Stoneleigh Latitude Pinot Noir 2009 $34 Spending eight months in French oak barrels (a third of them new) has produced a wine chock-full of youthful fruit sweetness combined with spicy layers of plum, cherry and toast. It’s bright, vibrant and very drinkable, although I’m not sure how this wine will do in the cellar so … Read More
Pinot Noir
Tukipo River Estate Fat Duck Pinot Noir 2009
Tukipo River Estate Fat Duck Pinot Noir 2009 $48 In a word, jaw-dropping. Roland Norman has created a wine exotically perfumed with cherrywood smoke, hedgerow fruits, lush, forest leaf litter and japonica. I love the wild strawberry and rhubarb flavours and its silky, slippery mouthfeel. It’s an absolutely sensational example and one I desperately wish … Read More
Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010
Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010 $40 I was so mesmerised by the sexy red currant, cranberry, tamarillo, sweet rhubarb and spicy, cocoa-edged aromas that I had to remind myself to stop sniffing and actually take a sip. Thank the lord I did because this is superb stuff. Silky, fleshy and sewn together with elegantly … Read More
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2008
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2008 $29 Attractive garnet-red colour and simply oozes fresh raspberry, cherry and hedgerow-fruit essences. In the mouth it has purity of fruit combined with wild game notes and sexy, earthy spices. If that doesn’t grab you, the long, silky, slippery finish definitely will. Just lovely. www.limerock.co.nz
Gibbston Valley Wines Pinot Noir 2009
Gibbston Valley Wines Pinot Noir 2009 $42 Densely coloured and powerfully scented with dried herbs, forest-floor notes, black tea and bitter cherry. In the mouth the tannins are fresh, spicy and showing some richness and grip on the long, lingering finish. It’s an incredibly floral, lush pinot which has a good backbone for cellaring yet … Read More
Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir 2009
Rippon ‘Tinkers Field’ Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2009 $95 Yes, you are right, it is that price. But I guarantee if you try this you’ll quickly realize that the last thing you spent ninety dollars on didn’t give you half the satisfaction as just one sip of the Tinkers Field. Biodynamically produced from one of … Read More
Kate Radburnd Vine Velvet Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2009
Kate Radburnd Vine Velvet Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2009 $19 Ultra-fruity aromas of raspberry, cherry and liquorice while on the palate it is lush and beautifully ripe; the finish is warm, smooth and super-satisfying. Fantastic value for money and an absolute winner with roast lamb studded with garlic and rosemary. www.kateradburnd.co.nz
Te Mania Reserve Nelson Pinot Noir 2009
Te Mania Reserve Nelson Pinot Noir 2009 $35 Classic Burgundian colour and heady, intoxicating, cherry, chocolate and hedgerow aromas. In the mouth it has upfront savoury spices, flavoursome rhubarb and plum flavours which pave the way for silky, textural length of flavour that lasts and lasts. Lovely stuff. www.temaniawines.co.nz
Radio NZ National Wine Recommendations 4th November 2011
Spent a superb couple of days in Marlborough last weekend at the bi-annual Marlborough Wine Weekend celebrations where wine fans like me got the chance to immerse ourselves in very focused, specialised tastings of different styles and wines from various sub-regions in some absolutely spectacular locations. It’s a great way to see how diverse our … Read More
Mt Difficulty Long Gully Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009
Mt Difficulty Long Gully Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 $90 You can’t be a pinot noir fan in New Zealand without having heard of Mount Difficulty (or “Mount D” as the cool people in the trade say) The Long Gully vineyard used to be the old ‘oat paddock’ for Kawarau Station before the Dicey family … Read More