ISACS is the founder and CEO of EnjoyGourmet, a leading gourmet digital (www.enjoygourmet.com.cn) and print media company in China. He has authored over a dozen wine and food books including the awarded ISACS Guides and other gourmet books and is a wine consultant to governments, wine regions and organizations. He also hosts wine events for leading organizations and companies throughout China. Contact John via jcolumn@enjoygourmet.com.

Today’s iDEAL section offers a yummy feature story on Chinese artisan handcrafted noodles. There also exist many wineries around the world that make artisan, handcrafted wines.

But what exactly is a handcrafted wine? Is it the same as artisan, homemade and boutique wines? Yes, kind of. The semantics behind all these words denote a sense of hands on work that’s implemented on a small scale. In wine lingo, there exists a host of hand-related terms used to describe the hands-on work involved in making wine.

These include: Hand-pruning, hand-picking, hand-sorting and hand-plunging and for classic method sparkling wines hand riddling.

In fact, from planting, first budding to harvesting and in every step of the winemaking at the winery, the human touch is emphasized while machines and mass production techniques are avoided. This is the essence of handcrafted wines.

By the very nature in which they’re lovingly made, handcrafted wines are more likely to reflect their terrior than more commercially made wines. For true wine lovers, this is a good thing. Handcrafted, artisan, homemade, boutique or whatever term you favor, carefully made wines on a small scale offer a very welcome alternative to mass produced wines sporting contrived brands. Some of my favorite handcrafted wines are Pinot Noirs from New Zealand.

Kiwi Pinots

Pinot Noir is New Zealand’s second most planted variety. Following the ubiquitous Sauvignon Blanc that helped bring New Zealand winemaking to global prominence, Pinot Noir has become the second most important grape. With the exception of some regions on the North Island, most notably Hawke’s Bay, Pinot Noir is the leading red varietal star for New Zealand’s most important wine regions.

Each region in New Zealand has its own unique climate, but in general the combination of ample sun, dry and cool climates with large diurnal temperature differences is ideal for cultivating Pinot Noir.

Marlborough is New Zealand’s most important wine region where Pinot Noir plays an important but secondary role to Sauvignon Blanc, which comprises nearly 80 percent of plantings. I’m a big fan of Marlborough Pinot Noir wines especially those from top producers like Spy Valley, Forrest Estates, Highfield and Kim Crawford. But I am confident in making the argument that there are two other regions that make even more exciting Pinot Noirs.

A little over a decade ago, the Pinot Noir wines of Central Otago burst onto the wine scene. Winning awards all over the place, some wine experts were quick to claim that the best Pinot Noir wines outside of Burgundy came from Central Otago.

As one of the world’s most southern winemaking regions, Central Otago has an extreme climate along with breathtaking wild beauty.

The natural harsh beauty of the region attracted the filmmakers of the Hobbits and Lord of the Rings movies, but even more consequentially, at least for me, it also attracted a growing number of highly-skilled winemakers. While fine Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and aromatics are grown here, Pinot Noir is the undisputed champion varietal. The exhilarating fragrant and concentrated Pinots with lush red and black fruit have captured world attention for their seductive combination of elegance and power.

In Shanghai, I’m particularly fond of paring Pinot Noir wines from Central Otago with classic regional meat dishes, including braised pork belly in red sauce and stewed pork hock. Because of their good acidity the wines can also be served with some flavorful fish and seafood dishes like braised river eel in red sauce and deep-fried yellow crocker.

Fortunately, two of the finest Central Otago Pinot craftsmen have wines available in Shanghai. Rippon Vineyard Winery had their first commercial vintage in 1988 but experimental vineyards were planted back in 1974 making them one of the earliest growers of the region. Rolfe and Lois Mills started the winery and now their son Nick Mills is chief winemaker.

Nick cut his winemaking teeth at some of Burgundy’s most prestigious domains, including Romanee-Conti, Albert Mann and Jean-Jacques Confuron. A pleasing feature of Rippon Pinots is their pronounced minerality that’s accompanied by elegant dark berry, floral and succulent tannins. The wines of Rippon are handcrafted and biodynamic.

Another top Central Otago Pinot producer is Misha’s Vineyard. I first visited the sloping vineyards of this Central Otago winery in 2009 and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.

Misha’s Vineyard was established over a decade ago by two IT professionals with successful careers in Asia. Andy and Misha Wilkinson have combined their business acumen and passion to make some of New Zealand’s most distinctive and best wines.

This includes their Pinot Noir wines. Stylistically Central Otago style in terms of strength and concentration, their wines also exhibit quite a lot of Old World elegance and complexity. Except for a little necessary tractor work in the vineyards, the cultivation and winemaking is done by hand. All Misha Vineyard wines are theatrically named, including the highly rated High Note Pinot Noir.

In addition to the two aforementioned wineries, I also recommend Central Otago Pinots from Mount Difficulty, Tiki, Gibbston Valley and Tatty Bogler. All will provide drinkers with a quintessential Central Otago Pinot experience. Most recent vintages in Central Otago have been good to very good for Pinots with 2010, 2103 and 2015 standing out. Because of their power and relatively high alcohol content, these wines need ample breathing time and are best served slightly chilled, or about 16 Celsius.

Where to buy in Shanghai

Varieties: While Sauvignon Blanc is New Zealand’s signature grape, in Central Otago Pinot Noir plays the leading role making high-quality, distinctive wines. Aromatic varieties are also a feature of the region.

Key term: Diurnal temperature differences is a term used to describe the different between daytime and nighttime temperatures; in the wine world larger diurnal temperature differences is a positive factor that slows and lengthens the growing season.