Central Otago Wine Trip December 2010

Central Otago, New Zealand
Tasted Monday, December 20, 2010 - Thursday, December 23, 2010 by kingkanu with 1,136 views

Introduction

Me and Steph head off for a couple of days tasting in Central Otago - Pinot Noir country !

In general we found the 2008 Pinot's to be a little green at the edges and the 2007 and 2009's far riper, there were a couple of exceptions to this rule with Chard Farm, Amisfield and Felton Road all making excellent 2008's. All the wineries said that over the past decade the odd number years were better than the even number years, 2004 was to be avoided by the sounds of it...
Most wineries were working with quite young vines still, with first vintages coming around the 2000-2004 time period, again there were a few exceptions to this and the wines from the older vines at Rippon in particular were noticeably more concentrated.

Flight 1 - Felton Road - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours (6 Notes)

  • 2009 Felton Road Chardonnay Elms

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Unoaked. Crisp, citrus and minerally, just what it should be. Good length

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Felton Road Dry Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    3g/L residual sugar. Fresh limes and citrus on the nose and palate, really well defined fruit, great acidity making this really refreshing, very long, another great year for this Riesling

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Felton Road Pinot Noir Bannockburn

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn

    (12/20/2010)

    Lovely concentrated ripe dark fruit, dark cherries with a little earthiness, nice acidity. very good

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Felton Road Pinot Noir Cornish Point

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    deeper and fuller than the Bannockburn, mocha and cola on the nose and a little more savoury flavour on the palate with good ripe dark cherry fruit, long and spicy on the finish. very good+

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Felton Road Pinot Noir Calvert

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    This wine had more obvious fruit on the nose than the Cornish Point or Bannockburn pinots, quite a linear palate with a touch of earth, this reminded me of a young Vosne with a its silky mouthfeel, personally i think this is the 'wife' to Cornish Points 'Mistress' ! very good+

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Felton Road Riesling Bannockburn

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn

    (12/20/2010)

    56g/L residual sugar. quite a floral and expressive nose, apricots and mandarins with pleasing acidity, maybe a little on the sweet side for me, but a lovely wine

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 - Olssens Winery - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours (4 Notes)

  • 2009 Olssens Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Floral and kerosene nose, crisp apples and limes, medium finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Olssens Gewürztraminer

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    sugar roses nose, palate is a little light, the fruit wasn't very clearly defined, feeling this could have been cleaner

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Olssens Chardonnay Charcoal Joe

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Savoury yeasty lees on the nose, quite full and concentrated fruit on the palate with a hint of lychee, quite a long finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Olssens Pinot Noir Jackson Barry

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Bright cherry nose, vivid bright purple colour, crunchy a crisp cherry fruit

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 3 - Bald Hills Winery - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours (6 Notes)

The first Bald Hills vintage was 2002 and they had a very few bottles left, it wasn't for tasting, but we took one as a piece of their history

Flight 4 - Carrick - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours (7 Notes)

we also had lunch here, i had a glass of the off dry 2009 Riesling with scallops and a green summer rissotto, Steph had the Chardonnay with a goats cheese and aubergine stack - yummy !

  • 2010 Carrick Dry Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    6g/L residual sugar. Light citrus and apple nose, full and soft in the mouth with extremely crisp acidity

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Carrick Dry Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    25g/L residual sugar. Honeysuckle and petrol nose, very nicely balanced acidity and full in the mouth

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Carrick Riesling Josephine

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn

    (12/20/2010)

    60g/L residual sugar. 8% alcohol. Nice floral nose, light and elegant with hints of pineapple, fresh with a medium long finish, delicious !

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Carrick Pinot Gris

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    4.5g/L residual sugar. Pears on the nose, pear drops and red apples on the palate, but lacking a little depth on the mid and end palate

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Carrick Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    only 15% new oak and 11 months in the barrel, but you can really taste this with yeasty lees coming through on the nose, butterscotch, butter and a little pineapple on the palate, not really my style of Chardonnay, but not a new world bruiser either

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Carrick Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn

    (12/20/2010)

    14 months in the barrel 30% new oak. Full cherry nose, a deep cherry flavour with a little cola and some spice, quite long, possibly lacking a little depth of flavour, but good ripe and concentrated fruit

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Carrick Pinot Noir Excelsior

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Deep spicy cherry fruit and cola nose, a very long spicy palate, lots of concentrated fruit, still very tight but drinkable now, will take sone time to unwind and show its class, very good+ wish I had picked some of this up

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 5 - Peregrine Winery - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours (8 Notes)

  • 2008 Peregrine Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    5.9g/L residual sugar. Sharp lime nose, very crisp on the palate with more fresh limes

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Peregrine Riesling Rastaburn

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    15g/L residual sugar. Petrol on the nose, smooth apricot fruit on the palate with a nice crisp finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Peregrine Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    A little yeasty on the nose, very crisp and clean on the palate but lacking some fruit definition

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Peregrine Gewürztraminer

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Fresh and floral rose nose, fair acidity

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Peregrine Pinot Noir Mohau

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Full sweet ripe fruit on the nose, bright cherry fruit on the palate, quite crisp and strong acidity, maybe a little green streak in this, fairly long

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Peregrine Pinot Noir Mohau

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    Softer, longer and deeper than the 2008 with more cola notes, ripe cherry fruit nose and palate with some cola notes creeping in, no greenness in this wine, still very young and tight, will be a very good wine

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Peregrine Pinot Noir Karearea

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    This has a lovely expressive rich cherry nose, with hints of earthiness, the palate has a lot going on, a real savoury edge which I enjoy, but balanced with ripe concentrated fruit and fine tannins, this really needs time to settle and unwind, but will be an excellent wine.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Peregrine Riesling Charcoal Creek (late harvest)

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/20/2010)

    100g/L residual sugar. Apricots, lychee and grapefruits all playing in this wine balanced with a lovely clean finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 6 - Gibbston Valley Winery - Private Tour - Pinot Thyme Wine Tours

This was the final stop of the day, our palates were a little jaded by now and we had a cheese plate with a selection of their wines, the notes didn't amount to anything much so i haven't posted them.
We tried their 2008 and 2009 Pinot Noirs, again the 2008 was a touch green, but decent and the 2009 better and riper, we also tried the 2008 Pinot Noir reserve which was decent again, then 2 single vineyard (i think) wines, the 2009 China Terrace Pinot Noir and the 2009 Le Maitre Pinot Noir which were both very good indeed

Flight 7 - A gift from Pinot Thyme Wine Tours, who made the wine (1 Note)

  • 2009 White Ashes Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir Bannockburn 87 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Bannockburn

    (12/20/2010)

    Made in an early drinking style, cherry and raspberry nose, a god sweet mouthful of fruit, morello cherries in the main, balanced acidity, fresh, clean and crisp, good finish.
    Given to us by the winemaker who also runs tours in the Otago area (shameless plug here: www.pinotthymetours.co.nz)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 8 - Amisfield Winery (4 Notes)

We were very impressed by the wines here but only tried the pinot noir flight as i was driving, they also has a beautiful looking restaurant

  • 2008 Lake Hayes Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Warm summer fruits on the nose, full dark cherry fruit and plums showing on the palate, a touch of the 2008 green edge showing here

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Amisfield Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Sweet cherry fruit on the nose, more ripe cherries and plums on the palate, this 2008 is full ripe with no signs of greenness, good concentration and length

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Amisfield Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Very full aromatic nose with plenty going on alongside the dark cherry fruit, very concentrated juice with a savoury edge to the plums and cherries, good length, really quite long, really good. probably my favourite main label Pinot of the trip.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2006 Amisfield Pinot Noir Rocky Knoll

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Made from only the 3 Dijon clones grown at amisfield. This has a lovely classic burgundy nose, getting a bit of bottle age now, full and concentrated, lovely mouthfeel, the palate is relatively linear, but it was so well defined that it didn't matter, ready now, but will keep for at least another 5 years, excellent.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 9 - Chard Farm Winery (8 Notes)

Its worth making the trip up a winding track to go here, they also make 2 single vineyard Pinots which weren't for tasting and were for long term cellaring which are worth hunting down, The Tiger and The Viper (i think 1 of these was available at Auckland airport)

  • 2008 Chard Farm Riesling

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    28g/l Residual sugar and 11% alc. fresh lime and green apple nose, granny smith apples with fresh lime palate, quite a crisp finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Chard Farm Riesling Vipers Vineyard

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    38g/L residual sugar. Honied nose, more delicate that the 08 Riesling we tried but i also thought it was less defined

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Chard Farm Gewürztraminer

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Quite full flavoured with rose petal and lychee, not crisp enough on the finish for me

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Chard Farm Pinot Noir River Run

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Delicate fruit on the nose, some cherry, some raspberry, very crisp fruit on the palate and a clean finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Chard Farm Pinot Noir River Run

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    This was unsurprisingly (as its the early drinking label of Chard Farm) more evolved than the 2009 with some mushroom on the nose alongside decent cherry fruit, more savoury and medium long

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Chard Farm Pinot Noir Finla Mor

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Sweet red cherries on the nose and the palate, there was a hint of candyfloss to this and a very slight touch of the 2008 greenness, not one of their best efforts

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Chard Farm Pinot Noir Finla Mor

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Good ripe fruit on the nose, getting a little bottle age from this already, good concentration and length, very good indeed

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Chard Farm Pinot Noir Mata-Au

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    The nose was a little shy and the wine very tight and young, this had beautiful sweet fruit, good acidity and good length, this could be an excellent wine given enough time

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 10 - Mount Difficulty Winery (6 Notes)

A great spot for lunch up on the mountain looking down the valley

Flight 11 - Wooing Tree Winery (8 Notes)

In Cromwell town, they are Pinot Noir specialists and a winery to watch, their 2007 won a ton of awards

  • 2010 Wooing Tree Blondie

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Some strawberries, but no cream, crisp and very dry

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Wooing Tree Rosé

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Strawberries and cream but still crisp to the finish with a touch of sweetness

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Wooing Tree Pinot Gris

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Made in a crisp and dry style, very fresh with apples on the palate

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Wooing Tree Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Hints of butterscotch on the nose, crisp and quite clean, fairly long with a touch of caramel at the end

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2002 Wooing Tree Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    A little aged bricking at the rim, an evolved nose with mushroom and earth, fully mature with leather and gamey flavours, quite rich dried fruits, even a little porty, still enough acid to keep it alive, quite long, really enjoyable but needs drinking up now

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Wooing Tree Pinot Noir Beetlejuice

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Their entry level Pinot, ripe cherry nose, strong acids and clear cherry fruit

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Wooing Tree Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Very ripe and full cherry nose, good concentration with fine tannins and good acids holding this all together, will keep, but is approachable now

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Wooing Tree Tickled Pink

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (12/21/2010)

    Lovely and rich wine with strawberries and cream with some raspberry showing through, i think it needed a little more acidity to be well balanced, but still an interesting wine

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 12 - Rippon Winery (7 Notes)

Set apart from the rest of the regions producers but well worth the trip, they have some of the oldest vines in the region and a beautiful spot over looking Lake Wanaka

  • 2008 Rippon Pinot Noir Jeunesse

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Some savoury notes with dark cherries and good length

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Rippon Pinot Noir Mature Vine

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Darked and fuller than the Jeunesse with a deeper cherry fruit flavour and some earth, quite long

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Rippon Riesling Jeunesse

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Citrus and lime nose and crisp citrus flavours on the palate

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2009 Rippon Riesling Mature Vine

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Deeper and more savoury than its young vines partner, a nice minerality to this wine and quite long, quite a classy riesling

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Rippon Gewürztraminer

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Rose and lychee on the nose, rose petals and ripe tropical fruit on the palate, quite clean with a medium finish

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Rippon Pinot Noir Emma's block

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Strawberry and cherry nose, a soft mouthfeel with delicate red fruit, very long and elegant, needs to be kept for at least 3 years before it will blossom, very good

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2008 Rippon Pinot Noir Tinker's Field

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Lake Wanaka

    (12/22/2010)

    Deep brooding savoury and cherry nose, rich dark fruit with gamey notes on the palate, medium long finish and quite burgundian in style, very good+

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Closing

I'd recommend anyone who can make the trip to New Zealand to check this region out, its a really easy couple of days to get to a ton of great wineries and the scenery is pretty great too, it does get really hot here in summer and really cold in winter, so pack accordingly and you'll have a great time !

×
×