This batch of pinot gris demonstrates how the variety has developed in the past few years from sweetish, fruity wines often hot with unbalanced alcohol to more interesting, textural wines with complexity from ageing on spent yeast lees or in oak.
BEST UNDER $20
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Good value
Suggestions of apples and pears with an underlying hint of toasted oats make for a simple but
attractive wine.
BEST UNDER $20
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Good value
After a while in the glass this developed lovely hints of pears, quince and ginger with nutty undertones. A well-
structured but reticent wine from the family-owned Cox vineyard on the
Gibbston Back Road that's worth giving time to open.
Four stars (out of five)
Good value
Hints of toasted nuts, biscuits and mineral meld with the underlying fruit in this flavoursome,
textural wine. A hint of sweetness but a dryish finish make it good with food.
Three stars (out of five)
Average value
A fruit-driven wine, fragrant with hints of pear and white peach, a suggestion of mineral and
a hot, dryish finish.
Three stars (out of five)
Average value
Zesty fruit hinting of pears and ripe peaches and a suggestion of oatmeal make this wine attractive
initially, but the finish is hot with slightly unbalanced alcohol.
Four stars (out of five)
Average value
Lush with ripe pear, peach, tropical fruit, zesty citrus and nuts, this delicious
late harvest, medium sweet wine has lovely intensity and a crisp, clean finish.
ANOTHER GLASS
Sacred Hill Halo Marlborough Pinot Gris 2010, $25
Three stars (out of five)
Below average value
A rounded wine with hints of pear, a creamy texture, hints of nuts and a firm, hottish finish.
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine tasting and evaluation is subjective. These are personal recommendations.
Two stars - simple, clean, enjoyable wine; three stars - good wine with varietal characteristics; four stars - very good wine with some outstanding characteristics; five stars - outstanding wine with balance and harmony that leaves you with a sense of wonder.
