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+--- Thread: Assorted Assortages: Lot's o' Stuff (/thread-8285.html)
- Skeeter - 04-24-2005
Hey, all. I'm back... from being a lazy git who couldn't bother to type up any TN's. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
Here's a butt-load of notes from my trip up North last month. (Stopping at Ransom Wines and Cottle Hill en route) plus a selection of TN's retrieved from crumbled bits of paper in my wallet. (Most of this is taken mainly from the notes themselves... my memory is shocking at best.)
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Ransom Wines: Great-looking winery, wines to match.
2004 Vin Gris Cabernets (Rose): Quite a dry style, with plenty of strawberry notes. Good long finish. Quite intesresting style... the winerys tasting notes called it 'steely", which was an excellent descriptor. (There was no other way I could have decribed the wine.) I'm undecided as to wether I'd buy it, but it was an interesting start.
2003 "Clos de Valerie" Pinot Gris: Spicey pear and citrus. Full-bodied and "v.good" according to my scribbled notes. (Which makes it even better, as I'm not much of a pinot gris drinker on the whole.)
2004 Gunfield Unoaked Chardonnay: Light, restrained nose, plenty of acid, tangy and citric. Garnbed a Big tick o' Approval from me, and good value for money, too.
2002 Barrique Chardonnay: Your classic 'Old-school Chardonnay. Huge, oaky nose, toasty flavours, buttery and exceptionally drinkable. (Unless your a member of the for the Anything But Chardonnay club, that is. I'm no ABC, as you call tell.) Very nice wine, crying out for chicken in a creamy sauce.
2002 Mahurangi Cab Sav/Cab Franc/Merlot: Their lighter-styled blend, estate grown. Delicate tannins, good to drink now, by a little too light for my taste. They made up for it, though...
2002 "Dark Summit" Cab Sav/Cab Franc/Merlot: Woof! Huge, gutsy red, firm tannins, full and incredibly long. Will benifit froma few more years in the cellar, but it's impressive as hell already. NZ$35/bottle, but I was able to negotiate with my finacial advisor (Read: The Wife) and brought one home with me. It's getting a couple of years under the father-in-laws house, methinks. See you in 2007, my friend.
2003 Noble Chardonnay: And an interesting one to finish.. a dessert chardonnay. Described by the winemaker as "half-a-sticky", it was musky and sweet-ish. I was left undecided.. but I'm a sweet-tooth at heart, and it'll take a lot to turn me from my noble rieslings and semillons. Stil... interesting.
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Cottle Hill: Tiny, but extremely friendly winery in Kerikeri.
2004 Sauvingnon Blanc: This was obviously not a Marlbourough savvie, smelling of crisp green apples instead of the passionfruit that has seemed to dominate in the '04 vintage. (Grown in Gisborne, as it turns out.) It's long and fresh, very crisp and tasty. There's been a few duds from the 2004 season, but this isn't one of them. Good stuff.
2002 Chardonnay: Rich and toasty, with a creamy texture, but not an all-out Butter Bomb, though. (I think I just invented a new term...) I've noted it "good", and underlined that. I think it must have been good.
2002 Reserve Chardonnay: Wowsa. Long, full, smooth and exceptionally well-balanced. I'm on a chardonnay kick, so I may sound biased, but once again, it's a good'un. Great descriptor in the companies TN's, too... "Buttered popcorn". I didnt think it was THAT buttery, but it's an amusing image. Trouble is, now I'm hungry. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]
2000 Cab/Merlot: Big leather and spice nose, probably due to the staggering 2 years(!) this one spent in barrel. It's a mammoth cab/merlot, firm and mouthfilling, with plent of cherry and mint. There's a bottle in my wardrobe, just waiting for a decent steak dinner to make an appearance.
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Assortages:
Rippon 2002 Osteiner: A Riesling/Slyvanier cross, this goes in my "Interesting" file. Similar to a reisling on the nose, but quite an oily texture on the tongue. It's limey, a little sweetness lurking in the background and not too acidic. Fairly light, and more an apreritif wine than anything else. Didn't do too much for me, but your results may vary. As always.
Sant Clair 2004 Sauvignon Blanc: Passionfruit and gooseberry, smooth and easily-drinkable. Good balance, easy on the acidity that most Marlborough savvies usually have in spades. Thumbs up.
Saint Clair 2004 Godfreys Creek Pinot Gris: Pretty mpressed with this one... creamy and light-ish, but with a long, clean finish. Very nice, and probably dangerously easy to drink. Solid!
Ngatarawa 2004 "Silks" Chardonnay: The new 2nd tier label from Ngatarawa is an excellent debut. Tingly on the tongue, flavourful and young. I noted that I thought it had excellent cellaring potential, altough time may prove me wrong.(And a lack of will-power doesn't help, either.)
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And finally, in my wallet I discovered a piece of paper with notes, but no winery name. After puzzling it over for a while, i realised it was from Coopers Creek some weeks back. Here's the highlights:
Coopers Creek
2004 Viognier: Floral, "gewurtzy", (I really need to extend my vino vocab a shade..) light, though long finishing. Didn't leap out at me, on the whole.
2004 Gewurtztraminer: Puzzling note... "crisp bacon"? Then discovered it was my awful scribble for "Gisborne". Thank heavens for that. The actual notes read "Good! (underlined, even.), spicey, dry, should match well with Thai. And that's really what I look for in a gewurzt... Two thumbs up.
2004 Unoaked Chardonnay: Crisp, good fruit, but a shade short for me. Just seemed to fade away. Thumbs in the middle.
2004 Rose: Quite a sweet, old-style rose'. Light and easy to drink, but a bit startling after all the dry roses' I've been digging this year.
2004 Merlot: Excellent bargain-red. (NZ$16/bottle) Ripe fruit, firm tannins, mid-weight merlot. I've happily drunk a few bottles of this with friends since visiting the cellar door. Big Tick o' Approval!
And I'm spent... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]
- winoweenie - 04-24-2005
What timing! You couldn't be more welcome back Skeets ole' boy. When I'm on one of these bloomin sabbaticals my time spent reading increases 10-fold. I even enjoyed the notes on the SWs'.Tankee, Tankee. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
- TheEngineer - 04-24-2005
Hey skeet. Had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Auckland last week in Toronto. HE was promoting NZ, businesses and the wine regions. We had a couple to try including a nice 2003 Sauv Blanc. The few that I've tried, including this one, have a nice Guava flavor in them, very nice, especially since I love guava.
Unfortunately, did not win the case of the stuff that was being given away.
- Skeeter - 04-25-2005
Well, here's another SW for ya, WW. (Plugging my work once again, but they do good work. Although I couldn't work for a comapny that makes cheap plonk, so it's a win/win situation.) [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
2003 Matua Matheson Sauvignon Blanc
The newly released oak-aged savvie. Packs quite a wallop compared to most Kiwi SB's, with a hefty seasoning of oak. Maturing nicely, though. A creamy texture, pears and a little citrus, good length on the finish.
Not my favourite style of SB, but improves out of sight with food. (Even a slice of buttered toast a few nights ago.) I tried it with corned beef with a pile of mashed potatoes on the side. (You can tell I've got Irish ancestry somewhere back there, right?) A nice match, I felt.
And for the red drinkers:
2003 Matua Matheson Merlot/Cabernet
The first merlot predominant Matheson blend. Drinking beautifully right off the bat, with spicey plum and berry, a good belt of oak to back it up, smooth and more-ish. Gaining a lot of new friends at the cellar door since it was released. I see myself drinking plenty of this as winter closes in.
EDITed to add the link: http://www.matua.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/13
Tasting notes are out of date, but it's vintage time here. So it may be a while before they update.
[This message has been edited by Skeeter (edited 04-25-2005).]