Chard Farm, stunning location coupled with a hair-raising approach (gravel road + rain + 100m cliff edge means your designated driver will have wanted less wine & more coffee). We ran the gamut of their non-premium range (none of the Tiger or Viper on offer that day – their single vineyard Pinots). Standouts for mine were the 2013 Gewürztraminer and the 2012 Mata-Au Pinot, which I found to be a morish example of the Pinot’s of the area. The Gewürztraminer beguiled with a sickly sweet nose preceding such a balanced and dry taste. The lady behind the counter did a bang up job dealing with the throngs of people hiding from the New Zealand weather.
Peregrine, impressive set up. One of the better CDs I’ve seen. Mainly keen on the Riesling, finding the Pinot’s less full-bodied than what I was looking for. Nothing against the product – I suspect my palette’s naivety the culprit. No notes, but we did leave with 2 x bottles of the 2012 dry Riesling, and a lot of pictures.
Oddly enough, I live in Perth, and on Saturday night received as a gift a bottle of Central Otago Pinot Noir from Peregrine!
Wild Earth, Queenstown has a monopoly on picturesque settings and this was right up there with one of the most postcard perfect settings I've visited.
Lunch with picture below:
2011 Riesling with Mussels and saffron aioli
2013 Pinot Gris with King Fish (NZ speciality I’m told)
2013 Rose with Teriyaki glazed salmon
2011 Deep Cove Pinot Noir with Venison sliders
2010 Pinot Noir with Lamb rump
The Deep cove Pinot was my pick of the lot.
Ended up having a chat with the gregarious owner who talked us through the way they use old wine barrels as the smoking vessels for the cooking they do. He was particularly proud of a fish he'd caught the evening before, so we ducked round the back in the kitchen where he showed us the monster, photo below. I think it's a trout?
Good trip – highly recommended. Wish I could share more of the tastings I did - but thought I would give all a sense of that part of the world.
