On Jan 21, 3:56*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Pending a more complete description of our time spent in the Hunter
> Valley of Australia, here are a few notes on wines tried in recent days:
>
> With a dinner of duck (me) and venison (Jean) at the Panorama restaurant
> in the Hermitage in Aoraki Mount Cook National Park (NZ):
>
> 2008 Amisfield Pinot Noir (Central Otago)
> nose: sappy, bright red berry fruit
> palate: medium-light body, juicy, good acidity
>
> Light on its feet and very food friendly, this Pinot Noir definitely
> appealed to our sensibilities. *We've had a few other Central Otago
> Pinots that were much more extracted and oaky, so this one stood out for
> its restraint and delicacy.
>
> 2011 McGuigan Bin 9000 Semillon (Hunter Valley, Australia)
> nose: saline, citrus, seashells
> palate: light, high acidity, moderate fruit
>
> More about this later, but McGuigan styles their wines for earlier
> drinking than e.g. Tyrell's Vat 1. *This is a very appealing wine in the
> vein of Muscadet, Chablis and Riesling Trocken.
>
> Tonight, with dinner of venison (me) and lamb (Jean) in St. Clair, NZ, a
> suburb of Dunedin:
>
> 2010 Allan Scott Hounds Pinot Noir
> nose: sappy, piney, bright cranberry fruit
> palate: light, high acidity, deep fruit
>
> One lasting impression from my visit to New Zealand in 2001 was the
> sappy/piney impression left by most NZ Pinot Noirs, as well as their
> distinctly purple color. *This trip I still find that same character in
> the Pinots tried to date, though the color is more red than I noted
> previously. *Jean felt that this wine was an early quaffer, though it
> certainly took on more heft as the wine sat open.
>
> Mark Lipton

Did you have any Central Otago pinots you liked other than the Allan
Scott. Will be going next January.