categories
noted
Brand identification
Boxler 2009 Riesling Brand (Alsace) – A little sweet, a lot heavy, a fair bit... read more
Kruggerand
Krug Champagne Brut “Grande Cuvée” (Champagne) – Rich and heady, but... read more
Lhéraud less traveled
Lhéraud 1973 Cognac Petite Champagne (Cognac) – Forcefully classy. Like... read more
Rieston stop
Darroze “Domaine de Rieston” 1990 Bas-Armagnac (Southwest France) –... read more
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The Felton teen rabbit
Felton Road 2001 Pinot Noir (Central Otago) – This was a somewhat mistaken ager, in that I thought I was hanging on to one of the Block bottlings. Time has done nothing but weakened it, and while the fruit’s matured …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged central otago, felton road, new zealand, pinot noir, red, screwcap
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Neudorf on neugolf
Neudorf 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Nelson) – A somewhat metallic side of sauvignon blanc, ripe and a bit showy but still avoiding tropicality. Also a touch reductive, which may be the closure. (6/12)
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged nelson, neudorf, new zealand, sauvignon blanc, screwcap, white
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Cott in the crossfire
Brancott 2011 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – Neither the pyrazine fest it once was (granted, I’m sure what’s going into this wine now bears less than no relation to what went into it in previous decades) nor the sweet, soft fruit …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged brancott, marlborough, montana, new zealand, sauvignon blanc, screwcap, white
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Street splitter
Donaldson Family “Main Divide” 2005 Riesling (Waipara Valley) – Vivacious, and I mean that in more than one sense: there’s a ton of spritz here, which really livens up an otherwise directly, icily fruity wine full of green-toned sorbets. Developing …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged donaldson family, main divide, new zealand, riesling, screwcap, waipara valley, white
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On and on
Fromm “La Strada” 2002 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Very, very mildly corked, but the wine is so stubborn and the TCA so hesitant that there’s actually something worth drinking here. But keep that mitigation in context, please, as you read …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged corked, fromm, la strada, marlborough, new zealand, pinot noir, red
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Two to Onetangi
Onetangi Road 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Malbec “Reserve” (Waiheke Island) – After a picture of this half-emptied bottle hit Facebook, one friend asked me if what I was tasting was representative of Waiheke Island’s climate. My answer, then and now, was that …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged cabernet sauvignon, malbec, merlot, new zealand, onetangi road, red, waiheke island
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Kai Winn
Kaimira 2004 Gewürztraminer (Brightwater) – A pale shadow of its once-bright self, showing only the faint chew of skins and a bit of acrid walnut oil. (12/11)
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged brightwater, gewürztraminer, kaimira, nelson, new zealand, screwcap, white
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Back in Schwarz
Blackenbrook 2004 Pinot Gris (Marlborough) – Holding up well…so well, in fact, that I have fleeting regrets for opening my only bottle. Well, it’s New Zealand pinot gris, so one can hardly blame me for a lack of confidence. This …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged blackenbrook, marlborough, new zealand, pinot gris, screwcap, white
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Saula
Kathy Lynskey 2005 “Single Vineyard” Gewürztraminer (Marlborough) – Which vineyard is going solo here? Ms. Lynskey doesn’t say. But while Marlborough is not, historically, New Zealand’s premiere bid at spicy stardom, my long-standing argument – really, I’ve been on this …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged gewürztraminer, lynskey, marlborough, new zealand, white
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I once drank a wine named Maria
Villa Maria 2001 “Noble Late Harvest” Riesling (Marlborough) – 375 ml. Mixed apples, honeydew, and spikes – powerfully-hammered spikes – of acidity. Which are necessary, because the wine is intensely, almost neon-sweet, in a showily botrytized fashion. I think this …
Posted in tasting notes
Tagged marlborough, new zealand, noble late harvest, riesling, sweet, villa maria, white
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