TN: Oyster Bay & Morgan Simpson

[n4sir]

2002 Oyster Bay NZ Sauvignon Blanc (Stelvin): Huge and constantly evolving nose of pretty perfumed gooseberry/lychees with hints of banana, grass with insecticide, pickled capsicum, passionfruit, and at times even aniseed. The palate is just as flamboyant, with a refreshing level of natural acidity to clean the palate on the finish. Another fantastic sub-$15 Savvy.

2002 Oyster Bay NZ Chardonnay (Stelvin): Closed nose in comparison, with some wax/citrus lurking in the very depths. The palate is more forward, with nutty oak not present in the nose balancing the grapefruit/citrus fruit and acid on the palate.

2002 Morgan Simpson McLaren Vale Chardonnay: Completely the opposite on the nose to the trans-Tasman predecessor, with very obvious nutty oak and malolactic techniques at play, and surprisingly some grassiness. The oak again influences the palate, and there’s that strange grassy/weedy character entwined with the citrus/grapefruit characters that’s offputting.

2002 Oyster Bay NZ Pinot Noir (Stelvin): Glowing raspberry red. Ripe strawberry and some meaty characters mark the nose. The palate again has overripe, almost stewed strawberry & raspberry characters & chalky tannins, leaving an impression that the wine has been forced. I think this marks the first cooked NZ Pinot I’ve tried.

2002 Oyster Bay NZ Merlot (Stelvin): Very green & tealeaf characters on the nose, with some VA and those insecticide touches I noticed in the Savvy. The palate is ripe, soft but pedestrian; I’d take the Irvine Springhill South Australian Merlot for 15 bucks over this any day.

2002 Morgan Simpson McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon: Deep, dark red/purple. The nose is very minty, with lashings of chocolate, menthol & exotic spices, and equally noticeable cowshed characters. The mint/menthol characters drive the slightly hot palate, but there’s far too much farmyard stuff going on for my liking.

2002 Morgan Simpson McLaren Vale Shiraz: Deep red colour. Again it’s a similar story; there’s some licorice and medicinal characters with the blackberry fruit, but I’m too put off by the obvious cowshed on the nose to like it.


Cheers
Ian