Some fine pinots turned up for this tasting, ranging from graceful and charming to big and concentrated but also charming. Most will develop with another few months or a year in bottle.
BEST VALUE
Four and a half stars (out of five)
Good value
A charming wine with spicy oak, velvety fruit hinting of plums, cherries and dark chocolate,integrated with savoury, schisty undertones, a firm structure and long, satisfying finish. Superb Bannockburn pinot.
BEST VALUE
Three and a half stars (out of five)
Good value
A lighter style of pinot from a vineyard above Alexandra, with stylish red fruit, that developedmore charm and depth the day after it was opened. Spicy oak, hints of chocolate, a velvetytexture and firm, dusty tannins.
Well worth cellaring for a few more months.
Four stars (out of five)
Average value
The second vintage from a vineyard on the Wanaka Road, this wine hints of plums and spicewith savoury undertones and toasty oak, silky tannins and a lively, firm finish.
Four and a half stars (out of five)
Average value
This is a big wine, perfumed and spicy with mineral and savoury characters addingcomplexity to the opulent fruit, supple tannins and a fresh finish.
Hugely attractive and worth cellaring too. From the close-planted vineyard at the Cromwell entrance to the Kawarau Gorge.
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Three and a half stars (out of five)
Average value
Perfumed, rich juicy fruit, supported by spicy oak with hints of toffee, a velvety texture and attractive, balanced finish. Worth another few months in the bottle.
Four and a half stars (out of five)
Below average value
Concentrated with a rich, velvety texture, lots of spicy oak and dark fruit lifted with a hintof mint, dark chocolate all integrating nicely now, with an underlying firm structure and silky, fine grained tannins. Delicious now and will develop with more bottle age.
ANOTHER GLASS
Fromm Fromm Vineyard Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007, $69
Four stars (out of five)
Below average value
A mature wine, mellowed and complex with underlying hints of mineral, slightly earthy andsavoury characters, the fruit well integrated with spicy oak, and a vibrant finish.
Fromm Brancott Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008, $46
Four stars (out of five)
Average value
Plums cherries and spice with savoury hints, mineral undertones and a crisp finish. This textural wine is mellowing and drinking nicely at present. Fromm now has QR-codes on its bottles which you can scan with a smart phone to get website information quickly.
Handy in a shop if you're not sure about a wine.
Craggy Range Aroha Martinborough Pinot Noir 2009, $100
Four and a half stars (out of five)
Below average value
Already complex with lively hints of cherry plum, pepper, toffee, spicy oak, spruce and a silky texture. There's an exciting, vibrant edge but it's seamlessly structured and beautifully poised, like a ballerina effortlessly performing a pirouette. Still young, it will develop even more charm with another year or two in the bottle. A wine for collectors in a hefty bottle with a punt almost halfway to its cork.
• 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.
Although wine sent for review is tasted blind to eliminate preconceptions, all wine tasting and evaluation is subjective. These are personal recommendations.
