Two Very Fine Wines

Out at lunch the boys seemed unable to restrain themselves from selecting wines from the expensive end of the list.

The Bell Hill Chardonnay 2005 from North Canterbury had already been talked up by Chris before it even hit the stemware. He'd enjoyed it at the same establishment not so long ago and it had proved to be the lingering memory of that lunch. With a $75 mail-order-from-the-vineyard price tag this is a serious foray into serious Nu Zillund wine. The Aussies have been hiking the prices at the top end of the market for a while but we've been remarkably reticent over here. Not so with Marcel Giesen and Sherwyn Veldhuizen, the owners and wine growers. For all the swagger and expense this is exciting stuff.

It leads in with melon and guava, a tropical fruit spectrum under flinty iodine all leading to marzipan softness. "More Montrachet than Mersault" says Rich. Great concentration and fine acid with rocking lemon-y balance on the palate and a slight graininess emanating from oak still resolving itself into the fruit. As it sits cereal notes appear until all I can get is Apricot All Bran. It sits some more and the breakfast aspect morphs into pudding. The sweetness of apricot crumble. Butter and oats. For all this apparent softness it's a big wine and quite raw boned. A solid German fraulein. Not inelegant but very natural. Hewn. a 2 bottle wine

The red was another revelation and a very special wine. Craggy Range 'My Selection' Pinot Noir Te Muna 2003 was blended by the late Doug Wisor, a winemaker for Craggy Range before his tragic death in a kite-surfing accident. As such it takes on a bitter poignancy, not that that should detract from the wine itself, rather it adds a layer of regret that such a talent should have been taken so young.

With 5 years in the bottle this is definitely in its best window right now. The glinting garnet colour of blood still shot through with a little purple and only slight fading at the rim. The concentration if not the profile is reminiscent of Dry River although it puts me in mind of a quote from the back of an Ata Rangi bottle.
"Maximum Power without maximum weight, like a well-engineered back pack". And in colour it looks like an aging Ata Rangi. The aroma is heady. Red fruits and rhubarb with a sheen of bacon fat. The palate super-plush, an almost waxy character, red licorice. After the bacon fat dissolves the wine blooms into greeness leaving sweet pineapple mint, anise, camphor and bayleaf. This is a Pinot that grants me understanding of the 'perfumed' descriptor. Gentle, sensitive, fragrant, quixotic. a 2 bottle wine