Central Otago Wine Tours Queenstown
by JakeT June 27, 2014

Hawkes Bay Syrah Tastings

 

Hawkes Bay is located on the eastern coast of the North Island and experiences some of the highest heat accumulation in the country. Hawkes Bay’s climate has been described as almost perfect for growing Syrah, and the Hawkes Bay Winegrowers Inc describe syrah as “the most exciting wine produced in the Hawkes Bay”. Hawkes Bay has a total winegrowing area of 4947ha, of which 34% […]

by JakeT June 7, 2014

Seresin ‘Leah’ Pinot Noir Vertical.

 

Introduction

 

For this flight we tasted six Seresin ‘Leah’ Pinot Noirs from the 2005 – 2010 vintages. The purpose of the flight was to examine seasonal variation and ageing characteristics of wine. All the wines were made almost identically by winemaker Clive Dougall, who believes that wines should be an expression of time and place, and achieves this through minimalist intervention winemaking

Seresin Leah […]

by JakeT May 28, 2014

The Riesling Challenge!

Introduction

Riesling ChallengeThe Riesling challenge was initiated in 2010 to exemplify the influence winemakers have in processing grapes into wine. The challenge was taken up by 12 leading New Zealand winemakers, who each received 4 tonnes of identical grapes, picked on the same day, from the same site (Mud House Glasnevin Rd block, Waipara) and distributed evenly from each part of the vineyard. Each winemaker […]

Categories: Varietals Wine Reviews

by JakeT December 9, 2013

Peregrine Pinot Noir 2007

This wine has a soft bouquet of ripe cherry and plum jam finished with a hint of higher-alcohol spiciness. Silky tannins and smooth hints of caramel and mushroom carry the mid palate through to a beautiful finish. This wine was beginning to show it’s age with subtle reductive notes on the nose and less than robust phenolics. That said the wine has aged well and was the favourite of the group, especially those more familiar with […]

by JakeT September 12, 2013

It’s not surprising that wine, like many things, attracts characters with all sorts of idiosyncrasies. Having enmeshed myself in the wine world for some time now I’ve discovered that many wine-o’s fall into two categories – those that are passionate about wine and those that are passionate about people thinking they are passionate about wine – and it can be hard to tell the difference.

 

Picture this – you’re sitting down to a lovely dinner, the host a well-to-do professional is […]

Categories: Wine Reviews