…says the ex-pat…!!!
Guys, you are pushing the edge…Christmas is going to be soooooooo boring.
I opened a 2012 Ati Rangi for some work colleagues last week since it was the only bottle I had in my office. I was really surprised how open and fruit-forward it already was for being such a recent vintage. Seemed somewhat one-dimensional though. It was my first foray into NZ pinots.
Shame you missed out when you were here Doug. Let us know when you are coming back and we’ll tee up something up for you.
2012 was not the easiest of vintages. However, as is often the case in Martinborough, some of the least heralded vintages turn out very well several years later (7-8 years), especially for the AFWE. Also, the point of Helen’s mini vertical was that vintage matters greatly. 2013 will be quite a different story.
Andrew,
I appreciate the invite. Next time!
Cheers,
Doug
Great notes. Sounds like a great day.
I was in Martinborough last week and visited Escarpment, Ata Rangi and Dry River. I also tried to visit Martinborough Brewing, but despite the ads I saw they aren’t open yet.
I really enjoyed the barrel samples Larry so kindly shared with my wife and I. Would have loved to procure all the SVD Pinots, the SVD Chard and the PInot Gris, but had to settle for bringing home only two. Will definitely keep my eye out for these wines in the US.
Ata Rangi did not move me in any way and I did not purchase any. I agree with AaronE on the 2012 PN. Felt the same about the 2013 Crimson PN.
Really enjoyed my visit at Dry River. Wilco was very accommodating and a great host. We tasted the Syrah, Gewürztraminer, 2012 PN and 2013 Chard. Really enjoyed all the wines and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Syrah. We left with a bottle of the PN and Chard. Wilco was kind enough to give us the remaining 4/5ths of the PN bottle he opened for the tasting. I’ll look for these wines in the US, but I may be reluctant to buy more merely because I can find great OR PN and Chard for less. I’ll wait a few years to see how they develop to see if I should change my tune and pony up for more.
I miss NZ already. Beautiful country.
You’ll find that the opinions about Dry River are quite divided amongst us (see discussions here Consistently NZ's best pinot noir ... ? - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers). They certainly have a distinct style and they are very consistent. Blind it’s never difficult to pick among other NZ wines.
I hope you did some cycling while you were here! The Martinborough area is great for road cycling even though the real thing is really MTB of course.
Thierry
Scott - I’ve often enjoyed the Dry River Syrah more than the Pinot Noir. Nice that they put on a tasting for you. Do you have access to the Dry River wines in the US?
Thierry - interesting thoughts on Dry River in that thread. Obviously I’ve only tried the 2012 PN, but my experience did not match those who felt it did not show PN typicity. Perhaps the cool 2012 vintage or a change in winemaking? For me I found it more interesting than the ATa Rangi, but I much preferred the Escarpments.
Normally I travel with my bike, but I promised the wife I would not bring it on this trip. Really wish I had it while in Taupo (was there during the Lake Taupo Cycling Challenge ride/race) and in the Coromandel. The roads in the Coromandel were the windiest and some of the steepest I’ve ever seen. Would have been fun to ride on them, but I would have been dead tired after all the steep inclines.
Rauno - I was impressed by the DR Syrah. I own too much new world Syrah and the wife wanted the PN or else I may have bought the Syrah. I have not seen DR or Escarpment in the Seattle or Portland markets, but Larry and Wilco both pointed me to their US distributors and a few wine shops in San Fran. I’ll likely visit SF in the Spring so will try to track some down. If pricing is not too crazy, I’d like to acquire more Escarpment.
I’d love to visit the South Island soon and hit Central Otago. As an aside, I was super impressed with the NZ beer scene. A bit pricier than US craft beer, but I really dug Liberty, Behomoth, Garage Project and Parrotdog to name a few. On the hoppy beers, I thought they were better than many of the U.S. craft beers.
My take on the lunch wines.
2011 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes
Light Gold. Some white florals, minerals and salinity with a very slight honeyed character. Nice herbal infusion character. Good combination of unctuosity and tightness. Not a big wine but with legance and purity. The mid-palate has some weight and concentration. Clearly the vintage speaks of restrain and acidity. Good balance.
2010 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Les Forêts
Yellow fruit with minerals and dusty soil. Rich and layered. A bit of lemon and sea breeze. Fresh and racy mouthfeel. Great purity with grand cru weight. Not at all typical of a Raveneau foret. We all think this is showing quite a lot of fruit and ripeness, maybe as a result of more skin contact.
1997 Neudorf Chardonnay Moutere
Showing plenty of evolution with its deep gold colour. Plenty of complexity here with nutty character, dry fruit and autumnal aromas. Very rich and evolved, some say oxydised beyond redemption. Oily complexity on palate and finishes on a slightly caramelised touch. Some of us are heading for Burgundy.
2002 Giaconda Chardonnay Estate Vineyard
Less evolved than the previous wine but clearly with some age. Showing secondary and tertiary character with nuts, rich and sweet fruit with a slight honeyed touch. Larry gets this immediately. This is a very elegant wine form a warmer climate. Developing gracefully. Impressive.
2011 Domaine Michèle et Patrice Rion Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Terres Blanches
Great freshness; this is tight, mineral and focused wine. White flroral lift (in retrospect the influence of Pinot Blanc it seems) with chakly creaminess. To me this comes across as Chablis. 10% pinot blanc. Racy and focused. Quite a discovery.
1999 Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Rugiens
Beautiful bouquet of iron, red florals, warm earth and savoury fruit. Rusty character in a very appealing way and clearly expressive of its place. Great concentration, fruit weight and structure. Still in its primary phase with rich fruit and tight focus.
1999 Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Épenots
Big fruit with a touch of macerated and roasted fruit. A much broader and more extracted expression than the de Montille. On palate this has a slight lactic character again suggesting a very extracted style of winemaking. It suffers in comparison to the crystalline purity and clarity of expression of the de Montille.
2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers
Fragrant red and dark fruit with savoury character. Showing some evolution with sous-bois character. Pure elegance and clarity. The second encounter with this wine in a few weeks and this is again showing very well.
2009 Domaine Anne Gros Echezeaux Les Loachausses
Not easy to place. Quite medicinal; seems over-ripe if not a bit raisiny. Some brett: to some at an acceptable level; to others too much. There lots of fruit but the wine is in a strange place. The sweetness and weight of the fruit is not integrating with the secondary developments as the fruit dries out a bit and some savouriness starts to appear. It could be the bottle; it could be the phase in the development of the wine, which, in retrospect and seeing the other 2009s perform seem to suggest, the phase.
2008 Geantet-Pansiot Charmes-Chambertin
Mature nose with potpourri flowers and red fruit. Sweet fruit with underbrush. Good balance and complexity. This is open and approachable and the revelation is a bit of a surprise.
2009 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne
Darker more extracted and roasted character with some savoury brett. The sweet fruit seems to recede under the drying effects of brett. Another 09 that seems to be in a strange place. Is it closing down?
2006 Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Poissenot
I brought that out immediately to compare with the 2008. This shows savoury red fruit. It is fragrant and open. Quite acidic in its structure (the mid-palate tightness of the 06s) but also quite extracted with big fruit. Quite surprisingly open. Distinctly showing the house character with its generosity, openness, weight and concentration and an appealing degree of rusticity. A visit at the estate in June impressed us. These two wines suggest the nature of the appeal.
1988 Domaine Lejeune Pommard 1er Cru Les Argillières
Showing plenty evolution and orange bricking on what is a very lightly-coloured wine. Good savoury and lifted character: 100% whole bunch. Great acidic backbone, vibrant palate and plenty of weight. The name (Argillières) speaks of clay in the soil: it seems to show on the roundness of the tannins and its mid-palate weight. An elagantly matured wine which is satisfying.
2004 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale
Dark fruit with a slightly herbal and vegemite character. This has sweet fruit with quite soft tannins and plenty of spices, and slight touch of tobacco. Showing some of the 04 character but not in an intrusive character. A wine with some power and elegance.
1991 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
This wine requires some serious sensory re-adjustment. This has some lifted fruit with smoky and stalky character and slight meaty character. Warm soil and lots of spices. Plenty of concentration and fully resolved tannins. This is to be at its apex but in no hurry to drink.
2009 Thibault Liger-Belair Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas
Seems initially reductive with plenty of toasty. A sweet front palate opens unto plenty of sweet and compact fruit. Several of us picked this as a new world wine. Like the other ‘09s, this needs lots of time.
2009 Domaine Dujac Bonnes Mares
Quite lifted and perfumed but in great part an artefact of oak vanillin. Also some reductive character. Good weight of fruit and plenty of structure. Quite high tone. 100% whole bunch and 100% new oak. This is very primary with big fruit. This is needing a lot of time. An instructive wine to taste.
2007 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Ruchottes-Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes
Beautifully matured: Perfumed and sweet. Pot pourri and savoury fruit. Quite rich. Plenty of fruit and great balance between sweetness and structure. This is elegant and open. A totally satisfying wine. In comparison (and going back to it), Les Cazetiers is grippyer and has more of the ferral Gevrey character.
2005 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala
Another wine requiring re-adjustment but some were ready to bet the house this was Burgundy. Perfumed, with red florals and fresh cherry fruit. Very primary but more approachable than other 05s I’ve had. Beautiful sweet fruit. Despite tannins and tightness, this has great balance and is very promising.
2007 Domaine Fourrier Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combes aux Moines Vieille Vigne
Dark and slightly savoury fruit with deep dark floral perfumes. A cool but expressive wine. Plenty of fruit on palate; it even seems quite extractive in style but there’s perfect balance. The cooler site is showing in the darker fruit and in the cool and crystalline character; this makes this a very elegant wine. Good balance of tannins and acidity.
2010 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières
Chardonnay with nice lifted minty and linden tree infusion character. Tight mineral core with plenty of weight and precision. I tasted this 18 months ago at the Estate and this is developing some weight while keeping the precision and focus of the vintage.
2012 Kusuda Pinot Noir
Beautifully complex nose if a bit subdued. Floral lift with dark cherries and savoury plum. Rich and sweet fruit but not a blockbuster wine. A very good wine for the vintage with trademark Kusuda purity and elegance.
2008 Kusuda Pinot Noir
In comparison, this is much more expressive and bigger. Just like Helen showed us with Ata Rangi, the 2008 vintage characters are apparent: the fruit is juicier and fuller. This is showing secondary characters of savoury fruit, with supple tannins. Just like Howard, I prefer the 2012 on this showing. But then it’s getting late in the day.
Scott, I’m another one who has long considered the Syrah Dry River’s best wine.
I understand that Wilco is leading some regime change from Dr Neil McCallum’s previous style and I suspect that was what you were seeing, more than the effect of vintage. The negative comments about Dry River in the other thread reflect the older style, that certainly divided tasters. I have not tried the 2012 Dry River however.
Cheers, Howard
Great tasting notes Andrew, Howard and Thierry. An ataboy to you all. Long live the Morey 4.
Cheers
Nick
Sounds like a great day, the Martinborough winemakers I’ve met in the past have all be wonderfully engaging people, I’ll happily grab a plane up next time one of these is planned. CC me in.
Hi Brian, thanks, I’ll bear that in mind. These lunches are becoming more popular, particularly among the winemakers! You’d be most welcome, space permitting! I was talking with John and Hiro about visiting them and possibly lunch at John’s place, maybe March/April next year.
Cheers, Howard
What does the group think the prime drinking window is for the top end Martinborough PNs? The 2011 Escarpment Kupe PN I brought back said could drink for up to 10 years. Best to drink in that time frame or worth holding out longer? TIA.
I’d say 5 to 10 years from vintage would be optimal (2016-2021). My own preference with that wine is usually about 7 to 8 years from vintage. But I would not be worried about keeping it longer. That wine is built with plenty of structure and stuffing.
Thanks, Thierry. Need to track down more in the US so I can track the evolution.
Scott, my view differs a bit from Thierry (and others in the gang no doubt) because I like mine older. I would say top drinking starts from around 8 years old, and because winemaking and vines are still improving that number is likely to increase for new vintages.
Scott, it’s personal preference and partly risk management, but I’d probably be more with Rauno than Thierry. I’m trying to protect my few remaining '04-'06 Martinborough wines to see how they’re going in a couple more years. One exception is '07. Those wines are tannic beasts and need 10 years minimum.
Cheers, Howard