Coopers Creek 'The Pointer' Pinot Gris 2008

I'm not a fan, really, of Gris. I keep trying to find something redeeming in it's inocuous flavours. And failing.

But I'd always thought this a cut above the usual. Weighty enough without the startling alcohol that smells like a headache in a glass. Only just off dry. Eschewing the residual sugar levels that many others use to mask poor fruit or to provide interest...

I'm rather damning with faint praise here. And as my mother says
"if you have nothing nice to say then you shouldn't say anything at all"

But the Coopers Creek Pointer is a decent Pinot Gris. It's got that whiff of pear drops and quite a bit of baking spice thrown in. It likes food. A red duck curry helped it to sing and show off its texture and fruit sweetness. a 2 glass wine

Nelson Wineart

This afternoon the winegrowers of Nelson rolled in to town under the nelson wineart banner, showing off the 2008 releases to the trade. It's a fine notion to brand these very boutique wineries together and there were some impressive wines to taste.

In no particular order (other than the order I tasted them in).... here are the stand-outs.

Anchorage Sauvignon Blanc 2008 was approachable and fresh with an interesting 'supressed golden syrup' character on the nose and the Anchorage Pinot Gris 2008 was varietal in a firm style with a creamy, pineapple palate. The Anchorage Chardonnay 2007 was showing in intriguing combination of ham, cloves and pineapple and their Pinot Noir 2007 has a soft, round aroma of Christmas pudding with dusty, smokey tannins giving a dry, elegant finish.
Overall I liked the style and approach of the Anchorage wines almost to a man.

Kahurangi Estate have impressed me in the past with their Riesling and the current Kahurangi Reserve Riesling 2007 is no exception showing remarkable poise and balance. It manages to be both luscious and refreshing, which is a neat trick if you can manage it, and as one colleague put it "is everything you look for in a Riesling". The Kahurangi Nelson Gewurztraminer 2008 is a lively style with beautiful lychee character overlaying exotic green peppercorn. It's fresh and floral and refreshing rather than oily and supple but none the worse for that.

Rimu Grove stood out with a line up of very concentrated, ripe wines. Their Rimu Grove Pinot Gris 2008 has a super ripe beurre bosc pear and feijoa nose leading into a palate that hold its 12 grams residual sugar well through weight and concentration. The Rimu Grove Chardonnay 2005 was a confusing mix of charcoal and coffee mixed with stonefruit and lemon and in the mouth was at once taut and buttery. Intriguing but not moorish. The Rimu Grove Pinot Noir 2005 showed intense weight and ripe fruit whilst still retaining typicity. A flamboyant boysenberry nose belying a dry mushroom and earth palate.

And finally Moutere Hills threw a curve ball with a bone dry Pinot Gris. Hard to take at first, this is an intellectual style of Gris. The Moutere Hills Pinot Gris 2007 has had special Alsace yeasts imported to give it a distinctive style, something others found medicinal but the more charitable would term savoury manuka honey and tea-tree in the aroma led to a tightly drawn palate chracterised by lemons and minerals with nutty undertones. Sparing, concise and perhaps a little attenuated but intriguing all the same, this should show better in time.

The Italian Connection in Clevedon

Vin Alto Pinot Grigio Clevedon 2006

(Heaving a sigh of relief..)

Finally. A dry Gris. A food friendly Gris. A Gris made with eyes firmly on Italy hence the Grigio in the title. But it's more than that. This is a refreshing wine to enjoy with lunch. Unashamedly fresh.

Greeny straw in the glass and green apple on the nose. A palate of peach skin and nashi, pineapple and hay make this simple without being simplistic. There's some lovely underlying minerality and crisp acidity which is gentle yet fresh. Approachable, defined and varietal.
a 3 glass wine.

(and might I add that my resident Pinot Gris detestee rather likes this).

Untypical Pinot Gris and Classic Chardonnay

The TW Gisborne Pinot Gris 2007 is remarkable for many reasons.... Mainly though it is remarkable for being quaffed with so much verve by Rich, who professes to hate Gris. The TW is also an oak aged Pinot Gris and as such has more of a Chardonnay-Viognier swing about it...

Brilliant gold and spun sugar. Honey, orange flower and apricots in the air with fullness and vanilla on the creamy palate. Very full without being typically oily from low acid and residual sugar. There's a baking spice element to the finish but whether that originates in the barrel influence or from the variety itself isn't obvious. It's a good food style of Gris for all the un-typicity and went very well with an octopus salad.
a 2 glass wine (but that was all I was allowed as Rich scoffed the rest).

Fiddlers Green Waipara Chardonnay 2006 deserves mention for its out and out yuminess, which doesn't in the least bit compete with its almost quaint old world/old school style.

Green flecked gold tells the story of a youthful Chardonnay just about to hit its straps. The fig and quince nose overlays a lovely cashew and meal character which itself overlays a sexy, pongy clay minerality. The palate is classic and refined with fine green olive acidity and tangelo. Balanced and elaborate.
a 3 glass wine (but only because...)

Arcane language

I strive, when talking or writing about wine, to avoid the kind of terminology that so many people find off-putting. I don't want to befuddle anyone or make their eyes glaze over.

Most people, when dining out, simply want to know if they have made a 'good' choice. And if I've done my job well and written a good list then the answer should always be "yes, that's a lovely wine". Matters of personal taste come into it also so whether or not that is a lovely wine for them may take some delving. And so there we are back at the matter of terminology.

I've noticed that most people find my anthropomorphising of wine slightly comical but I didn't think it was confusing until last night when I was beating up on a somewhat insipid Pinot Gris. The Ned Pinot Gris Marlborough 2008 is an inoffensive drop, somewhat like a cliche of a washed out blond. Pretty but uninteresting. Pleasant but with little conversation. Saying just one thing. In this instance fresh enough and thankfully shy of the often ridiculous alcohol levels her dry sisters have in Nu Zillund. But ultimately, for me, a 2 sip wine. But my colleagues didn't get it, perhaps I should go back to lists of fruit and flowers. It seems I must try harder to avoid arcane language.

Pinot Gris and Chardonnay

When you're looking to rejuvenate your wine-list sometimes the request for certain bottles and styles means you end up trying quite random wines, as is the case in this instance.

The Greystone Waipara Pinot Gris 2007 came with a number of accolades and a recommendation from a colleague.

Straw gold with a delicate nose of apricot, honey and minerals. Tinned apricot and pear on the palate with layers of spice and bright citrus acidity keeping the wine balanced. There is a little viscosity but this wine is not as luscious in style as the Johanneshof Trocken Pinot Gris and plays more with a lovely baking spice character. Plus it's not too hot. Yay! Fleshy finesse.

The Sleeping Giant Hill Block Chardonnay 2006 must have arrived for tasting due to the lack of robust Chardonnay on our list. I have to confess a penchant for the more austere style and as a consequence the 'blockbuster' malolactic and oak numbers are a bit absent (much to the dismay of many patrons, and best give the patrons at least a little of what they want).

Bright gold. The nose hits with smoke and vanilla, not so much a fruit driven wine but there are hints of banana, stonefruit and hibiscus. The palate displays layers of pineapple with a sweet, toasty character bearing out the nose. This is a full on Hawke's Bay style, big with lee-sy weight, grippy and long. At this point in its life, however, a little disjointed.

An embarrassment of riches

My long absence from posting would suggest that there's been a dearth of wine in my life when the opposite is, infact, true.

There's been an extended range of Larry McKenna's Kupe at the bar and a very extensive afternoon in the snug where Koru, Pyramid Valley and various vintages of Providence were ferried in through rush hour traffic.

There has been a revelation of a Pinot Gris at table 20 one afternoon whilst the sun was still shining on our Indian summer and 'The King of Spain' brought along the new vintage of my favourite New Zilund oak aged Sauvignon Blanc just last week (amongst other things).

And I've got notes, now all I need is the time to write them up....