New Zealand Featuring Oyster Bay Wines

SF Wine Trading Company
Tasted Saturday, August 20, 2011 by drwine2001 with 560 views

Flight 1 - Whites (3 Notes)

  • 2010 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Light, ripe grapefruit, slightly pungent and overall, quite fragrant. Clean, very well balanced, some layering to the texture. None of that exaggerated grassy quality that can mark New Zealand Sauvignons but lots of character and flavor for the price. So much so that I was moved to pick up a few bottles as a good Sancerre alternative for the near term.

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  • 2010 Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough, Awatere Valley

    Pale. Even more bright citrus than the Oyster Bay and less tropical than wine. Great acidity, lean, dry mineral finish. Also excellent and good value.

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  • 2010 Oyster Bay Chardonnay

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Light yellow. Subtle kiss of oak is what characterizes the nose. Good acidity, some vanilla imparted by the wood, and a mouth feel which reminded me of Semillon-based wines. The fruit seems more neutral and less zesty than the Sauvignon though. It's hard to be too critical at less than $11 a bottle.

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Flight 2 - Reds (3 Notes)

  • 2010 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Light red. All moderate char wood aromatics. Not surprisingly, smoky palate but some spicy red fruit manages to rise to the surface despite the obvious effects of the cooperage. Moderate acidity. Like all of these wines, lots of texture for wines at this level and again, I am impressed that there is enough underlying material to withstand the oak treatment. OK, it's not the most subtly vinified Pinot ever, but commendable effort nonetheless.

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  • 2009 Craggy Range Pinot Noir Aroha

    New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough

    Fairly pale. Much purer Pinot profile than the Oyster Bay with quite pretty, spicy red berry fruit not obscured by wood. Gently sweet but not overbearingly ripe, high acid, snappy finish with some ending soil and licorice. Very good now.

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  • 2009 Oyster Bay Merlot

    New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

    Medium ruby. Attractive plum fruit without any herbaceousness. Lovely light fruit, nice feel and balance, some spiciness on the back end. Another dynamite deal.

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Closing

It had been years since I'd tasted anything from New Zealand, and I found this to be a delightful, easy to like group of wines. As is clear from my notes, all 4 of the wines from Oyster Bay provided more flavor, balance, and mouth feel than one has the right to expect given the modest pricing. They are amazing values. Bravo!

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