Bilancia, a small but perfectly formed Hawke’s Bay winemaker, sent me a vertical selection of Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio (the wine morphed from one brand to the other in 2006 without any significant change in stylistic direction) to demonstrate how well the wine responds to a little bottle age.

A tasting of the six wines proved their point. After nearly six years in bottle the 2004 vintage still looked pretty good (thanks to screwcap closures) although I must confess that I slightly favoured the fresher primary fruit flavours of the more youthful vintages (all are reviewed in my wine notes).

The tasting did raise the interesting style distinction between Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) recently conducted some interesting research after T’Gallant, a notable Australian Pinot Gris maker, asked if they could develop a scientific method of distinguishing between the Pinot Grigio and Pinot Gris styles.

Peter Godden, the man in charge of the research explained that they purchased a number of French Pinot Gris and Italian Pinot Grigio samples and set to work with a focus group to define the style. If I correctly recall our lengthy conversation on the subject the two styles were broadly defines as follows:

Pinot Gris: Richer, fleshier and more flavoursome, often with some sweetness balanced by fine tannins. These wines were probably picked from riper grapes and allowed to retain a modicum of residual sugar while still reaching reasonably high alcohol levels. Skin contact extracted tannins (and flavour) helping to balance the residual sugar.

Pinot Grigio: Lighter, drier, less flavour, fresher acidity and a more delicate texture with little evidence of tannins.

The researchers drew a scale of zero to ten points with a pure Pinot Grigio representing 0 and pure Pinot Gris (if either ideal in fact exists) as 10 on the scale. They plotted each of the wines tasted somewhere on the scale. I recall asking Godden of he preferred Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris. He answered that his ideal wine was aroung 3.5 .

They even programmed a rather clever machine to define Pinot Grigio-ness or Pinot Gris-ness by passing a light beam through an unopened bottle and analysing the result by computer. During their study they came across a winemaker who has bottled all his Pinot Gris on a single day but stored the resulting wine in two warehouses at slightly different temperatures. The machine was so finely-tuned it could determine which warehouse with unerring accuracy.

In this country almost all wine made from the Pinot Gris grape is described as “Pinot Gris” (rather than Pinot Grigio). The reason for that is simple. Pinot Gris has a higher perceived value to the consumer. Histocrically demand for Pinot Gris has exceeded supply so why discount the price by labelling a wine as Pinot Grigio?

However there are signs that supply may now have caught up to, even exceeded, demand. Expect to see a growing number of New Zealand wines labelled as Pinot Grigio – a brand extension which might delay a surplus of this popular grape variety.

Tim and Judy Finn celebrating 30 years of winemaking

I cannot think of another New Zealand wine producer that has been making top wines across their entire range as consistently as Neudorf over three decades. Chardonnay is the star with Pinot Noir, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc very close behind.

To celebrate this significant milestone Tim and Judy presented vertical tastings of selected wines over the last decade for their Moutere Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir.

Here is a brief summary of my tasting notes:

Moutere Chardonnay (08, 04, 02 and 99)

Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay is in a class of its own. It’s could easily be (and has frequently been) mistaken for Puligny Montrachet, or at least very good white burgundy. My favourite was the 2002. Not as powerful as the 04 or 08 but pure burgundy from head to toe and exhibiting real power with great subtlety. A truly beautiful wine. The 99 (the only wine under cork) was the least impressive and probably approaching the end of its life although still giving great pleasure.

Moutere Pinot Gris (09, 04 and 01)

I love the purity of flavour and textural qualities in all the wines. All showed a little sweetness but it was beautifully managed by sugar-coated tannins to give a drying, though not tannic, finish. There are also hints of spice – perhaps star anise? The 04 was my marginally top wine closely followed by the 09 with the 01 only marginally behind. All are under screwcap.

Moutere Riesling (09, 05 and 02)

I recall staying with Tim and Judy a couple of years ago when Tim served the 05 Riesling with dinner. I was profoundly impressed with the wine. Tim shrugged his shoulders and said “the current vintage (07) will be exactly the same with a bit of bottle age”. I bought a case.

The 05 was my favourite. It balances sweetness against beautiful fruity acidity achieving an exquisite, mouth-watering tension. I love it. Both the 09 and 02 showed similar characteristics – the 02 was still remarkably youthful.

Moutere Pinot Noir (08, 05, 03 and 01)

If Chardonnay is Neudorf’s top wine which is second, Riesling or Pinot Noir? It’s a hard call but I pick Riesling by a narrow margin although their Pinot Noir is a world class wine. I like the edginess of the Pinot – its hints of floral and vibrant acidity. When I first tasted this flight the 05 was a clear winner but as the wines sat in the glass the 08 opened up magnificently. Potentially I think the 08 will be a better wine but right now I still put the 05 slightly ahead. The 01 and 03 were lighter/more elegant styles with 01 my preference.

Neudorf's Moutere vineyard

I’m in Vienna attending VieVinum, an Austrian wine fair/symposium. I was intrigued to receive an invitation from “11 Women in Wine” to dinner at the well known Eisvogel (“Ice bird”) restaurant where they promised to offer the 11 best wines they have made in the past decade.

Eisvogel is in a large, ancient fair ground. We enjoyed an aperitif in a Ferris wheel dining car – the same one that featured in the film “The Third Man” – in fact the hero, Harry Lime, dies in a dining car in the final scene. Below is a photo of the dining car near the apex of the wheel with a close-up of a couple in the next car enjoying a romantic meal for two – actually there was (appropriately) a “third man” in their dining car.

 Spokesperson, Heidi Schrock, introduced the evening with a heart-felt speech about the history and objects of the group although put her foot in it slightly when she said with a final flourish, “enjoy the wine and enjoy the women”.

In fact I did very much enjoy the women all of whom seemed to be strong, passionate and as committed to the goal of producing great wine as they were to their own families. I asked the women at my table if it were possible to taste the difference between wine made by women and those with male makers. They responded by saying that modern winemaking equipment (the fork hoist was used as an example) meant that physical strength was no longer a prerequisite to becoming a winemaker. That had opened the door for women. They talked about the benefits of sharing ideas and even equipment within the group. One woman said that a thesis had recently been written proving that wine made by women did indeed differ from that made by men. She promised to get me a copy.

Women are far more nurturing than men and as wine requires a fair bit of nurturing in vineyard and winery it seems entirely feasible that they wine they produce may reflect that.

One thing is certain. Women winemakers enjoy themselves and party harder than men winemakers.

The eleven women are show in the photo. Their names are (from left to right):

Michaela Ehn, Helma Muller-Grossmann, Sylvia Heinrich, Birgit Braunstein, Heidi Schrock, Silva Prieler, Jutta Ambrositsch, Judith Beck, Petra Unger, Ilse Maier and Birgit Eichinger.

I’ve just returned from a visit to the Barossa Valley, always a great pleasure, to research an “wine trail” piece for the Air New Zealand in-flight magazine, Kia Ora. I took a number of pics to illustrate the piece. I confess to getting more pleasure from seeing my photos in print than my words so I’ve posted a fairly pictorial piece with the “best of” from the ten wineries visited. I’ve also added a memorable wine from each.

YALUMBA

Most memorable wine (there were many): Yalumba 2008 Bush Vine Grenache A$20 – Elegant, taut red with subtle spice and a silken texture. This is poor man’s Pinot Noir. A great buy at this price. Also loved Pewsey Vale 2004 “The Contours” Riesling and Eden Valley 2009 Viognier (Yalumba is Australia’s best Viognier maker by a long way from whoever comes second).

ROCKFORD

Grant Burge - the man behind the label

Visitors (mostly Kiwis) enjoying lunch and a glass or threeTasteful cellar door entrance

Classy cellar door entrance

Most memorable wine: Eight Songs 2004 Shiraz A$40 

Rich, opulent Shiraz with a seasoning of French (rather than American) oak. Classy wine with a backbone of firm but very ripe tannins.

HENSCHKE

Hill of Grace vineyard - Shiraz vines planted before 1860!

 I took this photo on an earlier visit. It was close to sunset and a beautiful pink light tinged the vineyard shortly before I clicked the shutter. Photoshop unnecessary.

Most memorable wine: Henschke 2005 Hill of Grace Shiraz A$510  It is worth very penny.

 

 

 

 

SALTRAM

Mamre Brook house - built in 1844, subsequently enlarged

Most memorable wine: Saltram 2005 The Journal Shiraz A$125  First release of a new flagship wine that’s aged in large vats rather than barriques. Dense sweet fruit with layers of dark berry, spice and bitter chocolate flavours. Linear and potentially very long-lived. Think of Penfolds St Henri and amplify slightly.

TORBRECK

Winemaker Graig Isbel

Torbreck’s legendary founder, Dave Powell, was overseas when I called but I’ve enjoyed company of this wild man in the past. His latest exploit happened in a restaurant in Finland at the end of a long evening. The restaurant had a branding iron that they use to burn their logo onto various things. Powell and his distributors were in a relaxed mood and, yes, you’ve guessed it, he agreed to be branded on his bum. Silliest thing he’s ever done, he later admitted, but he’s become something of a hero in Finland.

Most memorable wine: (I didn’t taste the flagship wine RunRig on this occasion) Torbreck 2006 Les Amis A$187.50  Old vine Grenache – exquisite aromatics and a great texture. Very complex with layers of ripe berryfruit and spice flavours.

THE WILLOWS

Peter Scholz - owner, viticulturist and winemaker

I warmed to this powerfully built and sharply intelligent man. Liked his wines very much. They offer great value.

The Willows 2006 Semillon A$14  My kinda’ Semillon – taut, fine-boned, edgy wine with chalky mineral and apple flavours. Unbelieveably good value.

The leftovers

I’m writing this in my room at the Hilton Hotel in Singapore after a challenging day tasting 27 Bordeaux reds from the 2005 vintage followed by 24 tannic samples of Barolo, mostly from the excellent 2004 vintage.

Both tastings were part of the World Gourmet Summit, an annual orgy of fine wine and food organised by the eponymous Peter Knipp. It’s a great event attracting many of Singapore’s serious wine enthusiasts plus a number from beyond Singapore’s shores.

I can confirm that 2005 was indeed a great Bordeaux vintage. If I could fault a fairly faultless year it would be that a number of wines appeared slightly over-ripe but that’s a minor quibble.

I appear to be, rather scarily, in the Parker camp by giving a nod to the garagiste wine, Valandraud and endorsing Parkers passion for Pavie. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I bare my soul and reveal my pecking order with scores. My apologies for the formatting of wines and scores.

96   Château Valandraud

96   Château Pichon Baron

96   Château Reignac

95   Château Mouton-Rothschild

95   Château Domaine de l’A
95   Château Pavie

94   Château Cos d’Estournel

94   Château Le Bon Pasteur

94   Château Léoville Poyferré

94   Château Pichon Comtesse

94   Château Haut-Condissas

93+ Château Beychvelle

93+ Château Haut-Marbuzet
93   Château Haut-Brion

93   Château Lascombes

92   Château Talbot

92   Château La Mondotte

91   Château Pape-Clément

91   Château Canon

90   Château Angelus
90   Château Rauzan-Ségla

90   Château La Tour Carnet

88   Château Smith Haut-Lafitte

88   Château Haut-Carles

87   Château Haut-Bailly
85   Château Beauregard
84   Château Malartic-Lagravière

A wine drinker's beer

They say it takes a lot of beer to make wine. Beer sales must certainly rise during vintage when winemakers gather with their fellow winery workers at the end of eachlong, hard day. What brand of beer do winemakers drink? In Australia Coopers Pale Ale is a clear favourite. It’s harder to pick a favourite in this country.

Keith Galbraith, owner of Galbraith’s Brewing Co., was a winemaker before he became a brewer. Keith hasn’t substituted his love of wine for a love of beer – he loves and understands both. Anyone who enjoys a pint or three of English bitter must visit Galbraith’s Alehouse (in the unlikely event they haven’t done so already) at 2 Mt Eden Road, Auckland.

Keith’s justifiably proud of his recently released Munich lager. To make it he imports malt from the Czech Republic and whole hops from Germany (Keith holds the only licence to import whole hops in this country – other breweries use hops processed into pellet form which Keith believes results in a loss of essential oils). Keith also replicates the water used by breweries in Munich.

The result  is a full-flavoured lager with plenty of hop influence and a hint of malt. The flavours are delicate and intense at the same time while the lager finishes with a satisfying hint of hoppy bitterness. The cost is a reasonable $13-$14 for  a 4-pack.

Keith Galbraith - a brewer who loves wine

Aurum vineyard in Central Otago

UK wine writer Tim Atkin MW is a definite inclusion in my list of the world’s top five wine writers. He’s extremely bright, very competitive and is a tireless traveller in the world’s wine regions. He’s a great wine taster with an ability to communicate his impressions clearly and effectively.

When Tim took me to task for describing Central Otago as the world’s most southerly wine region I didn’t argue. Patagonia in southern Chile, he explained, was further south. It’s been two years since we had that conversation and I’ve made no claim of Otago’s southerly status since.

Today I downloaded the latest version of Google Earth and was messing around with the new features when it occured to me that I could easily check how much further south Patagonia was than Central Otago. It was a simple matter to find a list of Patagonian wineries and select the one, Vina Canata, that claimed to be the world’s most southerly winery. It’s located to the north of the Bio Bio Valley. Google Earth pinpointed it’s southerly latitude at 36 degrees 47 minutes. I then found Black Ridge winery in Alexandra, the most southerly district of Central Otago. Its southerly latitude is 45 degrees 16 minutes – significantly further south than Vina Canata which, according to my calculations using Google, is on about the same latitude as Auckland.

That’s it then, Central Otago is the world’s most southerly wine producing region and is likely to remain that way unless someone in Chile figures out how to grow grapevines in permafrost … or someone pinpoints a flaw in my calculations.

Monty - top dog at Dog Point

Last weekend I attended a relaxed lunch at Dog Point, Marlborough’s hottest new (well, new-ish) winery partnership between ex Cloudy Bay winemaker James Healy and ex Cloudy Bay viticulturist Ivan Sutherland. The al fresco lunch was prepared by the dynamic duo Al Logan and Steve Brown from Wellington’s Logan Brown restaurant.

We kicked off with a glass of Roederer Cristal before moving on to Dog Point 09 Sauvignon Blanc, 08 Section 94, 08 Chardonnay and 08 Pinot Noir (that’s their complete range – why don’t more wine producers “stick to the knitting” rather than try to boost sales by adding more wines to their list).

Every wine impressed. Section 94 is appealingly funky without going over the top, the 09 Sauvignon is certainly one of the best I’ve tasted from the vintage, similarly the 08 Chardonnay - just tasted in my current review of NZ Chardonnay where the second bottle (the first was corked) scored 93 points and the 2008 Pinot Noir is an absolute knockout – clearly the best so far from Dog Point. I plan to formally review the Pinot Noir at some stage (I don’t make notes at lunch)  and also to buy a case.

The food was equally impressive. We started with salmon and cucumber sandwhiches, fantastic Bluff-type oysters (from the Marlborough Sounds) freshly shucked by Logan Brown head chef Shaun Clouston who told the Marlborough Express: ”he had been trialling oysters farmed by Marlborough’s Bruce Hearn on and off since about September last year and his customers “loved them”. “They are a beautiful oyster. They look like a little shell, but when you open them up they are a big oyster. “I could sell them all (10 dozen) on the same day.” He said some diners even preferred them instead of Bluff oysters. Mr Hearn has been experimenting with commercial oyster farming in the Sounds for some years. The same species is harvested under quota from Furneaux Strait and near Nelson. He has successfully trialled harvesting with a mussel harvester to get round the problem of build up on the farmed oysters.

Mr Clouston said fresh oysters from Bluff and the Sounds were like comparing “apples with apples”, but he reckoned the Marlborough ones were superior to Bluff pottled oysters. “If I have a choice between a (pottled) Bluff oyster and a Marlborough oyster I would take Bruce’s 10 times over.”

As a fully paid-up card-carrying member of the oyster lovers club I totally agree with Shaun’s comments. If you’re serious about oysters – try them!

We then had the Logan Brown signature dish, Paua fritters. I’ve eaten a lot of Paua but have never had it this good before. It’s worth buying Al Brown’s book “Go Fish” just to get the recipe (I did).

Entree was half a crayfish with a knockout sauce. Main was perfectly cooked venison with various salads. Dessert was passion fruit ice cream between two wafers (we called it an icey slicey when I was a kid).

Altogether a fantastic day which will be repeated next year and should not be missed!!

Dog Point winemaker, james Healy with (unusually) an empty glass

Marlborough sunset from Ivan Sutherland's house

Enjoying lunch

Patrick Hurley - importer of Santa Ema

Visited today by a gentleman from Chile bearing half-a-dozen bottles of wine under the Santa Ema label. Patrick Hurley travelled from Chile 14 months ago leaving his wife and daughters behind (he brought his son with him) to import and distribute a range of Chilean wines from one producer – Santa Ema.

That’s a daunting task given the recession, wine glut and cheap image of Chilean wines in this country (an image that’s incorrect but not undeserved given the labels that have tried and mostly failed here).

Santa Ema has 500 hectares of own vineyards and (significantly) no growers. It has a state-of-the-art winery that I think I visited during a whirlwind visit to Chile many years ago (couldn’t find my notes to confirm I’d seen it).

We tasted a selection of reds only in two price categories: Barrel Select (Syrah, Carmenere and Cab.Sauv./Merlot) at $19.95 and Reserve (Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) at $24.95. I also tasted a stonking $49.95 Cabernet Sauvignon that was well worth the money. Santa Ema makes a flagship $99.95 range which weren’t offered to me.

The bottom line …

All of the wines were well made showing good varietal character and clearly offering good value. Best value by far was Santa Ema 2006 Barrel Select Syrah. For a mere $19.95 this dense wine is packed with pure, bright plum, berry and spice flavours. It’s deliciously drinkable now but shows every sign of being able to age very well indeed.

Te Mata's deco-themed offices

Te Mata winemaker, Peter Cowley, dropped around with samples of their latest release wines. It’s easy to become dazzled by flagship Coleraine and ignore some of the other wonderful and often innovative wines in their range. Te Mata quietly makes a number of truly outstanding wines, relying on word-of-mouth and critic endorsements rather than wine shows for promotion.

Quality appears to be as high as ever for most wines in their range and yet the price of some have been cut back in the last year or two. Elston Chardonnay has throttled back to a competitive $33 ($29.90 at Glengarry) from $38 while Woodthorpe Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Gamay Noir, Syrah and Merlot Cabernet offer great value at around $21 (some are available at $17.90 through Glengarry). Glengarry are offering Coleraine for $64.90 by the bottle or $59.90 by the case in an advert today that shows the RRP as $80 (the winery are selling it for $69 by the bottle or $62 by the case) while Caro Wines have it for $59.99 per six bottles (may be a mixed half-dozen).

I’ve listed all releases, with scores, on my database but here are a few brief comments on some of the highlights:

Cape Crest 2009 Sauvignon Blanc $27 (diam) Gently aromatic wine with a wonderful texture and mouth-feel that reminds me of a good white Bordeaux. Oak is evident but it works well. Classy dry white wine that’s a snip at Glengarry’s price of $23.90 (if I seem to be favouring Glengarry it’s because their prices are listed as the lowest on www.wine-searcher.com ).

Woodthorpe 2008 Chardonnay $21 (screwcap) This is a classy little Chardonnay at a great price ($17.90 at Glengarry). Attractive grapefruit and mealy lees flavours with a seasoning of spicy oak.

Elston 2008 Chardonnay $33 (diam) A burgundy look-alike with mineral, grapefruit/stone fruit and toasty oak characters. Restrained, elegant wine with subtle power.

Zara 2009 Viognier$27 (diam) Te Mata pioneered Viognier in this country. Rich, fleshy wine in a totally dry style (many are not dry) with layers of apricot, lees and subtle spicy oak flavours.

Woodthorpe 2008 Syrah $21 (screwcap) Includes 5% Viognier. Deliciously spicy, supple easy-drinking red with lovely berry and floral flavours. Cracker value$17.90 at Glengarry).

Awatea 2008 Cabernets/Merlot $33 (cork) Dense wine with plump, sweet fruit flavours including berry, plum, floral, tobacco and bay leaf. Very approachable wine offering excellent value$29.90 at Glengary).

Coleraine 2008 ($ see above) Has there ever been a more deliciously approachable Coleraine? This many not appeal to the purists, who should spend their money on the more typical 2007, but I love it the wine’s bright, berry fruit, floral and spice flavours. Supple, elegant wine that will age well despite it’s present approachable nature.

Te Mata's talented winemaker Peter Cowley