Grape Mates - Taste of New Zealand

[dave vino]

As always a fun night!! Massive thanks to Tim and Michelle for all their efforts. The food, table setup, little slices of NZ around the place, the handout which was informative as always (I think I left mine there so save me a copy of one!) They did a lot of ground work in organising this and it was much appreciated.

Many thanks to Peter Bourne (http://www.peterbourne.com/) for use of the tasting room as always, Tim and Michelle were going back to finish off cleaning today as we were still there come 2am I think and decided it would be best to finish it off in the light of day.

Was a fun drive home after a bit of a run in with a Taxi on the bridge and 21-drink Tim espousing all things wine in the back seat much to my sober amusement (love ya work Tim

My basic observations as always,

The Deutz we had as an aperitif has massive amounts of acid, took the enamel off my teeth, there was some good fruit behind it, so I expect this to go the distance.

The Rieslings were very nice, with that deceptive Kiwi nose being totally out of whack with the palate. One had a sweet Kabinett nose but tasted like an Aussie lean Rizzo the other had lots of smooth lanolin aromas but tasted like a sweet Kabinett.

The SavBlancs tried hard, and I know Tim did his best to get outside the square ones, but they were fighting an uphill battle. (I think Cam and myself said we're going down the pub for this flight They had a bit of malo/oak treatment which gave them a bit more complexity and creaminess but I just struggle to warm to it.

The Chardies were very nice, we were talking about how much different the Lion's Tooth was tonight compared to the one we had at another offline, same vintage etc. Was it bottle variation, or other external influences coming into play (food, environment, company, phase of the moon, colour of underwear...), the Field of Fire slowly opened up in the glass to pip the Neudorf for me as WOTF. Sit and savour this one.

The Calverts were up next which I found really interesting and French like with the same vineyard fruit being by 3 different winemakers. Maybe a small nod to the vineyard based sub regions of Burgundy? All wines were different, laid back to more upfront, weightier versus more savoury. Good example of how the winemaker can influence the style.

On to the Felton Roads and the step up in power was noticeable straight away, they have much more meatier flavours and aromas with loads more length, give these 10 years to really start singing.

The Syrahs I found were a lot more savoury than I was expecting. Lots of spice and hints of green. I enjoyed the Le Sol (and as it turned out I didn't use the new glasses that everyone was talking about for this as I had slotted that into number 2) great texture/power and length whilst maintaining the lighter savoury characteristics of the others.

Then we moved on to the Bordeaux Blends of NZ, which all showed as very tannic and were fairly hard going. The Hertzog had 10 years on it already and was still very primary. Lots of extraction was noticeable on all the wines which were clearly made for the long term, in hindsight I should have left some food over for these which would have helped cutting the tannins down. Revisit in 20 years.

[Craig(NZ)]

Looks a nicely organised event. Nice!

[camw]

Nice summary and photos Dave, I agree with much of what you've said. The Pyramid Valley Field of Fire was probably my WOTN, but there were plenty of very appealing candidates - will try to write up some notes in the not too distant future.

Thanks very much to Tim and Michelle for all their hard work in putting together the event and all the setup work. The supporting handout was fantastic and the thought that had gone into the flights was evident, leading to some interesting comparisons. It was great to catch up with some people I haven't seen for a while and nice to meet lots of new people!

[orpheus]

Thanks very much Tim and Michelle for thinking of me, it was a great night, lots of wine, and good company.

TIm and Michelle's attention to detail, from the very informative "wine menu" to the pieces of Kiwiana on display, and the excellent food, was superb. Certainly a career for either of you, if you want it .

I held some typically controversial views, liking the Cloudy Bay Te Koko Sauvignon blanc (one of two to support it in that flight), which is an atypical sauvignon because it is oaked, but my goodness, it is delicious, complex, and has body and structure lacking in the vast bulk of sauvignon blanc.

I followed it up with an equally controversial vote for the Neudorf Chardonnay, a wine tricked out like a beauty show pageant contestant (a lot of work had been done on the fruit; oak, malo), but perhaps unlike its inept analogy, the beauty show pageant, should show magnificently in ten year's time when all that make-up has faded away.

The Calverts were all good kiwi pinots, of similar quality, and quite similar in character. I preferred the extra drive through the mid-palate of the Craggy Range to the other two.

THe Felton Roads were both very good.

The syrahs needed more time. It was not the best showing of the Craggy Range 2007 Le Sol for some reason, there was something musty on the nose, but it was still a good wine. The Dry River was a very interesting, refined, and complex wine.

I agree with Dave about the Bordeaux blends, they had a long way to go. They certainly stained the teeth! An old Coleraine is a very fine thing, a young one harder to read.

The Bourne tasting room is a very fine venue, and part of the attraction is going up several mysterious flights of old Kauri staircases, overlooked by a great, double-paned sash window on the staircase, until you meet your destination.

[Michael R]

Many thanks Tim & Michelle

Knowing how passionate Tim is about fine wine, I knew he’d put on a good show, but was still blown away by how much thought and effort he and Michelle made.
As the guys mentioned loads of little touches added plenty of WOW factor and the booklet on the wines was outstanding.
Was great to meet CamW and Mark and as usual the food and banter were excellent.

In terms of the wines (mostly sourced by Tim in New Zealand and transported back especially for the is tasting), I had clear winners and losers.

In terms of losers well the Sav Blancs and Rieslings were not to my liking. Sorry Craig NZ but the 07 Church Road isn’t the greatest wine of all time. The Trinity Hill had was disappointing too.

The winners were definitely the Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardy and Pyramid Calvert Pinot. Both wines were in tough company but had something that enabled me to pick them above their peers.
Mark’s point on the finish of the Pyramid Pinot being a standout reflected exactly what I was thinking.
Elsewhere The Felton Blocks both showed good potential and drank well on the night (think Tim had decanted for 4 hours). Very different wines and I found myself preferring the Block 5.

I know Cameron (Orpheus) wasn’t as taken by the Le Sol as previous bottles but I still really enjoyed it. The Dry River had superb nose but felt a little light on the palate. It blew a lot of the group away.
I find it particularly hard to fairly judge certain wines in these formats, and often get seduced by bigger wines due to palate fatigue. Hence I get the feeling I judged this wine unfairly.

I really enjoyed the Cabs blends. The 09 Coleraine was a knockout wine, and made me want to buy a few bottles for the years ahead. The 01 Herzog was also showing wonderfully and if the cork holds out
Could do another 5-10 years.

Thanks again to Tim and Michelle for a great night. Till next time!

Cheers
M

[odyssey]

Once again thanks to Tim and Michelle for all the awesome work put into the night and being immensely generous as always... as well as all that hard work travelling around the south island tasting and sourcing wines.

Personal preferences aside, just for the record and for other reader's interest, the voting pretty much put the 3 Calverts at effectively a 3 way split due to personal preference, and likewise voting was almost evenly split between the Block 3 and Block 5.

Cheers
Andrew

[Craig(NZ)]

Sorry Craig NZ but the 07 Church Road isn’t the greatest wine of all time.

Surprised it didnt show so well. Should been a good step up on the Trinity Hill

Not quite the best wine of all time though. I thought however it would compete well with the Le Sol even if not in the same blockbuster mould. I had one a few weeks ago and still love it. Don't lose sight of the fact this was very easy to pick up less than $30 when it was released. A sensational wine at that price.

09 Coleraine yes great wine and still can be had for $60 here so fair price too

[Michael R]

Well that of course is just my opinion…Kris actually voted it her wine of the flight, so I’m inclined to think that I’m the crazy one !
I just remembered you posting repeatedly/spamming about how good it was and the prices you were paying, so I had very high expectations.

The cheapest retail I can find 09 Coleraine here is $75, but worth every penny IMO, super sexy wine with a seemingly guaranteed great future.

[Craig(NZ)]

Well that of course is just my opinion…Kris actually voted it her wine of the flight, so I’m inclined to think that I’m the crazy one !
I just remembered you posting repeatedly/spamming about how good it was and the prices you were paying, so I had very high expectations.

.

I think all the kiwi posters are big fans

Na don't listen to kris - you are right. If you have any left I am happy to swap em for some yummy Penfolds Bin 28 or something just so you don't have to subject yourself to it again

Aussies, can't teach convicts style

[via collins]

Can't believe a controversy involving Craig took 6 posts!

I'm quite fascinated by the divergence of opinion over the wines within the group. Speaks well of the diversity of NZ wines, the more of which I taste, the more I am entranced.

[Craig(NZ)]

no controversty, everyone entitled to their own opinion but not everyone is entitled to be right hehe

.... but all jesting aside I am honestly surprised the Church Rd wasn't a hit. I have had it with many people of all walks of life - family (including Mels Aussie cousins), workmates and wine friends and every time it has been very well received.

It seemed to me that it was a great crowd pleaser, not left field, conservative well built tick all the boxes wine

But hey that is wine many factors influence personal enjoyment - not all of which are predictable unfortunately

[orpheus]

Many thanks Tim & Michelle

Knowing how passionate Tim is about fine wine, I knew he’d put on a good show, but was still blown away by how much thought and effort he and Michelle made.
As the guys mentioned loads of little touches added plenty of WOW factor and the booklet on the wines was outstanding.
Was great to meet CamW and Mark and as usual the food and banter were excellent.

In terms of the wines (mostly sourced by Tim in New Zealand and transported back especially for the is tasting), I had clear winners and losers.

In terms of losers well the Sav Blancs and Rieslings were not to my liking. Sorry Craig NZ but the 07 Church Road isn’t the greatest wine of all time. The Trinity Hill had was disappointing too.

The winners were definitely the Pyramid Valley Field of Fire Chardy and Pyramid Calvert Pinot. Both wines were in tough company but had something that enabled me to pick them above their peers.
Mark’s point on the finish of the Pyramid Pinot being a standout reflected exactly what I was thinking.
Elsewhere The Felton Blocks both showed good potential and drank well on the night (think Tim had decanted for 4 hours). Very different wines and I found myself preferring the Block 5.

I know Cameron (Orpheus) wasn’t as taken by the Le Sol as previous bottles but I still really enjoyed it. The Dry River had superb nose but felt a little light on the palate. It blew a lot of the group away.
I find it particularly hard to fairly judge certain wines in these formats, and often get seduced by bigger wines due to palate fatigue. Hence I get the feeling I judged this wine unfairly.

I really enjoyed the Cabs blends. The 09 Coleraine was a knockout wine, and made me want to buy a few bottles for the years ahead. The 01 Herzog was also showing wonderfully and if the cork holds out
Could do another 5-10 years.

Thanks again to Tim and Michelle for a great night. Till next time!

Cheers
M

Michael, you are right, I think, that the Dry River was a little lighter on the palate, and you are also right about palate fatigue.

I am with you on the rieslings. The amount of residual sugar in these rieslings is pretty high, unlike Australian rieslings. On the other hand, there is not the crisp acidity that there is in the German rieslings to balance this high level of residual sugar.

I'm also with you on the Block 5, this was an excellent pinot.

[orpheus]

no controversty, everyone entitled to their own opinion but not everyone is entitled to be right hehe

.... but all jesting aside I am honestly surprised the Church Rd wasn't a hit. I have had it with many people of all walks of life - family (including Mels Aussie cousins), workmates and wine friends and every time it has been very well received.

It seemed to me that it was a great crowd pleaser, not left field, conservative well built tick all the boxes wine

But hey that is wine many factors influence personal enjoyment - not all of which are predictable unfortunately

In a tasting like this, perhaps "great crowd pleaser, not left field, conservative well built tick all the boxes wine" is not going to stand out.

Even not at its best (IMO), the Le Sol stood out in this bunch.

Though viticultural techniques have propelled NZ reds to a much higher level over the last 15 years, there is still a tolerance of slightly green, underripe characteristics which is not tolerated in AUstralia (where, conversely, over-cooked, jammy and oaky wines are tolerated more than they should be).

I thought the Church Rd was a little dumb on the palate. And Craig, I can't discount the possibility of some convict stock as my mother's family are Australian, but my father's family are NZ, Presbyterian stock, so I should be capable of re-education .

[Craig(NZ)]

no controversty, everyone entitled to their own opinion but not everyone is entitled to be right hehe

.... but all jesting aside I am honestly surprised the Church Rd wasn't a hit. I have had it with many people of all walks of life - family (including Mels Aussie cousins), workmates and wine friends and every time it has been very well received.

It seemed to me that it was a great crowd pleaser, not left field, conservative well built tick all the boxes wine

But hey that is wine many factors influence personal enjoyment - not all of which are predictable unfortunately

In a tasting like this, perhaps "great crowd pleaser, not left field, conservative well built tick all the boxes wine" is not going to stand out.

Even not at its best (IMO), the Le Sol stood out in this bunch.

Though viticultural techniques have propelled NZ reds to a much higher level over the last 15 years, there is still a tolerance of slightly green, underripe characteristics which is not tolerated in AUstralia (where, conversely, over-cooked, jammy and oaky wines are tolerated more than they should be).

I thought the Church Rd was a little dumb on the palate. And Craig, I can't discount the possibility of some convict stock as my mother's family are Australian, but my father's family are NZ, Presbyterian stock, so I should be capable of re-education .

Yip, to me its sorta like a NZ Seppelts St Peters - understated, textured. However I couldn't say it isn't a tasting wine as it won Air NZ top wine of the show so that theory wouldn't stand up....

Nothing wrong with a bit of trans tasman banter. Hasn't been much on this forum since those old aussie vanilla milkshake guys retired from posting. Torb, Ric, Lordson.....what ever happened to them???

Maybe I should now start on the defense of Sauvignon Blanc??

[orpheus]

Craig, you are welcome to start on a defence of Sauvignon Blanc, I have more of a soft-spot for it than most, it reminds me of my youth .

[Craig(NZ)]

I like the odd really good sauvignon in the summer but I don't have it in my cellar. I buy a cloudy bay every year 'just because' and the odd other such as St Clair or Te Mata Cape Crest. Apart from that I usually just drink the stuff other people buy and that is enough for me.

[TiggerK]

Hey ho everyone!

Cheers for all the nice comments, thanks for coming everyone! I really enjoyed myself but I find typically when I host an event, I overindulge! And certainly no exception this time..... Should have skipped the 2 nervous beers while setting up! (OK, Yes not just when I host!! But I have been slightly more restrained of late )

So the last flight and journey home is a bit blurry.. (thanks for filling me in on the convo dave... ) A mention should also go to the Vinoptima Gewutrztramer 2004 which followed the blends right at the end. Seems to have gotten lost in the fog, but I remember it was rather good indeed, and not really showing it's age.

The Deutz BdB 06 was certainly lean and biting, nice weight though and I'd love to try in 5 years or more.

The Rieslings were on the sweet side but I found some nice subtle acid in the Felton Block 1 which I think will help it last. The Peg Bay is flavoursome and lovely with food now (voted WOF), but the Pinot Gris showed a bit weak in comparison to the 2 big rizzas.

The Sauvignons were interesting. It' was always going to be an uphill battle for them as like me, most Grape Mates are not Savvy lovers. My bro-in-law is a winemaker with Mt Riley (previously with Lawsons Dry Hills, plus vintages in SA, Hunter Valley and Cyprus!), hence the inclusion of three of his wines in the lineup. I liked their limited release 2010 much more than most other Savvy's, but the last minute addition of their 17 Valley proved to be a winner as it was overwhelming WOF. Someone mentioned ribena on the nose, and yep, sure was!! Fascinating, as Spock would say. The Te Koko was also pleasantly drinkable, and well worth a try, but a bit pricey!

As you can see, the chardonnays were all of high quality, the Lion's Tooth seemed less vibrant than my previous bottle, but was still rather special. The Field of Fire really unfurled in the glass and was narrowly voted WOF 8 to 7 over the Lion's Tooth. The poor Neudorf Moutere 08 had a lot going for it, but appeared more lean and with less fruit weight next to the Pyramid Valleys. All will benefit greatly from at least 3-5 years.

The Calvert Pinots were also very good wines, for me the Felton was most balanced, Craggy the most fruity and Pyramid the most savoury. Votes were 6, 6 and 5 respectively!

Onto Felton Road's exclusive Block Pinots... mmm, yum but both too young (as were so many of the wines tonight, sorry for that everyone), but both showed huge potential with warm fruits, herbs, pepper and spices... Block 3 edged the Block 5 by 9 votes to 8, and the Block 3 was named by a few as their WOTN. I can't wait to try these with 5-15 years on them, they will be stunners.

Kris kindly brought the Dry River Syrah instead of the intended Pinot Noir No complaints as it's ultra-rare! In fact Syrah from NZ is rare in general, take a look at this statistic.....

NZ Wine Exports by variety 2010 (millions of litres)
Sauvignon Blanc - 115.8
next biggest is...
Pinot Noir - 8.2
Chardonnay - 5.2
etc... down to...
Riesling - 0.971
Syrah - 0.227

So five syrah's in a row was a good thing... They certainly showed young, the Mt Riley probably the softest and most fruit forward, not bad at all for their first ever Syrah from 4-5 year old vines. The Trinity Hills didn't do much for me (should have got the Homage but would have blown the budget even more). The Church Road was just a bit closed and young I thought, the Le Sol 07 (WOF) was rather good but still not showing at 100%. I personally most enjoyed the Dry River, subtle yet big, deep fruited yet still so fresh and youthful. Time time time....

Like the Syrah's in general, the Blends were all just too young, plus many of our palates were tiring. The Syrah's and Blends had all been decanted for at least 6 hours but I should have left them overnight!! Only the 10 year old Herzog was yielding anything approachable, but I'm with Mick on the potential of the 09 Coleraine, going to be fantastic down the track. I did feel the Sophia 07 showed some real hidden talent too and I will buy more of it, but not at $95 over here

And as mentioned the Vinoptima Gewurtz 2004 got a look in with dave's yummy bee sting honey cake and matched well, albeit rather fuzzily for me!

I also should mention my Pyramid Valley Visit back in shaky NZ last week where I got to taste their as yet unreleased 2010 wines. I also noticed they've shifted to large 6 foot terracotta pots for some of the 2011 wines! My thanks to Claudia for her time and tour, it's a seriously great place to visit for the wine enthusiast, they are so careful, passionate and focused that I doubt they'll ever do anything but great wines. The unfinished 2010 Chardonnay's are looking amazing, esp the Field of Fire, wow.

Huge thanks to Michelle for helping me organise, for lugging everything up and down the stairs and most especially for 'making things pretty'. Thanks also to Craig for his initial and helpful input into the lineup, and to my bro-IL Dean at Mt Riley for donating their 3 very good wines and thus helping me tame the already overrun budget!!

Great night, more bottle age will be the focus next time around.

Cheers
Tim


P.S There were a lot of wines that were in the running for this tasting, but not finally selected on the basis of budget, availability or even more blatant vinfanticide. Here a list of wines I've either got, considered sourcing or vintages I would have liked but many factors meant the lineup was what it was. Other serious contenders... and highly recommended wines.

No.1 Family Estate Cuvee No.10 / Cuvee No.1
Mt Difficulty Target Gully Riesling 08
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Dog Point Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc 09
Lawson Dry Hills Gewurtztraminer 06
Johanneshof Gewurtztraminer 2010
Craggy Range ‘Tom’ Chardonnay 2006
Kumeu River Mate’s / Coddington Chardonnays 08
Martinborough Vineyards Pinot Noir 07/08
Pyramid Valley Pinot Noirs 09
Mt Difficulty Long Gully Pinot Noir 08
Escarpment Kupe Pinot Noir 05
Clos Henri Bel Echo Pinot Noir 09
Rippon Pinot Noir 07/08
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2009
Te Mata Bullnose Syrah 05/07/09
Trinity Hills Homage Syrah 07
Man o’War Dreadnaught Syrah 08
Te Mata Awatea Blend 07
Man O’War Ironclad Blend 08
Puriri Hills Reserve 06 or Pope Blend 05
Stonyridge Larose Blend
And pretty much anything by Felton Road or Dry River…..

[mark as]

This was my first Grape Mates tasting and what a great night it was. Thanks so much to Tim and Michelle for all the work they put in. The setup was superb - glassware, food, tasting notes, organisation.

The wines were a fascinating mix and showed the great diversity of NZ wines. That said, I thought the chardonnays and pinots were the strongest flights by a good margin, while a few of the syrah and Bordeaux blends showing some class too. I loved the discussions and the diversity of opinions. Lots of different tastes around the table and energetic discussion...that said, did anyone really enjoy the sauv flight?

The Felton Road Block 3 and Block 5 were in a different class to most of the wines on the night. The Block 3 was my WOTN - a pretty, feminine wine, but heaps of complexity and depth of flavour too. I also thought the Pyramid Valley wines were superb - the two chardonnays and the Calvert pinot. The syrah were mixed but generally enjoyable (Le Sol a class above the others), while the Bordeaux flight was hard work with all the wines showing ample tannins...the Craggy Range Sophia was my favourite here, showing plenty of fruit weight to balance the tannins; whereas a couple of the others lacked fruit compared to the tannins (the Villa Maria in particular). I found it near impossible to form any opinion on the Coleraine at this young age. Having had aged Coleraines before, I'd be confident that it will cellar well, but it shouldn't be touched for a long time.

Given the amount of wine tasted and the state of a few of the tasters towards the end, I'm very glad I was spitting.

[cuttlefish]

Wow, what a big group this month with I think 17 of us sitting down to an extensive lineup of some of NZ's finest, thanks to the monumental efforts of Tim and Michelle.

We kicked off with Deutz Marlborough Cuvee Blanc de Blanc 2006 as the "drink on arrival", which was pretty nice. I didn't take notes, but it was a nice wine.

Wines were tasted in flights of 2, 3, 4, and even 5 at one stage, so the coverage was pretty extensive.

On to the wines...

Flight 1 - A selection of 2009 aromatics

Felton Road Block 1 Riesling 2009
9.5% alc.Light straw colour with a shade of green. Talcy mineral aromas. Cheesy. A nice (to me) Auslese level of sweetness.

Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Riesling 2009
14% alc. Golden straw colour. Riper fruit profile here. Faint spritz and sweet fine citrussy entry. Long palate

Villa Maria Seddon Vineyard Pinot Gris 2009
14% alc. Sweet alcoholic lift here, over fresh ripe pear. A warm palate; semi-rich with a spicy follow through.

Flight 2 - Styles of the Savvylanche

Mount Riley Limited Release Sauvignon Blanc 2010
13.5% alc. A roast capsicum aroma at first, also tinned asparagus and sweat. Quite a soft entry, with the flavours pretty much matching up with the aromatics here. The length tends to the back of the palate. Light weight, but by no means a boring wine. Has it's charms.

Mount Riley Seventeen Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2007
13.5% alc. A much sweeter set of aromatic characters here, with a faintly sweet oak influence. I thought I detected spearmint; certainly some sweetish leafiness, and vanilla. Again, the palate reflects the aromas, but certainly a little more grippy. Quite a long palate, with a vague bitterness waving through later.

Cloudy Bay Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc 2007
13.5% alc. Charry oak influencing this wine. Faint cheese and deli meat aromas, with smoky and more complex asian spice characters lurking further back. The palate has a soft entry, but then overall weightier, with a touch of spice, and a spike of almost pink-grapefruity flavour; some bitterness.

Flight 3 - Champions of Chardonnay

Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay 2008
13.5% alc. Seems the most "open" of this bracket of wines on serving. Well judged oak with a subtle buttery and funky edge (thanks to wild yeast ferment). The palate has soft peachy fruit flavours.

Pyramid Valley Lion's Tooth Chardonnay 2009
13.8% alc. Bready yeasty aromas here. Very subtle. Leafy and faintly minty, but overall I was struggling for descriptors for this wine. Very well balanced, and really a lovely wine, but for me lacks weight on the palate. Does have length.

Pyramid Valley Field Of Fire Chardonnay 2009
13.8% alc. Farmy, earthy influences to the aroma here, with that minty, leafy edge. Possibly faintly more mineral expression than the above wine, and some fresh butter and subtle wood-spice aroma. A lovely light-medium weight palate and a nectarine acidity, but softened at the edges.

Flight 4 - Same Pinot Grapes, Three Winemakers
The leased "Calvert Vineyard" experiment, with three different iconic NZ producers creating wines from the same batch of grapes...

Felton Road Calvert Pinot Noir 2008
14% alc. Nice mid red cherry colour. A quite jammy raspberry aroma at first (but not overripe), and some subtle stemmy elements there as well. This is clearly the most lifted of these three wines. A vibrant cherry/raspberry palate is the most "even" of these three wines. Better length here. Fine, and firm with a silky feel.

Craggy Range Calvert Pinot Noir 2008
14% alc. Mid red cherry colour. More savoury and faintly miny leaf character and that raspberry, but a tad riper than the Felton Road. Toasty roasted oak. The palate entry is sweet then a firm spicyness, followed by a vaguely juicy wave of flavour, then a warm back palate.

Pyramid Valley Calvert Pinot Noir 2008
14.3% alc. A couple of shades darker in colour than the above two wines. I'm seeing some peppery type aroma here. The palate entry is sweet, then becomes quite weighty and really strikes the front palate. Some bitterness and warmth in the mid palate.

Flight 5 - Pinot Noir - Some NZ Benchmarks

Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2009
14% alc. Aromas of dried flowers, pepper and spice, and some subtly funky dairy/cow piss. Woody spice, and forest floor. Rich but savoury tannins. Needs cellaring.

Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir 2008
14% alc. Really vibrant colour. A crushed rock minerality here, with stem, and a nice fruit perfume. The palate is dry and spicy, yet silky, and has a good build of flavour that is sustained. The tannins appear ripe, maybe wavering on greenness. Needs cellaring.

Flight 6 - Que Syrah Syrah
Dry River Syrah 2008
13% alc. Aromas of baking dish/gravy, and complex spicy plum fruit, and some dense charred oak characters. The palate is more european in character; more cool-climate with savoury, chalky tannins. This wine is more about the texture than anything else. Those saturated tannins carry that savouriness and then slow-release the flavour. Excellent structure.

Mount Riley Limited Release Syrah 2009
14.5% alc. Ripe cherry aroma with alcoholic lift. Some pepper and green leaf, and some nice ripe cherry/plum fruit coming through with a soapy floral viognier lift. The palate is lively and peppery and dry. Full bodied.

Church Road Reserve Syrah 2007
13.5% alc. Quite heavily toasted oak here, with some almost choc-chip cookie aroma and fairly ripe fruit aromas overspicy cedary oak. Lovely palate weight; builds to a medium spicy and dry long palate.

Trinity Hills Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2007
13.5% alc. An intense gravelly nose here, and a white-peppery and spicy palate, which is savoury and dry. The mouthfeel is soft on entry, but does build somewhat.

Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2007
14.2% alc. A number of us suspected dishwasher taint from the additional glassware used in this flight, and this was the wine for me that appeared most affected by it. Only toward the end did I detect some complex spice aromas, but other than that all there was, was this vague stale chemical aroma. The palate had a soupy sweetish entry, and lashings of flavour. It was spicy, and not particulary long across the mid palate, but did carry well through the back palate. Savoury tannins. I found this not particularly enjoyable drinking at this age, but I expect it'll shine in the years to come.

Flight 7 - All Black Blends
Hertzog Spirit of Marlborough Cab Merlot 2001
14.8% alc. Dusty mid-claret colour. Earthy and a bit barnyardy on the nose, and some leather and perhaps olive. The fruit here is really savoury edged. Firm tannins. A proper dry red.

Villa Maria Reserve Merlot 2007
14% alc. A sweet oak influenced nose here; cedar with vanilla. Very grainy dry tannins. Mint.

Craggy Range Sophia 2007
14.5% alc. Subtle complex spice with light sweet leafy characters appearing. Chocolate, and turned earth.Full bodied and rich dark berry flavours.

Te Mata Coleraine 2009
14% alc. Infanticide. The nose not really showing anything but a bit of alcoholic lift at this stage. Some blocky oak, perhaps some spice. Very firm, dry palate.

[SueNZ]

Sounss like a fantastic tasting. Thanks for sharing.

[Peter NZ]

P.S There were a lot of wines that were in the running for this tasting, but not finally selected on the basis of budget, availability or even more blatant vinfanticide.

Pretty hard to go past '09 Coleraine or '08 Block 5 for blatant infanticide ... but well done on the line-up -- only 2 or 3 cases where your choices wouldn't have made someone's list of the top 5 or 10 NZ wines of their respective styles ...

[Joe Cz]

Looks like a great tasting. I'm envious!

[odyssey]

P.S There were a lot of wines that were in the running for this tasting, but not finally selected on the basis of budget, availability or even more blatant vinfanticide.

Pretty hard to go past '09 Coleraine or '08 Block 5 for blatant infanticide ... but well done on the line-up -- only 2 or 3 cases where your choices wouldn't have made someone's list of the top 5 or 10 NZ wines of their respective styles ...

If that's a reference to the appearance of the rather unknown Mt Riley, as mentioned it's because Tim's brother-in-law is the winemaker, so a tip of the hat to them for providing us some wines to taste!

Having said that, the Mt Riley wines stood their own ground and their "Seventeen Valley" interestingly won the much feared Sauvignon Blanc flight (due to the sheer volume of votes given to it by those of us who dislike Sauvignon Blanc, giving it the somewhat questionable honours as the preferred savvy for wine drinkers who don't like savvy). I think it was their oak treatment, which makes you realise just what a bit of oak can do to hide varietal characters, not always a good thing in most wines but it certainly was for this particular variety

[Bick]

If that's a reference to the appearance of the rather unknown Mt Riley, as mentioned it's because Tim's brother-in-law is the winemaker, so a tip of the hat to them for providing us some wines to taste!

I wouldn't call Mt Riley "unknown" - its about as ubiquitous in the supermarkets here as just about any label you care to mention. I don't mean to be disparaging however - I've commented on here in the past that their savvy's can be pretty good - certainly decent QPR.