Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Craggy Range Pinot Noir Super Models
It's not very often that one gets to taste Craggy Range Pinot Noir and meet Anna Nicole-Smith and Cindy Crawford in the same room. Anyone would have taken this opportunity to do so with two hands. I find the Cindy Crawford still sexy and as good as any super model today and Anna Nicole-Smith, well......
Bannockburn, Central Otago, Pinot noir has always been about primary fruit and not much else, as this gives
instant gratification. The temperature around Cromwell are some of the highest in the country. With that you get rich red fruit with high alcohol and then it falls short on the mid and end palate, that is in general.
With this tasting it was a chance to compare the two stable mates side by side, also both regions, and both were keen to get out of the gates as soon as possible. I poured the Te Muna first, as it usually has more structure and depth of character and is, in general, more subtle. I was not disappointed with my decision.
The Te Muna had a rather feminine aroma with red currants and lightly dusted earthy floor mixed with some herb and blackberry. The palate was a delight with good structure and balance all the way from front to back. This was in complete contrast to the Bannockburn 'sluicing's' which had over ripeness with red fruit and nothing else on the nose. The palate was hot (from the high alcohol) and juicy but lacked any form of structure and fell short and flat like a big busted woman (it was the Anna Nicole-Smith of Wine, whereas the Te Muna was Cindy C).
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Forrest Estate wine tasting at Wine Chambers
What a week it has been what with the cricket, the economy, and a lot of work for Wine Vault TV. We have been recording like crazy and even recorded this tasting on the fly.
The Forrest Estate wine tasting was held at the restaurant Wine Chambers in Shortland Street, Auckland CBD. A beautiful setting for a tasting with glorious architecture and furnishings that take one back to the early 1900s.
The wines were lined up and there were multiple vint
ages for us to taste. I started with The White which is a blend of white grape varieties including Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and others. Whilst the wine was well made, I couldn't help think that this is not what wine should be about. For me wine has to sing and dane about a particular place and season. The grapes for The White come from as far a field as Central Otago and Hawke's Bay. WVR 86 points
The Forrest Sauvignon Blanc 2006 had real presence in the glass and displayed that New Zealand white wine can age gracefully. The fruit was still very much alive and this is probably due to the screwcap. The colour had not deepened and was a light straw. The taste was great with strips of minerality and good doses of acid layered with bright fruit. WVR 89 points
The 2008 Forrest Sauvingon Blanc was Sancerre like in its chalkiness and fruit quality. WVR 89 points The 2007 was somewhat trapped in the middle and outclassed by the others, unfortunately so in my books. WVR 85 points
We then tried the Rieslings and they are described as follows:
The Valleys Library Release 2001- Slight hint of Kerosene on the nose and citrus fruit. Citrus, lemon peel and minerals on the palate. WVR 88 points
Forrest Wairau Valley Dry Riesling 2007- Young and tight on the nose with just a hint of tangerine and citrus. The palate yielded young fruit and good acid. WVR 85 points
Brancott Riesling 2008- Lush ripe citrus fruit, zesty on the nose. Ripe preserved lemons and some sweetness that finishes dry despite 10 grams of R/S. WVR 86 points
Brancott Riesling 2007- Lemon tart and custard with tangerine on the side is the aroma of this wine. The palate is rich ripe fruit with some oat cake and finishes dry but you know there is sugar somewhere. WVR 88 points
Brancott Riesling 2004- The sweetness and minerality hit you on the nose. This wine has developed beautifully on the palate with a concentration of quality fruit mixed with some kerosene character. WVR 90 points.
The Doctors Riesling 2006 - This wine is made in a Kabinet style with stewed apples and citrus on the nose. The apples continue through and it finishes dry despite the style and low alcohol at 8.5%. WVR 90 points.
The Doctors Riesling 2007- A punchy little critter with a ripe citrus fruit and oranges. The palate displays slightly over ripe fruit but is held in balance beautifully with good winemaking. WVR 88 points.
The Doctors Riesling 2008- A clean sterile nose of sweet ripe fruit and lemons. The fruit on the palate is crisp and refreshing. WVR 86 Points.
Waitaki Valley Chardonnay 2006- Grown in a difficult viticultural area that is Waitaki. The Fruit smelt unusual and the wine well made but felt slightly awkward in the glass. Lots of acid slightly oxidised taste and challenging nose. WVR 70 points.
Forrest Botrytised Riesling 2002- Class in a glass. This wine was still in its youth with bright acidity and fruit with a sweetness and taste that still lingers. The sensation was formidable with honey, tangerine, and lemon mixed with a hint of kerosene. The palate was lively and balanced to perfection. WVR 92 Points.
After all of this tasting I still would like to see wineries concentrating on making 2-3 wines and not wines from all over the country. For we cannot excel at everything we do so should concentrate on terroir not trying to show the world that we can make very varietal in every viticultural area of NZ.
All in all a good tasting session and nice wine in general.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
TweetBunchNZ Twitter Wine Tasting Group
Can you review a wine in 140 characters or less?
@TheWineVault @winewanker & @fiascowines present the first monthly TweetBunchNZ.
TweetBunchNZ is the brain child of three wine professionals, working in different aspects of the wine trade: a winemaker, a retailer and sommelier and wine writer. We are creating a social media event which strips the crap from wine tasting – forcing participants who range from experts to enthusiastic amateurs to write about a single wine in 140 characters.
At 8pm on Sunday the 19th of April we are all going to be popping Fiasco’s new release and first Pinot Noir, The Black Pearl, from Marlborough’s Southern Valleys. Already popular twitters @anadav, @joegreenz, @kalena, @Courageous_One, @NZWineDog & @wandaharland are involved and as the pace picks up many more will be as well.
To participate in this event sign up to Twitter and get a bottle of The Black Pearl from Fiasco Wines (www.fiascowines.co.nz) or The Wine Vault (www.thewinevault.co.nz) for the discounted price of $__.
This will be the only media release for The Black Pearl – media enquiries about participating can be directed to winewanker@gmail.com – of course, it would be a good idea to get a twitter account first.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Supermarket pricing.
We are being sold wine that is no more individual than cola and the masses are being duped by big business. The wine that is sold in the supermarkets is explanation enough. Only 2-3 suppliers offer wine to the supermarket at the price that they want to pay. And when they give you big discounts it becomes the real price where the money made before such discounts is just pure greed and fools people into buying it when it is offered 'on special'.
So the next time you buy wine in a supermarket and it is not discounted then you are adding to their coffers but the next time you buy wine when discounted that is the real value of the wine.
A sense of place and belonging.
I would really like to taste wine everyday that tells me where and when it was from. More often than not I taste wine that is from industrial factories rather than from, say, Marlborough or Central Otago.
When I taste wines from the old world I get a sense of the season and place where the wine was from. Wines from 2003 display intense super ripe fruit which is indicative of the extremely hot year that was '03. They have a distinct character which is their passport to identification.
Please, oh please, let more ad more wineries make wine that has a passport of the land rather than the winemakers preferences for big new world styles. Now it is not always the fault of the winemaker but the fault of the winery owner who obviously has not been exposed to enough old world wine.
William Thomas Wines
I had the fortune of meeting the winemaker for William Thomas Wines yesterday and mightily impressed I was too. The wines have always interested me but it is not until someone can tell the real story about them that they begin to make sense.
The vineyard is well on the way to becoming 'organic', well actually they have decided to go the whole hog and become BioGrow Certified. Having made this costly decision you begin to appreciate the wine more. Rather than it being purely commercial they have embarked on one of the hardest, but most rewarding, ventures in viticulture.
The Sauvignon Blanc from the 2008 vintage, which was a very difficult year, is impressive. All of the fruit for this wine was hand picked, which must be a new direction for Marlborough.
There is good minerality and structure to this wine. It, must be said, is atypical Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It doesn't make you run to the cupboard for Gaviscon but leaves you wanting more of the zesty lemon peel and slightly tropical flavours. WVR 90 Points
The Pinot Gris was delightful with good palate weight and texture being the key to this wine. It didn't jump out of the glass aromatically but was floral to be correct. The wine was dry and very easy to drink without to much complexity. WVR 86 points
The Chardonnay was supposed to be made just for the winemaker but she made a tad too much ad therefore we were able to taste it. Although made in small quantities it was very well made. There was good citrus characters on mealiness on the nose and that went through to the palate. The texture was from 100% Malolactic fermentation and only a small percentage of new oak used. The wine was in balance until the very end which was a little too hot for me but would have tightened up had the wine been chilled. WVR 85 points
The Pinot Noir was the highlight for me. The colour was light ruby and didn't look too over extracted and I could clearly see my hand through the glass (always a good sign for Pinot Noir).
On the nose it was slightly edgy but in a good way and the fruit came through with a small amount of savoury. Once in the mouth the wine danced its' own tune. The fruit was bright at the front and then very well structured on the mid palate and carried through those savoury notes on in the end palate. This wine is a good example of what can be done in Marlborough and good on them for going through with BioGrow in these tough economic times.
WVR 89 points.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Champagne Henriot Tasting
Well I have just finished writing all of the notes for the Champagne tasting that I attended on Monday. The event was held at Number 5 restaurant and bar.
The Champagne was matched to food over 5 courses. The first Champagne off the ranks was the Brut Souverain Non-Vintage. The wine was well balanced with some fine bead (bubbles). It was generous in proportion with fruit and yeasty characters with a tiny bit of Brioche on the nose.
The next wine was Blanc Souveraine pur Chardonnay, many would label this wine Blanc de Blancs, and I feel this wine was to linear and tight and metallic. The fruit purity was good but felt very much like a bubbly Chablis.
The Henriot Rosé Brut was slightly over powered by the berry sorbet that was matched with it but went extremely 
well with the pork belly and mash. It was beautifully balanced with a hint of Pinot Noir and red fruit on the nose. The wine was extremely clean and very textural and good minerality.
Brut Millésimé 1998 was nice and tight and went extremely well with the Pork Belly not was not as well matched as the Rosé Brut. I wish that I could taste this wine in another 10 years and see what has happened to its tightness. This wine was so tight lipped that it gave nothing away.
The Cuvée des Enchanteleurs 1995, on the other hand, gave up its magic straight. This wine rocked with all of its glory on display but is only going to get better. If you get a chance seek out this wine and put one down and drink one now, you'll be rewarded.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mas de Daumas Gassac Rouge 2005
Had a couple of friends over for dinner and pulled out this beauty from the cellar. Although the wine is only a few years old and I went against the producers recommendations of keeping it under wraps for another 10 or so years to get the best from it, it tasted fantastic.
I would be happy to pronounce this wine better than most Bordeaux that I have tasted of recent. I also admire Aimé GUIBERT for what he has done Languedoc wines and their status internationally. For it was he that rejected the sale of land to the Mondavi, Parker, Frescobaldi, and Rothschild venture that would have seen his land, culture, tradition bastardised and all but destroyed with their industrial wine.
Aimé GUIBERT a still from “Mondovino.”
Without Aimé GUIBERT there would have been no Mondovino film and the Languedoc landscape would look very different. The wines certainly reflect the terrior for those that have visited the area near Aniane, Herault.
The wine exudes garrigue with herbs and dark wild fruit on the nose that lingers in the air. On the palate there is more evidence of terrior with a drying minerality and bright fruit that radiates throughout all corners of the mouth and stays there until your next mouthful.
What a wine! What a character! The world needs more people to assist and represent nature and the environment as Nicolas Joly and Aimé GUIBERT do!