1998 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth

Apricot hued, brilliant clarity with a fine, consistent mousse.  Red liquorice, almonds & stonefruit characters with smoke and mineral notes, quite fresh.  Palate displays strawberry, plums, succulence and full body with a grainy mouthfeel balanced by moderate freshness and acidity, complexity and long length.  Wine finishes with a peachy flavoured, slight tonic note, dry with a fresh tobacco character which points towards fine bottle maturation.  The tension between acidity, fruit concentration and extract suggest this wine has further potential to age gracefully in the cellar, indicators of a superior vintage.  One can only hope to eventually taste the 1998 Clos St Hilaire.

1999 Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Elisabeth

Pale orange, brilliant clarity, with a fine bead.  White chocolate, yeasty, strawberry soaked liquer expression, quite complex and savoury with underlying fruit. Palate displays apricots, richly fruited, ripe, round, soft structure, moderate acidity (however noticeably less than 1998 vintage).  Creamy finish with strawberry and rhubarb flavour, quite spicy with a lingering mineral note.  This wine lacks the succulence of the 1998 vintage, a hallmark of Billecart-Salmon, due to warmer temperatures experienced in 1999.  However, if you like ripe, full flavoured, softer Champagne styles than try the 1999 instead.  The soft, creamy and savoury complex expression indicates great drinking now with no further cellaring required.

2004 Hyde de Villaine Belle Cousine Merlot Cabernet sauvignon

Subtle brick red on rim, soft purple colour.  Bouquet is spicy with black olives, chocolate and meaty showing clear secondary development.  Palate displays moderate to high, fresh acidity, fine tannins, ripe, soft and long length, quite refined and well balanced structure.  On finish, dried herb, lavender with fresh lingering acidity, quite supple and integrated.  Drinking well now, with overall good complexity in a cooler climate style for Northern California, could go a further 3 years in bottle, likely to develop tobacco, leathery notes and further savoury characters if that is what you fancy from high quality, new world bordeaux blends.

This tasting occured 3 days after opening.  Sage/Eucalyptus complex, high toned, crushed berry note, dark roses and choc, moderate intensity and concentration.  Tannins are firm, with a medium body completed with dry, lead pencil shaving texture and stony character.

2007 Cristom Sommers Reserve Pinot noir

Red purple with bright orange rim.  Pure red cherry, almost baked fruit characters with cinnamon.  The bouquet is fragrant, with new oak, moderate fruit intensity and spice offering complexity.  The baked cherry, cinnamon complex, typical of Cristom Pinot noir's is evident and very attractive.  Sweet red fruit entry, new oak evident, followed by juicy, silky palate structure.  Full bodied, moderately complex and dry style.  Oak and acidity in balance, contributes to the length and back palate, spicy on finish and remains fresh indicating good balance of alcohol and acidity.  A further 2-3 years of cellaring will bring out more spice and silkier palate structures, the genorosity of fruit and complexity offer good drinking now.  This is first release of Sommers Reserve in the NZ market, in my opinion this wine offers better drinking now compared to the 2008 Mt Jefferson Cuvee.  The Sommers is vinified for much longer in barrel with considerably newer oak and commands a higher price point than Mt Jefferson.  We are offering both wines at the same price.  120 Bottles imported.

B Nash.

2008 Chateau Cabannieux AOC Graves

Pale straw in colour, well formed.  Pineapple and dried herbs, high intensity and freshness with a flintiness that adds complexity.  Full flavoured, pineapple followed by juicy, tautly structured moutheel, red apple in the background, hallmark ball bearing like tactile quality that lingers and certainly delivers the white bordeaux experience one appreciates from good Graves growers.

2008 Albert Ponnelle Reserve De La Chevre Noire Bourgogne Chardonnay Monopole

This wine displays great richness as it spends time in the glass, showing power and roundness of high quality.  Warmed butter, leek and potato springs to mind, suggesting time in barrel to eek out complexity of grape meets fermentation in good hands.  Tropical fruit flavours balanced by citrus and nutty flavours display an array of varietal ripeness, barrel influence and maturation.  This is wine that plays with you, biodynamically grown vineyards material, practiced by the Albert, the grandson of grandfather Pierre Ponnelle, a chap who experiemented and first understood the process of fermentation with Louis pasteur.  Respect.

Ferreira, established in 1715, is the leading brand of Port in Portugal and pioneered the production of high quality red wines in the Douro, of which their famous Barca Velha was the prototype in 1952.  Until 1987, Ferreira was owned by descendants of Dona Antonia, but the company now belongs to  Sogrape alongside Sandeman, Forrester & Co & Framingham.   

Ferreira - Quinta do Porto - 10 year old

Light red, dark orange tawny hue. 

Attractive, complex bouquet, quite a powerful statement from this property.

Bright strawberry aroma, tertiary characters evident from ageing, showing oak derived nuts & leather. 

The palate is long and fresh with moderate intensity, rounded structure with a fresh tobacco flavour, precise acidity with a generous amount of flesh on its bones.

Bright red and purple, soft rim with some brick colour evident.  Savoury entry, cinnamon, baked plum with spices.  Palate is layered, showing liquorice, plums, concentration from extract, driven by the acidity and alcohol in tango.  Grainy tannins, dry with a silky long palate.  The wine is highly complex, very fragrant and concentrated.  If you are into florals, smoke, bacon & earth characters in your Pinot noir, this wine has them all.  Drinking well now.

2007 Chateau Lauduc Classic

moderate intensity, woodsmoke,

2007 Innocent bystander Shiraz Viognier

Bright, purple with youthful intensity and moderate depth.  Fragrant, with espresso and black pepper notes.  Clean with moderate intensity of fruit.  Doris plum note develops, with some time in the decanter, attractive flavour that lingers on the palate.  Medium tannin weight, with a soft, silky and taut palate structure.  As the wine develops in the glass, blue berry fruit expresses the varietal character of Syrah in a warm climate style with a sense of chamomile, perhaps from the Viognier.  This is a classy example of Syrah from the Yarra Valley, where the fruit is generous, spicy and silky without the sweetness of high alcohol and the wine is in better balance for it.

2006 Domaine De L'auriere Muscadet Sur Lie

Cepage: Melon de Bourgogne

Straw coloured with a pale apricot hue to the rim suggesting extended skin contact prior to fermentation.   Musk and perfume of medium intensity with freshly ground nuts, lightly baked.  Moderate alcohol and acidity in a dry, fresh and complex style.  Nose going citrsuy in the glass with a touch of honey.  The palate structure is moderate in length, dry and textural on the finish.  Lees ageing adds complexity , with a grainy mouthfeel and moderate fruit concentration.  The wine is showing some tertiary characters, evident by colour and nutty complexity from bottle ageing.  Fruit concentration is balanced with fresh acidity, the wine suggesting no further bottle age is required. 

Marry with all types of seafood or chicken dishes.  Perfect, simply with a bowl of brazil nuts and mixed olives.

2007 Mt Rosa Reserve Pinot noir

The new reserve in two glances:

First

A leap out of the glass aroma, tar and boysenberry which is kept in check by a salty wet-granite minerality. As it opens in the glass I'm reminded of spices -which I daresay is the presence of some considerable new oak that I really look forward to seeing once this wine reaches a venerable old age. Confirmation of dark fruits hits my palate -which is also supported by the new oak; rolling along into the spectrum of spices again -those barkspices like tamarind and cinnamon. I'm reminded powerfully of the childhood scent-memory of an orange studded with cloves. On the finish I nod quietly to myself, safe in the comforting realm of very ripe omega plums.

Second

This wine absolutely rests on an incredibly intense acidity which almost insists my palate seeing the flavours in terms of citrus, but which -as I acclimatise myself to this vigourous and energetic filly- is more like that feeling of smokiness of a good dried apricot -or an extremely intense dark plum. The tannins have woekn up in their chair in the corner (where I imagine they've been dozing like Grandpa) bringing to my palate that almost peachskin furriness of copious and infallably ripe tannin. I sip at the last half drop from the glass, nodding in the confirmation of a cool-tea flavour of savouriness, and tannin.

2005 Chateau Tour Sieujean

Lifting the glass from the tabletop I sense such suppleness in the aroma I dash about Ambeli shutting down the gas-fire, opening the door, anything to freshen the room and give aid to capturing the character of a Pauillac layered with inexhaustible subtleties. The aroma allures me with my beloved pencil shavings, and I recall powerfully the fragrance of the dried olive leaves burned for incense as I stood at the marriage altar with my wife, Elisavet. The palate is supported generously, but not tightly, nor in the least bit aggressively, with a stoniness -which reminds me of the saltiness of creme fraiche. The fruit characters here are those of an aged dark-fruit chutney -when the vinager and acidity have all merged into a sum greater than the components. The finish is long, ever so savoury, and so cooling I'm thoughtful almost of spearmint. The tannin is savoury, not grippy, but fatty -like eating a coldcut of roast lamb from the larder. Drink this because you are alive.

Nose develops beautiful waxy, honeyed floral aromas. Already very expressive (it was bottled in July 2007), it displays a rich, velvety palate, with a firm long finish. Acidity is high, so it feels very dry, but like all 2006s Riesling, there is no green/grassy flavour.

I tasted the 09 Greg not long after bottling at the Merchant of Taupo Trade show. The intensity, balance and freshness inspired me. I woke up again to Marlborough Sauvignon blanc after the oh so neutral 08's we had been subjected to. Beutifal grass and meadow notes, lovely weight on the palate.

Stonecroft are one of the original growers on the Gimblett Gravels in Hawkes Bay. This wine tasted in Nov 2008 diplays dense ruby colour with aroma of olives and touch of mint and intense background notes of berry fruit followed by integrtaed tannins and the Ruhanui trademark long and persistent finish.

Deep, Bright, Red. Pungent, highly complex bouqet evokes cherry-cola, blood orange, fresh flowers and minerals. Almost smells like a Burgundy and an awfully good one at that. Supple Red Berry preserve flavours and enlivened by juicy mineralityand picks up a wild smoked meat quality on the finish. Very impressive

The intensity of perfume notes are highly distinctive of this grape variety.  Jasmine, roses and complex aromatic fruit quality are characteristic of Alsace Gewurztraminer.  Luscious, round and fleshy fruit structures are balanced with elegant acidity and a touch of lees inlfuence which gives an oily texture across the palate.  The fruit is sourced from the Kuehn family vineyard, all handpicked and selected from the Top Cuvee.  The Kuehn family have been growers in Alsace since 1675 and are a benchmark for other growers of aromatic varieties.

Fruit was de-stemmed only and fermentation was carried out after 2-3 days of pre-fermentation, cold maceration. Held on skins for 7-12 days the wine was pressed to 30% new and 2-year old French oak. The wine was prepared for bottling after 11 months to preserve freshness and intensity of fruit.

Blueberry, dry cherries and subtle spices are the major hallmarks of Frankland River Shiraz. The tannins are gentle with persistence supporting the acidity and oak.

Drink With:

Roast Lamb and mild cheeses.

Conditions leading up to harvest were ideal for Chardonnay with moderate temperatures, cool nights and below average rainfall.

Fruit was hand picked, whole bunch pressed fermented with natural yeasts and aged in new and 2 year old French oak for 8 months with 80% malolatic fermentation.

Aromas of citrus and melon and the palate is soft and plush with a cleansing acid finish. Flavours of lemon butter complement the fruit and there are gentle spice and oak hints to add complexity.

Drink With: Poultry, game, blue cheese and fish dishes.

2008 was a cool dry harvest with low to moderate yields. The resulting wines have very intense flavours and soft, gentle acidity.

Fruit was harvested at night and gently de-stemmed. Only the free run portion of the juice was used for this wine. Natural yeasts combined with, long cool fermentation at 10-12oC ensured that the essence of the fruit was captured.

Citrus blossom, quince with lively limey acidity. Bright and fresh with a long dry finish.

Drink With: Thai, seafood dishes.

The 2007 harvest was warm and dry. Resulting wines have dried herbs and lifted spicy aromas with soft

tannins and a tight core of fruit.

Fruit was harvested at night, de-stemmed, and transferred to stainless vessels from 3.5 tonne capacity.

Fermentation was started immediately and the wines were held on skins for 7-10 days then pressed to new and used French oak. The wine was prepared for bottling after 11 months in oak to preserve the sweet tannins and plush texture.

Atypical Margaret River characteristics of dried herbs, red berries and dark chocolate. The Shiraz addition has added velvety tannins and black spices.

Drink With: Beef pie, shanks and full-bodied pasta dishes.

The 2007 season was warm and dry.  Resulting wines have dried herbs and lifted spicy aromas with soft tannins and a tight core of fruit.

Fruit was harvested at night, de-stemmed, and transferred to stainless vessels. Fermentation was started immediately and the wines were held on skins for 7-10 days then pressed to new and used French oak.  The wine was prepared for bottling after 11 months in oak to preserve the sweet tannins and plush texture.

This wine shows characters of sweet plum with typical Shiraz spice

Drink With: Beef pie, shanks and full-bodied pasta dishes.