Spent a few hours at the New Zealand Wine Growers tasting today in London. It was great to see so many winemakers and punters there, but it did make it very hard to concentrate on tasting.

One of my highlights – and there were a few – was this Chardonnay from Mountford Estate in Waipara. They [...]]]>

Spent a few hours at the New Zealand Wine Growers tasting today in London. It was great to see so many winemakers and punters there, but it did make it very hard to concentrate on tasting.

One of my highlights – and there were a few – was this Chardonnay from Mountford Estate in Waipara. They are imported into the UK by Hallowed Ground.

Mountford Estate Chardonnay 2008 Waipara
Complex, restrained, nutty, minerally and bready. It has rich, bold fruit, but it’s also superbly elegant and shows great acidity, despite all the concentration of flavour. A thrilling wine, although at a suggested retail price of £37, it isn’t cheap. 95/100

Californian wines are somewhat under-represented in the UK. Here are a couple of impressive Sonoma Chardonnays that I liked quite a bit, and which show restraint, balance and complexity.

Marimar Estate Son Miguel Vineyard Chardonnay ‘Acero’ Unoaked 2009 Russian River Valley, Sonoma 13.5% alcohol. Powerful and rich textured with pear and peach fruit as well as a [...]]]>

Californian wines are somewhat under-represented in the UK. Here are a couple of impressive Sonoma Chardonnays that I liked quite a bit, and which show restraint, balance and complexity.

Marimar Estate Son Miguel Vineyard Chardonnay ‘Acero’ Unoaked 2009 Russian River Valley, Sonoma
13.5% alcohol. Powerful and rich textured with pear and peach fruit as well as a nice spicy freshness. Really intense and crisp but with delicious richness, too, showing apricot and pear notes on the lush palate. Brilliant example of unoaked Chardonnay at its best. 92/100

Schug Carneros Chardonnay 2009 Carneros, California
14.5% alcohol. Tight, fresh and intense citrusy fruit is very bright with a hint of peachy richness. Firm, spicy supporting oak with some toasty notes. Some oily richness on the finish. Powerful yet aiming at restraint. 90/100 (£16.99 Marks & Spencer)

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Caught up with Tom Carson today, over lunch with him and Robin Davis of SWIG. He’s winemaker at Mornington Peninsula winery Yabby Lake, which is one of Australia’s new stars. We looked at the 2009 releases, which is the second vintage Tom has made, and the first where he’s been involved all through the [...]]]>

Caught up with Tom Carson today, over lunch with him and Robin Davis of SWIG. He’s winemaker at Mornington Peninsula winery Yabby Lake, which is one of Australia’s new stars. We looked at the 2009 releases, which is the second vintage Tom has made, and the first where he’s been involved all through the growing season.

I think these are quite special wines. Just Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are made, in an exceedingly elegant, understated style. Tom aims at tight wines with low alcohol (the top Chardonnay is just 12%), and works with a range of clones (7 of Chardonnay, 10 of Pinot Noir) and lots of small vineyard blocks to fashion thoughtful, complex, elegant wines.

The entry level Red Claw wines are quite serious and very well priced. The Single Vineyard and Single Block wines (one of each for both varieties in the tricky 2009 vintage) both represent significant steps up in terms of intensity and focus. I really liked the Single Vineyard Pinot Noir and the Single Block Release Chardonnay, but all the wines are full of interest.

You can read more about Yabby Lake in this article I wrote last year.

This is an interesting wine. You wouldn’t expect to find this in the UK, such is the small scale of its production, but Sam Harrop brought me back a bottle from a recent visit he made to New Zealand, which was very thoughtful of him.

It’s from Kennedy Point, in Waiheke Island – an interesting place [...]]]>

This is an interesting wine. You wouldn’t expect to find this in the UK, such is the small scale of its production, but Sam Harrop brought me back a bottle from a recent visit he made to New Zealand, which was very thoughtful of him.

It’s from Kennedy Point, in Waiheke Island – an interesting place for growing wine grapes, it seems. (See my report on a visit there last year.) And it’ an intriguing wine: initially, it seems quite simple, but after giving it a bit of attention, all sorts of interesting facets start to emerge. Production is organic.

Kennedy Point Cuvee Eve Chardonnay 2009 Waiheke Island, New Zealand
A textural Chardonnay, showing elegant peach, pear and melon fruit with a hint of toastiness, and some fine, spicy, structural elements. Combines richness of texture and ripe fruit with elegance and refinement. The fruit sweetness is offset by delicate citrus notes on the finish. I really like it. 92/100

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I’m a great fan of taking time to get to know wines. Most of the wines featured here on this blog have been drunk, as opposed to those brief sniff and slurp encounters that happen at large tastings – where the palate is often physically fatigued, and where there can be significant carry-over effects from [...]]]>

I’m a great fan of taking time to get to know wines. Most of the wines featured here on this blog have been drunk, as opposed to those brief sniff and slurp encounters that happen at large tastings – where the palate is often physically fatigued, and where there can be significant carry-over effects from the wines preceeding.

So it’s been fun to spend a few nights with this pair of Hamilton Russells. They are among South Africa’s most celebrated wines. Pinot Noir, in particular, hasn’t found many vineyard sites in the Cape where it can deliver. But Hamilton Russell have developed quite a reputation for theirs. The 2008 is a difficult wine to assess: on a previous occasion I rated it lower. But spending some time with it, I think there’s something interesting here. The Chardonnay is fantastic, and I’m pleased that independently, six months apart, both times I have rated it, the score is the same.

Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay 2009 Hemel en Aarde Valley, South Africa
13% alcohol. Beautifully complex Chardonnay. Pithy, fresh and citrussy with some white peach and pear fruit, as well as aromatic honeysuckle and nut notes. There’s also a bit of wood spice. Lively, concentrated and intense with tangy lemon and grapefruit freshness. Drink now, or leave to mellow with age. 92/100

Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir 2008 Hemel en Aarde Valley, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. Pale cherry red colour. Fresh, savoury, spicy nose with some hints of earth and roast coffee. Quite tight, and perhaps a little reduced. The palate shows bright, fresh berry fruits with green sappy notes, and some stern grippy, savoury structure. A fine expression of Pinot that avoids over-extraction but needs some time to shed its savoury youthfulness. Evolves nicely over a couple of days. 91/100

UK agent: Hallgarten Druitt

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Sometimes the hierarchy of Burgundy vineyards can be a bit of a problem. It magnifies the label effect: when critics see the name Grand Cru on a label, it usually adds points to the score. It’s hard for them to break the hierarchy and give better scores to wines from more lowly vineyards. Here’s a [...]]]>

Sometimes the hierarchy of Burgundy vineyards can be a bit of a problem. It magnifies the label effect: when critics see the name Grand Cru on a label, it usually adds points to the score. It’s hard for them to break the hierarchy and give better scores to wines from more lowly vineyards. Here’s a really super Bourgogne from Sauzet. It this was from New Zealand or Australia, people would go nuts for it. But then the price is probably the same as a top example from these countries. Anyway, I liked it quite a bit.

Etienne Sauzet Bourgogne Blanc ‘La Tufera’ 2008 Burgundy, France
12.5% alcohol. Taut, full flavoured and quite sophisticated, this shows nice lemony fruit with some ripe cox apple notes, as well as just a hint of toast, as well as some minerality. It’s fruity and textured – not austere – but still has a lovely tight, savoury character. This is proper white Burgundy. 91/100 (£18.40 Tanners here, Winedirect.co.uk)

Following on from the spectacular Dog Point Chardonnay I reviewed a few days ago, here’s another superb New Zealand Chardonnay. It’s from Chardonnay experts Kumeu River in west Auckland.

Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2008 Kumeu, Auckland, New Zealand 13.5% alcohol. Taut, intense, citrussy nose with toast and herb notes. Very tight-wound with real focus. The palate [...]]]>

Following on from the spectacular Dog Point Chardonnay I reviewed a few days ago, here’s another superb New Zealand Chardonnay. It’s from Chardonnay experts Kumeu River in west Auckland.

Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2008 Kumeu, Auckland, New Zealand
13.5% alcohol. Taut, intense, citrussy nose with toast and herb notes. Very tight-wound with real focus. The palate shows some sweet peachy characters plus intensely savoury citrus, toast and fig notes. Very crisp with high acidity and structured, pithy notes. Real potential for development. 94/100 (£20 The Wine Society, Berry Bros & Rudd)

Occasionally I taste a wine that takes me totally by surprise. Coming from celebrated Marlborough producer Dog Point, I was expecting this Chardonnay to be good. But not anywhere near this good.

Dog Point Chardonnay 2008 Marlborough, New Zealand 14.5% alcohol. Complex, beguiling, minerally, nutty, flinty nose with some richness but also lovely freshness. Concentrated, powerful palate [...]]]>

Occasionally I taste a wine that takes me totally by surprise. Coming from celebrated Marlborough producer Dog Point, I was expecting this Chardonnay to be good. But not anywhere near this good.

Dog Point Chardonnay 2008 Marlborough, New Zealand
14.5% alcohol. Complex, beguiling, minerally, nutty, flinty nose with some richness but also lovely freshness. Concentrated, powerful palate with lovely acidity. Fresh and mineral with citrus and spice notes, with incredible intensity. A thrilling expression of Chardonnay. One of the world’s greats. 95/100 (£18.50 The Wine Society)

Just the four of us for Christmas lunch this year. It was delayed: poor behaviour (don’t even ask!) meant that both boys were sent to their rooms, but then they got the message and, after this delay, we managed to eat together. Just two drinking, so it restricted the number of wines. Still, I’m curious, [...]]]>

Just the four of us for Christmas lunch this year. It was delayed: poor behaviour (don’t even ask!) meant that both boys were sent to their rooms, but then they got the message and, after this delay, we managed to eat together. Just two drinking, so it restricted the number of wines. Still, I’m curious, so I like to have a few bottles on the table even if they aren’t all finished.

It’s tough selecting wines for an occasion like this. You want something special, but special doesn’t always mean wildly expensive. So three bottles were opened, and all justified their presence, even if they weren’t all traditional picks. Two Champagnes preceded lunch, and they’ll be covered separately.

Stephane Tissot Savagnin 2006 Arbois, Jura, France
14% alcohol. This spends 30 months in barrel, and develops a Fino-sherry like ‘flor’ of yeast cells. Startling, volatile, lifted nose of apples, nuts and spice. Really complex and tangy. The palate is fabulously rich and complex with warm, broady, spicy flavours of cheese, herbs, nuts and vanilla. Finishes with a lovely salty, spicy length. Great wine: complex, alive and distinctive. 95/100 (£25 The Wine Society, UK agent Richards Walford)

Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru Moutonne 2004 Burgundy, France
13% alcohol. Young Chablis can be a bit boring, but this wine reminded me why it is worthwhile. Yellow colour. Complex honey, nut and citrus nose has some mineral freshness. The palate has lovely breadth and nuttiness, finishing nicely mineral. Complex and delicious. 92/100

Vina Leyda Single Vineyard Cahuil Pinot Noir 2007 Leyda Valley, Chile
14% alcohol. It may strike you as strange for me to choose a Chilean Pinot Noir on a special day. Well, it’s because Vina Leyda are making some superb Pinots – among them this beauty, from a west-facing site with low fertility, harvested at 4 tons/hectare (very low by Chilean standards). It’s a lovely wine, and getting better every year, so I’m going to buy some when the 2009 is released, because it’s even better. But this is pretty good. Bright red cherry fruit nose with some sweet berryish depth. The palate is focused and reasonably elegant with nice, pure, supple red fruits. The only slight downside is a rather stern green note in the background. Lovely purity and focus. 91/100 (£11.95 The Wine Society)