Never has a more captivating pinot noir emerged from the revered Dog Point cellar, thanks to an ever more focused regime that hones in on every detail. Vineyard clones have been refined since 2006, yields are stringently moderated and the harvest is sorted prior to cold soak, wild ferment and maturation in French oak (half […]
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Cloudy Bay has captured a particularly pretty and complex expression of Marlborough’s signature red-fruited pinot noir style. Classic red cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit is accented with rose hip, pink pepper and notes of forest floor. A wine of linearity, persistence and firmly structured tannins that promise great things over the coming decade. $34 at […]
readThis was the finest pinot in the room at the recent New Zealand tasting (and I gave all ninety a thorough work-out!). A particularly strong vintage for one of the star performing estates of the region, producing a particularly refined wine of brilliant complexity, sniper-like focus, seamless line and sensational length. It swirls with black […]
readMy score changed three times over 48 hours as I tasted this wine, ever upward. On opening, the palate showed assertive structure of firm, fine, savoury tannins of near Burgundian proportions, its oak and fruit tussling in structural tension. In time, a core of red cherry fruit burst from its brittle shell, blossoming into a […]
readIntroducing one of the finest wines yet to emerge from Mt Difficulty, one of just an handful of grande marques of New Zealand pinot noir. There is a purity and delicacy on display here in rose petal and violet perfume, sour red cherries, black cherries, underlined by the savoury complexity of brambles, sage and forest […]
readThe highest in altitude and latest harvested of Mt Difficulty’s single vineyards also enjoys the largest proportion of whole bunches in the ferment, lending notes of exotic spice and dried herbs. These take some time to emerge from such a focused, precise and coiled Target Gully. As one of the later released Central Otago pinots, […]
readThe recipe far outclasses the price: Ninety percent estate vines, mostly eighteen years of age in 2010 (ancient by NZ standards!), aged in barrels, predominantly of French oak. The wine transcends the price, too, one of the best $20 pinots on the shelf, and one of the finest vintages Mount Riley has put forward yet. […]
readWhen the Clare and Eden Valleys were hit by a record heatwave of twelve days over 35oC in January/February 2009, some commentators were quick to write off the entire Riesling vintage before the grapes even commenced ripening.
readAustralia’s finest expressions of Riesling are to be found in South Australia’s Clare and Eden Valleys.
readTyson Stelzer shares a few truths about the wine variety that has eclipsed all others in Australia this year.
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