On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:42:07 -0500, Mark Lipton >
wrote:

>Today, Ian and Jacquie Hoare arrived in Christchurch fresh from a trip
>to Thailand and accepted our offer of a room for the night. To
>celebrate, I made a paella Valenciana (or as close to it as I could
>come) and we opened a few local wines:
>
>NV Quartz Reef "Methode Traditionelle" (Central Otago)
>n: green apples, minerals
>p: crisp, fairly rich, fine mousse, fairly dry
>
>
>Ian said that this wine had a lot of Pinot Noir character, but later
>confessed that he'd known from the label what to expect. Quite a
>pleasant wine, but nothing profound.
>
>
>2009 Wild Earth Pinot Noir (Central Otago)
>n: dark fruit, spice
>p: decent acidity, medium body, soft texture
>
>I had purchased this wine on the recommendation of a local retailer who
>thought that it would comport with my tastes in Pinot Noir, and I opened
>it tonight to see if the winery would be worth visiting with Ian and
>Jacquie next week. While it was a bit darker complected and bigger than
>is my wont, it still bears more investigation ;-)
>
>With some cherries after dinner:
>
>2010 Clearwater "Sea View" (Hawke's Bay)
>n: cherries, stones
>p: off dry, balancing acidity, slightly tannic, clean finish
>
>Ian and Jacquie had brought this from their travels up North in NZ and
>quite a curiosity it proved to be! A late harvest Merlot with residual
>sugar, it was only moderately sweet and not at all Port-like, but quite
>good with the cherries and positively brilliant with some dark
>chocolate. Ian likened it to a vin doux naturelle from Rasteau.
>
>All is all, a very fun night was had of food, wine and great company.
>
>Mark Lipton
OK we offically envy you. and Hello to the Hoare's. . . . Hope things
are quiet in Christchurch during your stay. Do try to get to Dunedin
during your stay. marvelous place. Queenstown is nice but you may find
Wanaka to be quieter. (The drive between the two on the mountain road
is absolutely inspiring.)