Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/23/2007 (link)

  (EATON Pinot Noir Pyramid Valley) Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir Dear Friends, When I said Pyramid Valley may be the best new winery in the Southern Hemisphere I wasn’t joking. We offered the whites last month (with a huge response - thank you for having faith) and the Pinot Noirs have just been released to us - no faith needed here. 2005 started things out and 2006 will make this winery the most sought after fro New Zealand since Felton Road burst on the scene 10-15 years ago. With Matt Kramer’s proclamation in the Wine Spectator that Pyramid Valley’s Pinot Noirs are among the best he’s ever tasted of any kind from New Zealand (and that includes, I’m sure, Dry River, Felton Road, Black Estate and the other top contenders) and “wines such as these show where New Zealand can go and where others, including California, should be following” (a statement that I'm sure made the home-town faithful wince) - Pyramid Valley went from “who?” to “how many can I get” overnight (as a footnote to the above statements, remember that Matt Kramer lives in Portland, OR and is immersed in Oregon Pinot Noir culture as much as anyone - in other words, he knows what he’s talking about). Here is the Matt Kramer link: http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Archives/Show_Article/0,1275,5984,00.html I had the same reaction the first time I tasted them as well. This is a set of wines with breed above all others that I have tried from this area. The whites (as a group) are a revelation and the Pinot Noirs are nothing short of provocative. When I use the word provocative, I mean that they provoke a possibility that has been as yet unrealized - the possibility of greatness in this virgin area of the world. Both of the wines below are some of the more anticipated releases of the year for us and we are quite fortunate to get a small allocation (only 25-50 cases for the entire US so they are about as limited as it gets). Normally, I ignore winery notes (on their own wines, as the temptation to sell is too great) but they are so accurate in this case that I’m printing them. In think the key here is they really have nothing to sell so truly accurate notes are the only policy that makes sense (and their notes are spot-on): 2006 Pyramid Valley “Calvert Vineyard” Pinot Noir From one of the most picturesque vineyards in the world in Bannockburn (South Island) this is the biodynamic site revered by other vintners in New Zealand and farmed by Felton Road. Felton Road makes a bottling from this vineyard as well but the cherry fruit goes to Pyramid Valley (Felton Road’s Calvert doesn’t hold a candle to this). If the wine below is Gevrey, this is more Vosne-Romanee and it is a great effort from pure schist rock and quartz sand, 100% hand-picked and raised by gravity methods - completely unfined and unfiltered with only wild yeast and natural malolactic, this is a pioneering wine of organic principles that will put people on their ears when they taste it. Deceptively friendly and red-fruit focussed, this wine uncurls like a feline panther waiting to pry on the unsuspecting and the aromatics and varietal whiffs are worth the price alone. Give this a few years in the cellar and watch the rainbow unfold. Winery note: “Brilliant ruby. Wild cherry/griotte. Raspberry vine, enormously floral, rose, carnation, iris, thyme blossom, also a highly pitched stone note. Headily perfumed, bright and pale red fruits = cherry , raspberry, thimbleberry, again a memory of thyme, vivid and nervous on the palate, bright, tight and long. Very schist-y.” 2006 Pyramid Valley “Eaton Family” Vineyard Pinot Noir Where the Calvert is fresh and magical, the Eaton is simply shocking in its Burgundian stature with an incredible earthen mid-palate. One of the best Pinot Noirs produced in the new world (and that includes anything from the Sonoma Coast). Transparent red fruit, lilting but so masculine - chase the dragon for this. One of the first New World Pinot Noirs to actually be better than the real thing (with no pumped up smoke and mirrors) - a complete wine that will thrill Burgundy lovers. Oregon meets Gevrey meets a unique terroir with a more feminine grace than Gevrey but all of the masculinity and earth that this region is known for. Worth every cent (and I rarely say that) for its historic place in New Zealand’s young industry. Winery note: “Very deep ruby. Red, black and blue fruits; focussed, precise, brush, bark, loam - a pungent earthy note, the smell of soil clinging to fresh roots. Black cherry, boysenberry dovetailing tannins, insular and concise; condenses to a kernel of earth and blue fruit, urgent on the finish with accelerative length”. Ideally one would try both of these, preferably side by side after a few years in the cellar but they are certainly worthy of consumption. I can see both increasing in value as well. Both are EXTREMELY LIMITED - we will do our best to accommodate all requests but please keep in mind the total case quantities coming to the whole US mentioned above Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA NZ6100 NZ7100