Clara gave me the idea of writing about the NZ wines I am amply sampling along the way. Will have to skip the first few days as all I can remember was a Sauvignon Blanc by Pegusus Bay which was lovely.
Anyway, tried a Blanc de Noir Rose by Gossington Hall( lower South Island) the other night with my rack of lamb ( of course I was having lamb- see reference to my post regarding sheep ). The wine was very fruity, with a slight raspberry undertone. Visually it looked almost like fruit juice but it was not overly sweet. Probably 1 on the sweetness scale. It worked well with the lamb as the sweetness brought out the flavour of the meat without overpowering it. Would try it again in the right circumstance ( ok is there ever a wrong circumstance to drink wine? ). Would not work with a red meat though as too light weight.
Villa Marie Riesling 2008 from Marlborough . Riesling is apparently one of NZ's best kept secrets. It is not always very popular as it has a reputation as being too sweet ( hmmm I sound as if I have researched this ??) . I enjoy Riesling though and I found this particular Riesling is very palatable. It is off dry and medium bodied so those who do not like sweetness would probably manage this ok. Sorry just had to stop there to take another sip....ok...just one more....need to get this review right. It has a lime finish which I really had to think about, but it is definitely lime. Probably good for curing colds then !Won a gold medal at the NZ International Wine Show
Finally - Smokehouse Bay Pinot Noir 2008 from the Central Otago Area ( South Island too but lower down than Marlborough) . Central Otago is apparently the area for Pinot Noir . Read that in the paper here on the weekend- I am really not that clever. This pinot noir was gorgeous. Very silky - black cherry body. The label says it is mixed with wild thyme, rosehips and bush honey- how exotic. This wine is very drinkable on it's own.- perhaps that is the honey. No heavy tannin residue present . Would do well with barbecued meats but not heavy meats. Could probably serve with the right seafood dish. One of the loveliest Pinot Noirs I have sipped .
2008 was apparently a bumper crop in the wine industry here. It actually caused some serious problems for producers as there was such a flood of grapes available and with the recession just starting it dropped wine prices and put a number of producers out of business. They are predicting the same problem this year.
Cost is pretty comparable to home with the medium range running around $25.00 NZD per bottle. There are cheap and cheerful brands on offer for about $6.00 but I ahve given those a pass so far. Exchange rate is 1NZD = 1.33 CDN- US will be pretty close to CDN rate.
You should become a wine critic
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