Brighton Club

Tasting on Tues 5 Feb with Bruce from Eurowines. Interesting mix of N.Z. European and Spanish wines with a Seresin Olive oil taste in between the whites and reds.

Simonnet-Febvre Cremant de Bourgogne Brut NV from Chablis in France - non descript methode 80% Chardonnay / 20 Pinot Noir - lost the bubbles in a few seconds - could have been the glasses though.

Willm Reserve Riesling 2006 from the French Alsace - dryish (7gms/l RS) Apricot / limes / apples but I think this is too young - needs another couple of years.

Wairau River Marlborough Riesling 2006 - nice Riesling - typical stone fruit and citrus, clean mineral acidity - again needs more time - preferred this over the Willm.

Torres Gran Vina Sol 2006 from Pendes in Spain - 80% Chardonnay and 20% Parellada, a variety I’ve never heard of - fermented separately and 6 mths lees aging then into Limousin oak. A bit flowery in the nose, but the fruit flavours (peach?) and oak balance well. Not my kind of Chardonnay though!

Te Mata Estate Woodthorpe Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2006 - nice wine as usual - great fruit concentration and oak balanced well, hint of Malolactic from barrel fermentation and lees - elegant finish, nice weight in the mouth.

Stonecroft Serine Hawkes Bay Syrah 2005 - lovely dense colour, almost ruby but lighter it’s Aussie cousins. Black berries and plums - velvety tannins - ncely balanced wine.

Torres Nerola Syrah 2005 again from Penedes in Spain - 80% Syrah / 20% Monastrell (Mouvedre) more raspberries and cherry in this one - mix of oak barrels contributing toast, mocha and vanilla. Nice wine….

Finished off with a Lustau Pedro Ximenez Sherry - licorice / black / raisins / sweet as…. Delicious.

Olive Oils from Seresin were Organic Extra Virgin: Plain, lemon and lime infused - wonder if the pepper finish and sharp flavours hadn’t dulled the palate for the reds though.

Liquorland Top 100 Tastings

Recently attended 2 tastings at Cellarmasters - Top 100 - a selection of the Gold Medal winners (10 whites and 10 reds) followed by another evening  where we were able to a taste of all the Top 100 Trophy winners.

When I get some more time I will post the list and some tasting notes. In the meantime here is the sie with all the winning wines. Top100

Value for Money Wines

Back at Cellarmasters now for the usual Wednesday Tasting. Braddon picked 9 wine for us to try blind, some we couldn’t pick.

Omaka Springs Marlborough Pinot Gris 2006 ($1 Church Road Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2006 ($20)
The Crater Rim Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006 ($29)
Domaine Esparanza Cabernet Sauvignon / Carmenere ($12)
Serenata Nero D’Avola Sicilia 2006 ($14)
Climbing Orange Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 ($20)
Thorn Clarke Shotfire Barossa Shiraz 2005 ($26)
Bremerton Langhorne Creek Selkirk Shiraz 2005 ($2 Lincoln Ice Wine (Semillion  / Gewurztraminer) 2004 ($22 - 375ml)

All great wines but the Serenata completely stumped everyone - My picks of the night were the two Aussie shiraz - just love the stuff…

Torlesse Tasting

NBWC hosted the winemaker from Torlesse Wines in Waipara who gave us some background info on the Torlesse Winery and the opportunity to taste some of their range.

http://www.torlesse.co.nz/

Omihi Road Waipara Sauvignon Blanc 2006 ($18.50)
Torlesse Canterbury Riesling 2006 ($16.50)
Omihi Road Chardonnay 2003 ($20)
Torlesse Waipara Cabernet Merlot 2003
Torlesse Waipara Pinot Noir 2006 ($20)
Torlesse Reserve Tawny Port ($25)

Nicely made and well priced wines - my faves of the night were the Savvy and the Pinot Noir.

NZ Syrah Tasting

Very nice New Zealand Syrah Tasting at Cellar Masters last wednesday - Most from the Hawkes bay except the Man O’ War from Waiheke, but all with very different characters.

Red Rock ‘The Underarm” Syrah 2005 ($23)
CJ Pask Gimblett Road Syrah 2005 ($27)
Tinpot Hut HB Syrah 2006 ($30)
Gunn Estate ‘Silistria’ Syrah 2005 ($32)
Alan McCorkindale HB Syrah 2006 ($40)
Stonecroft HB Syrah 2005 ($40) 
Man ‘O War Dreadnought Waiheke Island Syrah 2005 ($46)
Vidal Reserve HB Syrah 2004 ($57)
Sacred Hill ‘Deer Stalkers’ HB Syrah 2004 ($60)
(RRP NZ$)

Value for Money for me was the Gunn Estate and Favourite of the tasting was the Sacred Hill.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Tonight we had the opportunity to tast8 wines a little out of the ordinary.

Kahurangi Nelson Gewurztraminer 2004 ($22)
Giesen Adams Block Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005 ($24)
Pikes Clare Valley Riesling 2004 ($24)
Te Mata Woodthorpe Hawkes BAy Gamay Noir 2007 ($20)
Heron’s Flight Matakana Sangiovese 2003 ($20)
Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2003 ($26)
First Drop “TheBig Blind” Nebbiola Barbera (Adelaide Hills) 2005 ($2 First Drop ”Mothers Milk” Barossa Shiraz 2005 ($28) 

NBWMC Tasting - NZ vs Aussie

Tues 3 July: Tonight we tasted and compared a range of wines from NZ and Aussie - Presented by Alexis Goodman and Jake O’Connor - Wines provided by Hemmingways.

All wines marked out of 3 for colour, 7  for bouquet and 10 for taste.

Lindemans Bin 95 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (Aus) 11.5
Matua Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc (NZ) 16.0

Lindemans Premier Selection Reisling 2006 (Aus) 16.0
Shingle Peak Marlborough Reisling 2006 (NZ) 15.0

Wolf Blass Gold Label Chardonnay 2003 (Aus) 15.0
Matua Eastern Bays Chardonnay 2005 (NZ) 16.5

Ingoldby McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004 (Aus) 16.5
Matua MAtheson Syrah 2004 (NZ) 12.5

Annie’s Lane Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot 2002 (Aus) 17.0
Matua Matheson Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon (NZ) 14.5

So all in all some interesting comparisons between similar but in some case quite different wines a Tasman apart. Aussie beat NZ 75.5 to 73.5 with the big reds being the decider. Fave on the night Annies Lane 02 Cabernet Merlot.

NBWMC Tasting - Around the World in Eight Wines

Tasting on the 5th June - Wines of the World, predented by Paddy Holder and Hemingways Fine Wines.

An interesting selection -  I hadn’t heard of the Front Row Chardonnay before but didn’t find it all that brilliant. The Albarino was a great wine from Spain especially as I had not sampled any Albarino before (Favourite white on the night).

I had previously tasted the Casa de Maule wines at Cellarmasters so knew what to expect there - fab wines at a great price but the Montepulciano was the pick of the reds and in fact the best of the tasting.

Whites: 

Martini Asti D.O.C.G. (Italy)
Tin Pot Hut 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (NZ)
Front Row Canterbury Chardonnay 2006 (NZ)
Martin Codax Albarino 2005 (Spain)

Reds

D’Autrefois Pinot Noir Vin de Pays D’OC 2005 (France)
Valle Reale Vigne Nuove Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2005 (Italy)
Casa de Maule Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Chile)
Casa de Maule Carmenere 2005 (Chile)