Assortages: Early June

[Skeeter]

Time for another selection of Wines of the Month from the N.Z Winemakers Centre. (And time for a new TN book... my first one is full!)

2004 Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc: Another year, another impeccably-crafted sav from Brent Marris. Huge, distinctly Marlborough-styled nose, tropical fruit flavours, less lemony than the '03 but with the same incredibly long finish. Big Ass Tick o' Approval. If I ever meet Mr. Marris, I'm going to buy him a puppy.

2003 Babich Riesling: Nice, slightly honeyed aromas. Very dry, with tons of lime on the palate. Should be an excellent meal-enhancer.

2002 C.J Pask Gimblett Rd. Chardonnay: A rich, buttery crowd-pleaser of a chardonnay. Smooth, long and could probably improve with a few more years cellaring. Willpower would be required for me, though.

2001 Corbans Private Bin Pinot Noir: Quite a light red to my taste. (One I would have picked as "my style" just a year or two ago... how times change, huh? [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img] ) Some nice tannins lurking in the background, though. I'm a little undecided on this one. (Someone buy me a bottle and I re-evaluate it...) [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

2002 Babich Quartet: A West Auckland Bordeaux-style blend? Yep, from a winery ten minutes drive from my door, even! (That I've never visited... lazy slacker that I am.) Merlot/Cabernet/Syrah/Malbec. Deep purple, almost black in the glass. Firm and juicy, lots of ripe plum, and very much "me". Add the NZ$20 price tag and we can add "Great value" to the list of things I like about it. (Time to seek out their cellar door, methinks.)

2002 C.J Pask Merlot: Fairly oaky, though smooth. I noted it as "not bad", but it kind of suffered after the Quartet. I'll reserve judgement on this one. (Doubly so as it probably needs a few years to develop fully.)


BONUS: The New Release of the Week from my weekend job at Matua Valley.

2003 Matua Valley Judd Chardonnay: Not as creamy as last years, but a year in the bottle and it'll probably develop a similar texture. Its relative youth allows plenty of fruit flavours to come through... including a nice citrus-y tang. No complaints, sir!

Next week... the release of our first Marlborough sauvignon blanc of the vintage... the Shingle Peak '04. (In a wine-and-oyster tasting, apparently.) I'm looking forward to the weekend. [img]http://wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[chittychattykathy]

Nice read!
Thanks, CCK

[Thomas]

Skeeter, those Babich products are good. What's the price, relative to our anemic dollar? Here, they are on the high side.

[Skeeter]

Well, according to an on-line currency convertor, the Quartet equates to US$12.54 a bottle. (I'm assuming I could pick it up a buck or two cheaper at the cellar door, though.)

Babich has always been a mid-to-low price range over here... although their "Patriach" top-of-the-range normally goes for around NZ$40/bottle

Here's a link to the Quartet: http://www.babichwines.co.nz/Default.aspx?instanceID=3543

[winoweenie]

Hey Skeets. The Babich sounds like me-own-style-'a-juice. Do you know if they are sending any over to the States?WW

[Skeeter]

Here's the list of U.S distributors from their website, WW.

http://www.babichwines.co.nz/Default.aspx?instanceID=3231

Don't see any in Arizona, though...

[Thomas]

ww, Babich has been on the East Coast for a few years--maybe not in your state.

[californiagirl]

WW- do you have any Cost Plus World Markets in Az? I e-mailed the broker on the Babich web site, and he said they should be carrying it. He said that the distributor is Young's Market Estate Group.

Broker's name is Barry O'Brein and his e-mail is selectbrokers@charter.net