Pyramid Valley

My first tasting with Best Cellars was Pyramid Valley which I know they have been a big fan of for quite a while: I can remember seeing the wines there when I was still living in William Street.

• 2015 Pyramid Valley Riesling Growers Collection Rose Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Quite pretty, floral top notes, ripe apple and slightly honeyed notes. Off dry, juicy with a little bitterness and mid palate grip - possibly from extended skin contact Touch of alcohol warmth on the finish and the fruit is a little more muted and the honeyed note is more to the fore. Hmm

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• 2014 Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein Winninger Uhlen Riesling "R" Roth Lay

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  Far more mineral that the Pyramid Valley, meaty with some struck match, a slight herbaceous note and otuches of green apple and sweet spice Off dry but still tartly acidic with more obvious green apple fruit and plentiful mid palate and cheek grip. Yum.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Pinot Blanc Growers Collection Kerner Estate Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Waxy, pear and pear skin, slight baked quite, muted spice. Juicy, spicy and quite tart, again some skin contact but les than the Riesling and, again, some non-intrusive though present alcohol warmth and, again, a little lacking on the fruit side. Hmm.

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• 2013 Franz Hirtzberger Weissburgunder Smaragd Steinporz

  Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau

  More muted and meaty than the Pyramid Valley with slight ripe pear fruit. On the palate it's juicier with obvious sweet spice over the top of the muted pear fruit. Some mid palate grip as well. Hmm.

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• 2016 Pyramid Valley Pinot Gris On Skins Kerner Estate Vineyard

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Perfumed (rose petal), with touches of honey, lychee and muted melon. Also slight volatile acidity. In the mouth it's juicy and wet with incredibly soft tannins. Easy and quaffable. Rather pleasant.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Chardonnay Growers Collection Sutherland - Till

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Fresh herbs, muted citrus, slight wild ferment meatiness. A little butteriness and, perhaps, a touch of oak. It's juicy, buttery, and slight oak spiced over muted fruit and some front of mouth and mid palate burr.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Chardonnay Field of Fire

  New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara

  Muted sweet spice, butter, slight peach, lemon and almost green apple, slightly leesy, yoghurty notes. In the mouth it's juicy, amost tart in fact, with apples over peach, slightly buttery notes and quite a bit of almost drying tannic grip. Fruit persists quietly beneath this. Hmm. Expensive at AUD 140

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Chardonnay Lion's Tooth

  New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara

  Medium minus intensity aromas of wild ferment, citrus, sweet spice, very slight butter and also earthy notes. Juicy and tangy…lemons and slight mandarin peel, a little butter and plentiful front of mouth grip. Fruit persists but, again, a bit expensive for what it is. Hmm.

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• 2014 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru

  Rich, buttery, polished oak over muted lemon and stone fruit. Juicy and quite sharp but without being angular. Big citric tang and then drying front of mouth grip. Quite 'big' compared with the pyramid valleys. The fruit persist boldly beneath this. Yum.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Calrossie

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Slight unripe red cherry fruit with floral top notes, also a touch of coffee. More of the same on the palate; coffee more to the fore. Perhaps a touch of ash as well. The fruit drops quite quickly leaving a little hollowness on the mid palate. Finishes a bit warm as well. Meh.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Earth Smoke

  New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara

  Slight ash, slightly sour raspberry fruit, a little spice, pretty floral top notes, a tiny smoky note as well as some funkiness. Juicy and wet with muted & slightly sweet fruit and a fair amount of fine, silky textured tannic grip. Meh.

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• 2015 Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Angel Flower

  New Zealand, South Island, Canterbury, Waipara

  More ripe than the earth smoke, raspberry fruit over slight stalks. Perfumed notes, there is a touch of liquorice here as well. Juicy and fleshy. The quite subtle and elegant fruit slightly subsumed beneath the slightly rasping tannic burr. Long. Nice.

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Of the first three I'd suggest that the 1 month on skins is the pick of the bunch…of the chardonnays I was moderately impressed by both the field of fire and lion's tooth which I found to be quite chablisesque - putting them next to the Leflaive wasn't fair. And of the Pinots it is the riper Angel Flower that was my preference. Of course at $140 each they're far too expensive for what they are.