Villa Maria Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2005

This would be a pleasant but fairly unremarkable drop but for one thing.

The vintage.

Nu Zillund Savvy is usually drunk with no bottle age at all. The 2008 is mostly what you'll find, maybe a few 2007 lying about in dusty corners. But 2005. Crikey you'd be hard pressed to find much of the stellar 2005 Hawke's Bay Bordeaux blends still kicking about. More's the pity.

And this isn't from the Cloudy Bay Te Koko (Bordeaux Blanc) school of oak aging and late releasing. It's good, solid Villa Cellar Selection but nothing more.

A nose of celery but more than that. It's like quiche. The aromas of cooked asparagus mixed with creamy egg and the sweetness of ham. Those big, popular passionfruit thiols turning to something altogether different. At 14% the wine never lacked concentration and weight but with the benefit of almost 4 years the racy acidity has mellowed. It still shows length as the acids present a different kind of power, carpentry for the unfamiliar flavours rather than leap and attack. a 3 glass wine

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

Matariki Wines and Chinese Food

An impromptu dinner organised by the effusive and charming 'King of Spain' saw Rich and I eating at Canton Cafe last night in the kitchen upstairs. Not only was I unaware that Canton Cafe had an upstairs but I certainly wouldn't have picked it as a place conducive to extensive wine tasting. However in our bolt hole away from the frantic pace of the main dining room and with winemaker Rod McDonald pouring from Matariki Wines extensive portfolio we had an informal and, at times, hilarious tasting.

My notes were hastily scrawled as the 'lazy suzy' whizzed plates (and sometimes glasses) around and as such are truncated at best. Rod also brought a few old world wines for the sake of compare and contrast.

Matariki Sauvignon Blanc Hawke's Bay 2007
Shy, creamy nose of banana and guava and an enveloping palate displaying lemons, minerals and a herbal tinge. a 3 glass wine

Domaine Vacheron 'Les Romains' Sancerre 2006
Creamy lemon, delicate with soft acids and a leafy aspect. a 3 glass wine

Matariki Chardonnay Hawke's Bay 2005
Showing great bottle development this leads with grilled nuts and grapefruit and the palate rounds out to ripe nectarine with only a background of 'old fridge' starting to come in to play. The citrus and stonefruit characters are quite forward still with a biscuity, buttery weight in the mid palate. a 4 glass wine

From this point my notes are nothing more than a few words and may take a little help from Rich to piece together. More later

3 Pinots in a Row

We started with the Koura Bay Blue Duck Awatere Pinot Noir 2005 as I'm about to list this beautiful, silky wine and wanted the troops to try it. It's not the current release but Sal from Co-Pilot had found some cases of the 2005 stashed away and it seemed criminal not to snap them up.
Composed, dignified and self-assured but with a spicy twist the Blue Duck is revelling in its time in the bottle. Dark fruits, dried flowers, a little gamey flutter and a lovely allspice kick make this a delicious mouthfull. All balanced and in accord with no flavours trying to steal the show.
a 5 glass wine.

The Mudhouse Swan Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 is another newbie on the list and is settling into my entry-level glasspour slot.
Fairly opaque and rich in the glass with an intriguing nose of damp earth and minty pennyroyal this doesn't play the usual Central Otago cards of chesty, fruit-forward style. Black cherry, musk and tree moss balanced against strains of dark chocolate keep things interesting. I have a feeling that this wine isn't one to age and there's a definite lack of structure at the back but for brooding flavours now this gets a big tick.
a 2 glass wine.

Millton Clos de St. Anne Naboth's Vinyard Gisborne Pinot Noir 2006 is so different from the other two Pinots they barely seem like relations and yet all are good, varietally correct examples of type.
A delicate perfumed nose and a haze of unfiltered purism in the glass speak to a Pinot Noir made with an eye to Chambolle-Musigny. Garnet red and softly see-through with a lightness of rasberry fruit and lavender escaping the Clos de St. Anne is gentle. There's no grip and certainly no swagger just supple finesse.
a 4 glass wine.

A Happy, Stressed Sommelier

It's lovely to try, taste, (spit), drink, talk about wine... It's wonderful to have a job that lets you do that all day.

I'm swimming in samples and wine notes but I've got a headache from the endless financial figures and from doubting my palate. I want to write a beautiful winelist. One with enough safe, go-to options for the timid (and too timid to ask advice) but with enough quirky, boutique finds for those that can and will. One that spans the globe and showcases the best of home. And one that inspires celebrations and memories.

So happy and stressed and happily (some might say), tipsy-ly stressed.

Here's one I can't decide on

Domaine Georges Michel 'La Reserve' Marlborough Chardonnay 2005
Tinned peaches and savoury cashew nose with the vanilla sweetness of new french oak. The palate has classical nuances of Chablis-like undergrowth alongside ripe stonefruit and a grainy lemon finish. Long but a little too intellectual.
A 1 glass wine

Vynfields

I was lucky enough to have wines from this delightful little winery put in front of me the other day. It's a wonderful thing when you're introduced to an established winery that you've managed to miss until the liquid in the glass turns your head.... as Vynfields does

Vynfields Pinot Noir 2006
Blueberry, Christmas plum and fragrant violets. More grip in the mouth but still so youthful with enough slip in the tannins to give a suggestion of silk.
A 5 glass wine

Vynfields Reserve Pinot Noir 2005
Wet leather. Tauter and with more sinew than the 2006 this is dry and spicy and although obviously related to its younger sibling is less perfumed and more savoury.
A 4 glass wine.

The Other Birthday Wine

I've put off writing about this wine as I was afraid that I wouldn't do it justice. Notes are hard to make at the best of times and nigh on impossible when you're out for dinner and so the lingering impressions I have of the Bell Hill Pinot Noir 2005, whilst potent, are patchy.

The big wow factor for what, I think, is the best Nu Zillund Pinot I have ever drunk was the bathrobe-y plush tannins. Almost springy in their mouth-coating-ness, this really epitomised the 'iron fist in a velvet glove' in a way I haven't found in other local Pinot Noir. Complexity derived from an intensely varietal palate of floral perfume, game meat and wet earth was carried through to an enveloping sense of controlled power in the finish.

Special, expensive, intensely celebratory.

A 1 bottle wine (if you could get your hands on one, they only made 560 odd in 2005)

Alluviale 2005

There were other wines in the birthday round-up. None of them as evocative as Orton Gewurztraminer but all of them wonderful, memory defining drops. As the clock struck midnight and I entered my 34th year we toasted with the Alluviale 2005.

This second wine from the Blake Family Vineyard is Blake Family all over. On opening it is taut, direct and masculine merlot with kauri-dust-like tannins amongst the berry fruits. Shy of sweetness but not austere the palate balances (Gimblett) gravel minerality and blackcurrant flower. Serious tasting and in need of time and air.
A 3 glass wine

And so it begins...

We're writing a new wine list and I'm tasting every day. Wine reps and distributors are bringing wines and I'm furiously taking notes and asking opinions of my colleagues and well.... I guess... passing judgement.

It's a funny situation when I think about it as wines promoted to the high end of the market are likely to have been made carefully and with not a little love. And so none of these producers would have set out to make an 'average' wine. And yet some wines sing and others don't despite the care and attention lavished on all.

But wine notes in these situations tend to be blunt, less given to lists of fruit and flowers and more concerned with stating the personality of the wine and its aptitude to line up.

William Thomas Marlborough Chardonnay 2005
16 months old French oak. Winemaker - Will Hoare, assistant at La Strada. Quite sweet citrus nose. Orange peel, floral, savoury cashew. Grainy palate. Mendoza clone. Refreshing, persistent, clean finish. Pretty yet refined.

Domaine Jaquairy Pinot Noir Central Otago 2003
11 months French oak. Clear garnet red (not over extracted!). Forest floor and white truffle. Spicy, feminine style

Lindis River Pinot Noir Central Otago 2005
Beguiling nose. Red fruits and high acidity. Refreshing. Red liquorice. Quite linear.

Lindis River Pinot Noir Central Otago 2006
Warmer smelling than the 2005. Fruits tending darker and better mouthfeel. Spicy and rich but oak still prominent. Needs time to integrate. Coffee background.

Waxy

What a glorious texture the Henschke 'Louis' Semillon 2005 has. It manages that trick of having fine and fun, refreshing acid along with a weighty, waxy palate. It's all very ripe fig...... and very ripe fig and then some. A bit of kero and that beesewax-y texture wrapping it all up along with the weird aromatics of mothballs. Sounds bad, but tastes amazing!

So good now but if you can wait on the wine for 5 years (or even 10) then the whole Arabian Oasis awaits. Figs and dates and warm honey and warm sand and warm exotic nights.

Blind Tasting

I had a wonderful weekend of wine geek-dom facilitated by my friends at Kiwi Wine Fan Club which is better explained by Craig's description on the website of the same name. Suffice to say it was a marvellous conceit. Ten Chardonnays. Five Australian and five local tasted blind in an effort to rank and file.

I've not shown huge promise yet at blind tasting and this event was no exception. My tasting notes are lucid enough but my ability to separate the ten contenders into Australian vs Kiwi was, without exception, pitiful. I got one right, picking the Giaconda 2004 as an Australian wine (but not actually picking it as the Giaconda; opting instead for the Leeuwin 'Art Series' 2005).

We were called upon to pick our 'top five' and this exercise had a surprise in store for the wine I picked for first place was revealed to be a wine I have traditionally not had a lot of time for, labelling it "overpriced and over-hyped". The Penfolds 'Yattarna' Chardonnay 2005 is certainly expensive at $125 but it, to my mind, it more than held its own in rarefied company.

Brilliant greenish, pale gold. Huge presence on the nose with oyster shell and creme fraiche. The wine explodes in the mouth yet at the same time seems elegant. A seemless integration of citrus, floral and smokey bacon notes make this wine beguiling in more boisterous company. A wine that oozes class.

I have to confess that with 'Grange' in mind I was not expecting such multifaceted restraint from Penfolds flagship Chardonnay and it's certainly not what my taste memory told about it from the past vintages I'd tried. Accordingly I picked it blind as a Kiwi wine; the Kumeu 'Mates' Chardonnay 2006 (I also picked the Kumeu 'Mates' Chardonnay 2006 as the Giaconda Chardonnay 2004 so shows how much I know).

Perhaps, along with much of the New World, the winemakers at Penfolds are searching for subtlety. A refreshing change but a revelation that could cost me a lot of money.

Long wet weekend

The rain is a constant companion which lends itself to quiet tipples and roast dinners.

And so the weekend was given over to such indulgences. Thanks to the lovely wine shop up the road I had access to an interesting selection. I find it hard to go past a Chenin Blanc and my fondness for the variety is not subject to international boundaries although I was surprised to see one from Australia. The Dowie Doole McLaren Vale Chenin Blanc 2005 was a revelation, although there was something of an Australian Riesling about it... Still from 70 year old vines this is definitely a contender.

Brilliant greeny straw colour. Oyster shells and melon on the nose. Taut and terrific. Overall impression is of crisp autumn. Leafy and slatey. Bayleaf, rosemary and pine combined with green melon, green wood and a slightly smoky character. The beginnings of lanolin overlaying green apple. Still developing, despite displaying interesting characters now. Crisp, modest and intricate.

A Pair at Dinner

Whilst we eat cheese and chat the Delta Marlborough Riesling 2005.

Deep lime gold. 13% and aged for four months on lees prior to bottling. The texture is quite rich and reminiscent of natural yogurt, lime and honey. I like the weight of the wine and it is aging gracefully as Riesling should.

Try as I might I can't find any reference to this wine apart from the fact it won a silver in the Air New Zealand show and I suspect it is made for the wine club to which my father belongs.

The wine served with my Dad's lovely cooking was the Mills Reef Reserve Hawke's Bay Pinot Noir 2006. This wine presented something of an anomaly as Pinot Noir from the Hawke's Bay tends to do.

Deep Garnet red fading to brick at the rim. Damson Plum, tinned rasberry, spice and ink on the nose preceed a juicy purple wine gum character on the palate supported by a cuddly, cushy texture. All this wrapped in taut acid. The acid aside I would have believed I was drinking a Grenache of the label didn't so clearly state otherwise.

I believe that this will be the last vintage Mills Reef make of the Pinot Noir and that may be for the best. I love to drink Pinot Noir and there's no reason why it shouldn't work in certain sites in the Hawke's Bay. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are planted in close proximaty in Burgundy but, apart from a couple of examples grown in the limestone hills behind the Bay, this delicate red grape doesn't seem to produce at its best in this part of the country. The Mills Reef Pinot provides a good arguement for typicity.

TypicityWikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This SourceTypicity is a term in wine tasting used to describe the degree to which a wine reflects its origins, and thus demonstrates the signature characteristics of the area where it was produced, its mode of production, or its parent grape, e.g. how much a merlot wine “tastes like a merlot”. It is used analogously for other foodstuffs, such as meat and dairy products.
Typicity derives from both historical precedent and a modern consensus on how a certain wine should “taste”. It is a straightforward concept but has controversial ramifications. For example, whether or not a particular area produces wines with typicity can be debatable, and especially controversial are the factors that may give rise to such typicity. The factors probably involve vineyard bedrock, soils and climate, together with the local viticultural and winemaking traditions, but their relative importance will vary and can be much argued. The extent to which such factors are encompassed by the term terroir is an especially charged issue. However, none of this detracts from the value of the term typicity as a starting point for discussion.
In some countries, such as Austria, typicity is used as part of a qualitative hierarchy that takes into consideration soil, climate and vintage. Austrian Qualitatswein (literally "quality wine") is tested for typicity, with the classification printed on the wine label. This can be considered a subjective and unreliable way to classify wine, opening the door to elitism with what has been criticized by some as viticultural racism.
French typicité, Italian tipicità

Stratford Martinborough Riesling 2005

I'm finding this wine hard to pin down. Last night, after a few sips, I found it too austere for casual imbibing and gave up. Today in a less sleepy frame of mind and willing to turn my attention to the liquid in my glass I'm seeing the Stratford in a new light.

Lovely greeny straw colour with an aroma of lavender talc and lemons. If this wine isn't bone dry then it's close to and the chalky texture and zippy acidity certainly make it seem so. The palate is very puckering Granny Smith and lemony iced tea with a floral note bearing out the nose. Intriguing and sophisticated.