3/20/2022 - kingkanu wrote:

Interesting range of notes on this wine. I found it somewhere between new world and burgundy, some oak, quite fruit driven with citrus and orchard fruit but with good tension and acidity. Quite impressive at this early stage as you would hope with its price tag. Should keep and improve for a number of years.

6/2/2018 - kingkanu wrote:

Needs air, ideally 1 hr+ in a decanter before it gets going, or more time. Plenty of concentrated old vine fruit here

3/2/2024 - kingkanu wrote:

The nose was stunning straight after opening, dark fruit and Middle Eastern spices, the palate has more spice, cinnamon, with juicy plum fruit, great acidity and a long savoury finish, excellent concentration. Improves with air, so good

1/28/2023 - kingkanu wrote:

This bottle was labelled as Trousseau rather than Bastardo. lovely medium light red and clean as a whistle, somewhere between a Langhe nebbiolo and a Cru Beaujolais enjoyable and worth looking out for

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Very light, subtle nose, citrus fruits, quite a Sancerre ish style, not tasting the tropical fruits here, finish a bit short

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Nice fresh lime and mandarin, zippy fresh and dry

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): more oak here, a bit char on nose, quite oaky mid length, all the complexity coming from the oak

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Juicy black currant fruit, lots of tannin, some cedary wood, ok quaffer

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Darker berry fruit, lots of acidity here but a decent finish

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Getting that lanolin development more here
Lots more concentration, still lots of citrus on the palate, mid length, still wants more time to unwind

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Gold in colour. Fairly developed with lanolin clearly on the nose but still amazingly fresh with plenty of acidity and citrus flavours, delicious drinking over lunch.

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Slight lanolin nose already, nice texture, fresh, length a little short

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Has a little lanolin on the nose already, some citrus. Plenty of acidity on the palate, nice texture, not very complex yet but tastes clean and could develop further

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Could serve chilled. Medium full body. Dark colour. Mulberry and black currant, some leather and tobacco development, not unlike rioja flavours, I quite enjoyed this

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): 6 months old oak, some citrus, nice texture, not too much complexity, but tasty and clean, decent finish

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Interesting nose, some medicinal notes, can't make out exactly what
More weighty on the palate, still a slight sharpness

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Mid body, good aromatics, fruit seems clean, ok acidity and decent length, pretty tasty

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): A mid light gold, more savoury on nose, more depth of flavour, and a longer finish

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Fresh, slght pear drop nose
Citrus freshness, very light

1/4/2011 - kingkanu wrote:

Nose of citrus and a little petrol, crisp lemony start to the palate, some honey and a touch of light toast, there's not much mid palate and though the finish is quite long there's little depth there either. An enjoyable lunch wine (11%) but wasn't a stunner

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Mid body. Nice aromatics here, eucalyptus, some mint, some development, light and delicious

5/5/2011 - kingkanu wrote:

A good fresh squeeze of lemon on the nose, rich and concentrated apricots and yellow apples with nice acidity. Good length, very good

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Some young vine graveyard fruit
deeper and more concentrated, plenty of tannin and quite awkward, needs plenty of time

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Nose has plenty of lanolin and little citrus, something a little sharper here, lacking some concentration compared to the latara, clay soils, more minerally

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Medium body
Fairly list style of Shiraz, nothing too defined, a bit of tannins bite on the finish with a touch of spice

5/29/2010 - kingkanu wrote:

Showing a little bottle age this was a nicely balanced Aussie Shiraz, there were some leather notes along with the dark fruit nose, the palate had lively brambles and soft dark plums plus a twang of farmyard, it's quite similar to a quality Rhone, I thought it had some similarity to a beaucastel 2003 which I tried the previous night, at 13.5% this was a very restrained and poised bottle, very good and very enjoyable

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Reticent nose, palate a little bubblegum but clean zesty fruit, easy drinking stuff

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Slightly Oaked
Quiet citrus, melon nose
Palate more citrus, nuts, some vanilla, not bad finish

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Jewel like colour, bright and fresh fruit, no bitterness, easy going and tasty stuff

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Citrus with a little lanolin, more weight here and length, still quite citrusy

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Light colour, some oak on the nose, fresh but not very well defined fruit

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Dark berry fruit and pepper nose, a fair bit of medium tannin here

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Sweeter berry fruit here, tannins are finer but quite drying on the tongue, ok

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Quite full body
Good nose of fruit and tobacco, easy drinking wine, some fairly fine tannin, ok finish

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Reticent nose, very light, a bit sharp and a bit dilute

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): 10-20 yr old vines from graveyard
Lovely black currant fruits, fine tannins, really quite lovely

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): A youthful purple, some sweet cherry / mulberry nose
Palate is a bit more cherry but not very well defined, fairly short, some fine but drying tannin

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): A very young purple, a white pepper and clove spice nose, bright fruit palate

1/5/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Salmon orange in colour. Relatively subtle oxidization, not as crisp as a fino, it has a hint of the aromatic Pinot Gris still left at the back of the palate which gives it a softer finish while having some salinity and a touch of hazelnut. A tasty aperitif but not sure I'd like more than a glass

4/18/2011 - kingkanu wrote:

Dark purple with lightening round the rim, nose full of graphite and a little cedar, palate had more lead pencil with some decent blackcurrant fruit, fair length, just at the start of it's drinking window, could be great with more time

11/27/2021 - kingkanu wrote:

Plenty of raspberry liqueur fruit, a little heady and feels a lot bigger than it is, the flavours are quite pretty but it’s no more than a glass for me

6/29/2019 - kingkanu wrote:

Very lean with a slight bitter finish, when the fruit shows its bright and red, could do with a little more of it

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Quite aromatic, a little on the sweet side, some decent acidity, but missing some mid palate flavours, ok, not very typical in flavour / style

1/3/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

New Zealand / Australia Trip Dec 2014 / Jan 2015; 12/14/2014-1/8/2015 (Auckland, Martinborough, Christchurch, Sydney, Hunter Valley): Deep and very full, bigger nose and bigger everything, finish not so long, very dry

5/4/2017 - kingkanu wrote:

Something like ginger and crystallised fruit on the nose. Nice texture, great acidity but in no way lean, orange and lemon, decent finish, a refreshing glass of wine, worth seeing how further vintages come out

1/31/2015 - kingkanu wrote:

This is so much softer than our previous bottle a few years ago, but still very bright acidity, the nose is lime sherbert but is starting to evolve, the palate hasn't quite got there yet, check back in another year

8/13/2011 - kingkanu wrote:

Quite tight even after a splash decant and 2 hrs but this is already a really good wine and should improve. Someone said orange blossom and that's right on the nose, it has great clean flavours of lime with a bit of orange and even blackcurrant, lovely in the mouth, nice acidity and a lingering finish. I preferred this at cellar temp rather than fridge temp

12/16/2021 - kingkanu wrote:

Quite accessible now, early maturity

4/23/2011 - kingkanu wrote:

This is a long way from being ready to drink, even after a good 3 hours decanted it was really tight, the acidity was quite something, freshly squeezed limes, some green apples and maybe a hint of pink grapefruit, there was a nice minerality to this, and good lingering length, but i'll give this at least 5 years before opening another bottle

1/2/2021 - kingkanu wrote:

Tight, tight, tight, it did loosen its icy fingers a little with some air then the lime juice and lemon sherbet start playing with a little petrol. Early days here, these wines evolve at a truly glacial pace