Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
What we say: One of our favourite local wineries at the moment, we went to the Woollaston mid-winter sale and festival and came away with four cases of four different varietals. Don isn't into roses very much, but the lower tier brand, Tussock, had a great taste that piqued my interest. You couldn't beat the sale price for the case, and I've been enjoying a glass every few days in between my winter reds. While I don't care for Woollaston's pinot noirs (or most Nelson pinot noirs for that matter), their rose does the grape justice! Apparently, these 'pinot Noir grapes [were] grown specifically for Rose wine were hand harvested on April 15th,' says the website.
RATING: 7/10
What the winemaker says: A delicate pale pink/peach-skin blush colour. Freshly crushed strawberry aromas abound and are complemented by uplifting notes of creaming soda. Ripe, juicy strawberry characters are given poise by a subtle acidity. The wine finishes with a delicate silky texture. [Angela: I like this silky texture feature the best!]
Website: www.woollaston.co.nz
What we say: This wine seems to be available only through blackmarket.co.nz, where we order frequently. If you can locate the vineyard, which I can't seem to find on the bottle, then it would be worth a try to see how their other wines are because both the $10/bottle pinot gris and the same priced sauvignon blanc are getting rave reviews on blackmarket.co.nz
RATING: 8/10, extra point on value for money
What the winemaker says:
Website:? find it on www.blackmarket.co.nz
What we say: A really nice mildy fruity, but not too fruity, pinot gris that you can drink alone without food. We don't drink much pinot gris because we cannot agree between us: Don likes fruitier, Angela likes mild fruity but drier. It's often a guess when we buy something. This Nelson wine from one of our favourite wineries is a nice one that we've ordered by the case.
RATING: 7/10
What the winemaker says: Clear, pale green-gold. Aromas of pear, fig and honey give the nose an inviting richness. The silky texture carries an attractive core of pear fruit to an elegant finish with a hint of sweetness providing subtle balance.
Website: www.woollaston.co.nz/
What we say: A Martinborough wine from the Wellington/Wairapa region, it has a good solid pinot taste, is very full bodied, but I wouldn't say as good as the Mount Dottrel below, and for $10 more a bottle. RATING: 7/10
What Air New Zealand Wine Awards says: The stunningly perfumed bouquet shows ripe cherry and spicy oak characters. It's luxuriously textured and seamless on the palate.
Website: www.julicher.co.nz/
What we say: When I [Angela] saw 'world's best,' I immediately sought out my wine purchasing co-conspirator (my boss, Penny) and she was on holiday so I went to my second in line co-conspirator, Susan, and we agreed to go halfsies on a half case because 'world's best' really seemed to signify something! Plus the bottles were retailing for $30, our online resource was selling for $26, so I struck quickly to make the buy only to be told the next day they were already sold out. Blast! Luckily they were restocking just after New Year's so I struck again with success!
Shame I have to share with Susan, the wine is wonderful on its first tasting, it leaves an incredible taste on the tongue! I agree with the comment below that it could be light, but it isn't. Many of these type of light wines taste light, but this one is different. Very, very nice. RATING: 8.5/10
What the IWSS 2009 London website said (could be winemaker tho): Pale mauve red colour. The nose is high toned with herbal and floral hints, violet and peony, bilberries and plum with alpine strawberry wafts. Taut acidity and supple tannins tease out the very elegant fruit flavours, excellent tension gives nervosity and a ferrous edge to what could be a very pretty and dainty wine. Beautiful exposition of healthy clean Cromwell fruit, superb winemaking and an excellent expression of the 2007 vintage.
What another wine expert said: Superbly elegant wine with lovely focused cherry and spice flavours. Charming Pinot Noir with a silken texture and lingering finish. Yet another example that reinforces my belief that 2007 was an excellent Central Otago vintage. 92/100 Bob Campbell MW.
Website: www.mitrerocks.co.nz/
What we say: Purchased on our trip to Central Otago earlier this year, the 2007 vintage is already sold out and they've moved onto the 2008. We tend toward more fruity but not overly fruit pinot noirs, and it seems the cellaring vintages (the more expensive ranges) tend to be less fruity but deeper fruity while the 'ready to drink' wines, the less expensive vintages (in this winery, the Roaring Meg series), are the light and fruity and ready to go. Sometimes light and fruity is still good, but this time the deeper red was well worth the price. RATING: 7/10
What the winemaker says: This wine reflects the nature of a low yielding vintage, displaying great concentration and balance; black cherry and blackberry dominate the aroma and these are underpinned by Christmas cake spice and liquorice. The wine has a dark concentrated front palate which displays these same characters in abundance. The mid palate is fleshy and well textured. The wine finishes with a lovely combination of tannin and fruit.
Website: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz
