{cork, 13.5%} Fading garnet, bricking tinge at the rim, and actually, everywhere. Aged new world aromas and flavours, some leafy compost, rotting red fruit, but always balanced and tidy, without excessive oak or extract. Seems like great care was taken with this. Just medium weight, short/medium dry finish, probably ready to drink; it’s hard to see cellaring adding much to this. Lacks the focus and personality of decent burgundy; achieves half the result at a quarter at price. Tricky, isn’t it?
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6 barrel super cuvee from Wairau Valley. Cork in good nick. Strong deep nose with rhubarb and strawberry elements but in the stronger end of the pinot spectrum - nothing light here. A touch of that sous-bois to make things interesting. This is quite dry with still tightish, fine tannins and good depth of fruit and complexity. A medium to full bodied pinot to go with duck and game more than light antipasto. At 8 years of age no clear sense of it falling over - I think it can hold for another 4 years at least but maybe not improve. I think it needs food, it's too structured to just drink by itself. Finish is just a tad short.
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Superb, one of the best NZ Pinots I've had in years. Rich and generous, but perfectly balanced. No sign of tiredness: feels fresh and fruity, and with quite a few years ahead of it. I don't know if this is a luckier bottle than my last two, which I scored lower, or if it has just developed positively over time - but this is something special now. Bottle no 0398. 13.5%, cork.
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Light to medium ruby, translucent. Slightly strange nose - liquorice? stems? There is fruit there - fruits of the forest - but there is also decaying vegetation on the forest floor. The palate: very classy, elegant, smooth, medium-bodied, perfectly balanced. Long finish. It's a quality wine, but this bottle pleases me less than the last one I had. 13.5%, cork.
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12/28/2020 - graemeg wrote:
{cork, 13.5%} Fading garnet, bricking tinge at the rim, and actually, everywhere. Aged new world aromas and flavours, some leafy compost, rotting red fruit, but always balanced and tidy, without excessive oak or extract. Seems like great care was taken with this. Just medium weight, short/medium dry finish, probably ready to drink; it’s hard to see cellaring adding much to this. Lacks the focus and personality of decent burgundy; achieves half the result at a quarter at price. Tricky, isn’t it?
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6/19/2019 - crazywineguy wrote: flawed
Corked. Classic nothing nose then structure and no flavour and nasty short finish. TCA all over it.
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2/11/2019 - crazywineguy Likes this wine: 91 Points
6 barrel super cuvee from Wairau Valley. Cork in good nick. Strong deep nose with rhubarb and strawberry elements but in the stronger end of the pinot spectrum - nothing light here. A touch of that sous-bois to make things interesting. This is quite dry with still tightish, fine tannins and good depth of fruit and complexity. A medium to full bodied pinot to go with duck and game more than light antipasto. At 8 years of age no clear sense of it falling over - I think it can hold for another 4 years at least but maybe not improve. I think it needs food, it's too structured to just drink by itself. Finish is just a tad short.
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4/8/2018 - Duncan wrote: 94 Points
Superb, one of the best NZ Pinots I've had in years. Rich and generous, but perfectly balanced. No sign of tiredness: feels fresh and fruity, and with quite a few years ahead of it. I don't know if this is a luckier bottle than my last two, which I scored lower, or if it has just developed positively over time - but this is something special now. Bottle no 0398. 13.5%, cork.
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9/25/2016 - Duncan wrote: 89 Points
Light to medium ruby, translucent. Slightly strange nose - liquorice? stems? There is fruit there - fruits of the forest - but there is also decaying vegetation on the forest floor. The palate: very classy, elegant, smooth, medium-bodied, perfectly balanced. Long finish. It's a quality wine, but this bottle pleases me less than the last one I had. 13.5%, cork.
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9/18/2016 - Duncan wrote: 90 Points
Very classy, medium-bodied New World Pinot. Will improve with a couple of years more in bottle (see note for 2006 tasted at same time.) 13.5%, cork.
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