Assorted Assortages

[Skeeter]

Popped into the N.Z Winemakers Center yesterday to sample their October tasting range. Here's what I scrawled into my new (And free!) N.Z Winemakers Center tasting notebook. (Thanks, guys!)

2003 Bortwick Sauvignon Blanc: Huge passionfruit aromas, extremely crisp and very, very drinkable. Should be an excellent summer wine. The winery is located outside of Masterton in the the Wairarapa. NZ$20.50 One I'll definately be taking to a few barbeques this Christmas.

2002 Sleeping Dogs Chardonnay: Plenty of oak in this one... An Otago winery, and a much different style of Chard than I'm used to. (Less butter, more mineraly according to the WMC guys.) I'd probably need to try this with food to know if it's really my thing, but not bad. NZ$21.50

2001(?) Mudhouse Pinot Noir: I neglected to note the vintage, but I'm almost sure it was an '01. Beautiful cherry-red color in the glass, subtle oak that wasn't overpowering in the least. Bootle notes mention red cherries, plum and spicey oak... I did pick the last one. From Marlborough. Could I drink this red? Oh, hell yeah. NZ$24.00

2001 Milton Merlot: From New Zealands only organic winery. A heck of a lot going in here. Tons of oak, very rich and too heavy for my palate. The bottle recommends decanting... I'd have to agree. Not really "me", I'm afraid. NZ$22.50

2001 Borthwick Cabernet/Merlot: Blackcurrant juice aroma, which I noted as "Ribena" in my book. Tasted pretty good on the first sip, but I did notice a fairly harsh aftertaste. Not overly complex, although the MWC guys did suggest it might mellow in another year or so. I'll stick with their sav. NZ$21.50

And finally, I popped the wine I'd been in a quandry about.

2002 Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Semmilon (Aus): And after all the wondering, i'm a shade undecided. Nice aroma and mouthfeel, but I buggered if I can describe what it tastes like. (Apart from a hint of buttery aftertaste.) I'll give it a cautious thumb up, although if anyone is holding a bottle in 10-15 years and wnats to change my mind, my door is always open. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

[winoweenie]

Nice notes Skeets. What is the exchange rate from NZ to US? ww

[Drew]

Two Kiwi's = 1 Eagle [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

1$ US = $1.62 NZ

Drew

[Auburnwine]

Except for Mudhouse (and Rosemount, of course), I've not seen any of those wineries represented in my little corner of the world. And the Mudhouse SB was a typically good NZ SB.