and Te Kairanga Rsv. PN. Ditto Tua on wanting to see more NZPN making its way cross-country. (Maybe there's some on those ships at anchor waiting for the work stoppage to stop(?)).

Tua,
I doubt Dry River would ever make it to the US. There is a two year wait to get on the mailing list as all of their wines are outstanding. However Ata Rangi (the wine Kybo mentioned) is another excellent example of NZ pinot. You would enjoy this wine I'm sure. Expect to pay around the $35-45 USD mark. Dry River retails here in NZ for aroud the $110 but is so rare that few people ever find it.
And yes I have tried wine from every vineyard in NZ. With the recent explosion of winieries in NZ (some fourty in the last two years) I'm a little behind. Back in 1996 I had tasting notes on every wine made in NZ. Now I'm looking at about 75% of all NZ wines, and this is going down each month. At the moment I try about ten wines every day. I don't post TN's because I'm really not sure on what wines you guys can get. But as I've said before if you have any NZ requests for TN's, if I don't have it I will try and track it down. Thornbury 2002 Sav is the one I'm tracking down at the moment.