This tasting includes four single vineyard wines from Grant Taylor's Valli label. With more than 20 vintages in Central Otago, he knows each sub-region well and his wines reveal their origins if you taste carefully.
A couple of pinots from Waitaki revealed more complexity than in previous years, showing the benefit of vine age as the North Otago vineyards gain maturity.
BEST VALUE
$20
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Good value
A young wine that takes a few minutes to reveal its concentrated cherry fruit, savoury undertones, hints of dried herbs, and its dry dusty finish. It's rare to find a wine of this quality at this price.
www.finewinedelivery.co.nz
$26.50
Three stars
Average value
A simple wine with attractive spicy fruit suggesting plums and a hint of charred oak. Easy and drinkable with a crisp finish.
www.saintclair.co.nz
$30
Four stars
Good value
An attractive wine from a Bendigo vineyard, with lots of spicy, ripe red and dark fruit supported by toasty oak, but with a underlying hint of savoury dried herb and mineral and a long, soft, textural finish.
www.waiparahills.co.nz
$49
Four stars
Average value
Bright red fruit with darker, savoury undertones, even beginning to suggest hints forest floor, supported by lots of toasty, spicy oak, a silky texture and fine, dusty tannins on the long finish.
As the vines get older the Waitaki wines are showing more complexity, and will reward bottle
age.
www.pasquale.co.nz
$65
Four stars
Below average value
Perfumed and concentrated, oozing fruit, with hints of dried herbs, spice and licorice, toasty oak and a lively, long aftertaste. A young wine, it takes time to open in the glass and will reward a few years bottle age. This is Grant Taylor's this 20th vintage in Otago - he grew up in the Waitaki at Kurow.
$65
Four and a half stars
Average value
The Bendigo Vineyard pinot is a new addition to Grant Taylor's impressive collection of terroir-driven Otago wines. Seductive, with lovely silky red fruits, hints of mineral, dark chocolate and underlying savoury notes, supported by spicy oak, this is a lively, beautifully balanced wine, its power and concentration disguised by its charm.
ANOTHER GLASS
Valli Bannockburn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010
$65
Four stars
Below average value
Typical of Bannockburn with lots of dark cherry, hints of greywacke, spicy, toasty oak and a lively, tingly finish with fine, dusty tannins and a long aftertaste, this wine is young and already delicious but will repay a couple of years bottle age.
Valli Gibbston Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010
$65
Four stars
Below average value
Of all Grant Taylor's impressive single-vineyard sub-regional Otago pinots, I always think the Gibbston has the most charm and individuality. This hints of spiced beetroot and dark cherries, with a hint of wild thyme, new leather, mineral and dark chocolate, with an elegance and lively, lingering finish. A lovely wine that will show its true potential with a a few years more bottle age.
www.valliwine.com
