Light colour, fresh, redcurrants. Slightly harsh on palate initially, light and a bit one dimensional. Decent enough PN for this price, but not as good as their Chardonnay
I’ve had this before and enjoyed it. Deeper colour, perfumed cherries on the nose, smoother, with a slightly sweet finish, but not jammy. Very drinkable. Best one for me in the under £15 flight.
I didn’t like this one. Off putting chemical smell on the nose (could have been the glass?) which did dissipate over time. I found it rather hollow and characterless, without much fruit. Some others liked it though.
Light in colour, quite dilute I thought, but with some decent tannic grip. Similar to an Alsace PN for me. Fruit not terribly evident. I think this would be a decent enough food wine, with lighter dishes even fish. However, not really a £20 plus wine.
Deepest in colour of this flight. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, as I haven’t been a great fan of the small number of SA PN I have tasted. I was expecting it to be oaked which it isn’t apparently.
Some tannic grip, balanced by quite good fruit on the palate. My favourite of the £15 to £25 flight.
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula
(4/25/2019)
Mid colour. Good bouquet of forest fruit. More burgundian than I expected, probably reflecting cool climate. Slightly drying tannins, and faded a bit on the finish for me, but it was a close run thing between this and the Radford Dale for the best of this flight.
Lightish colour. Muted on the nose. Again, quite Burgundian for me. Quite a delicate wine, with fruit not as evident initially, but a bit more complexity.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges
(4/25/2019)
Mid colour. Quite dumb on the nose, gentle, slightly sweetish on the palate but fruit lacking which is unusual for Bellene wines. I think it’s shut down, and was probably better a year or so ago and may well be in a year or two. Toby commented along the same lines later. Apparently, it had drunk really well about 4 months ago when they were putting together the list for these tastings. I have this and the 2011 at home and will leave this one for a year or so I think.
Nose was quite offputting for me, in a way I couldn’t quite place. Oak? Fermentation yeasts? Who knows.
However, it was much better on the palate than the nose, with decent grip, and some acidity to balance the fruit. I suspect it will last quite well.
Definitely the exception to the general view that PN is 70% on the nose. I enjoyed this one, but the Au Bon Climat just pipped it for the wine of the flight due to the lovely bouquet.
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
(4/25/2019)
Pure, redcurrant fruit on the nose, beautiful bouquet which I kept coming back to. Doesn’t quite follow through on the palate, but still a lovely, very fruit driven wine. For drinking now. My preferred wine of the £25-40 flight.
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
(4/25/2019)
Complex bouquet, earthy notes for me. A lot of tannic grip at first (quite cold) and a smokey flavour. Fruit was very restrained, with a slightly burnt, caramelly note suggesting maybe overextraction?
It came out it’s shell a bit as it warmed up, but it was quite hard work for me anyway. Might need a bit more time?
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru
(4/25/2019)
Very deep colour. Bouquet a bit closed initially (quite cold) with a sort of tarry note that I couldn’t place. However, it really opened up in the glass, and the bouquet developed into the most complex of the night for me, with forest fruits, earthiness which just kept going on…Grip on the palate but also quite smooth, with a long long finish.
This has quite a long future as it should at the price!
2016 Kumeu River Pinot Noir Village
New Zealand, North Island, Auckland, Kumeu
(4/25/2019)
Light colour, fresh, redcurrants. Slightly harsh on palate initially, light and a bit one dimensional. Decent enough PN for this price, but not as good as their Chardonnay
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2015 Undurraga Pinot Noir T.H. [Terroir Hunter] Las Gaviotas
Chile, San Antonio Valley
(4/25/2019)
I’ve had this before and enjoyed it. Deeper colour, perfumed cherries on the nose, smoother, with a slightly sweet finish, but not jammy. Very drinkable. Best one for me in the under £15 flight.
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2017 Peltier Ranch Pinot Noir Reserve
USA, California, Central Valley, Lodi
(4/25/2019)
I didn’t like this one. Off putting chemical smell on the nose (could have been the glass?) which did dissipate over time. I found it rather hollow and characterless, without much fruit. Some others liked it though.
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