The verticle tasting included wines from 1998 through to 2006, with a few exceptions of 1999 and 2001. This was due to poor fruit quality for the Tahi and was then put inot the reserve wine.
The 1998 was very European in style with lots of layers and was a great example of New Zealand wine being able to age well.
The 2000 Tahi changed in style to that of an Australian wanna be. Deep dark fruit and slightly over extracted and was drinking much better than the '98 but only a few years left and so was propbably best to drink this wine ASAP.
We then moved onto the 2001 which also showed good fruit concentration but lacked charm and was slightly green on the nose and stalky on the palate.
The 2002 was ripe and delicious but needed to be drunk reasonably soon and the 2003 was of the same ilk.
We then moved to 2004 where the wines started to reflect the qualities of the 1998. It was the 2004 vintage where the winemaker changed to that of a young Frenchman with obvious talent and an eye for detail.
The 2005 was the only wine which did not include Merlot felt out of place and slightly uptight compared to the rest of the wines but was of good quality and ripeness of fruit.
The final 2006 was very ripe and had started to develope well and is soon to be bottled and should start drinking well from 2010 onwards.
The evening was a great sucess and the wines reflected this and wouldn't look too far out a place against the best Bordeaux blends that this country makes.
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