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

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.

thanks for notes. Amisfield is one of the NZ PNs I actually sometimes see.
Look forward to Hunter Valley notes. I'll take a HV Semillon over a Barossa Shiraz any day!

"lleichtman" > wrote in message
...
On Jan 21, 3:56 am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
>>
>Did you have any Central Otago pinots you liked other than the Allan
>Scott. Will be going next January.


The Allan Scott is a Marlborough wine (and winery).

DaleW wrote:
> thanks for notes. Amisfield is one of the NZ PNs I actually sometimes see.
> Look forward to Hunter Valley notes. I'll take a HV Semillon over a Barossa Shiraz any day!

But what would you do with a Barossa Semillon? There are actually quite
a few made and some by good producers such as Torbreck. In my limited
experience, those wines are riper and more tropical than the typical
Hunter Valley version.

Cheers!
Mark Lipton

lleichtman wrote:

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

Not so far, Larry, but we've barely scratched the surface so far. Still
to come are Felton Road and Chard Farm, both of which have good
reputations. Martinborough (up near Wellington on the North Island) is
actually the source for the most appealing Pinot Noirs I've had from
here. Much more investigation needs to be done, though ;-)

Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
| lleichtman wrote:
|
| > Did you have any Central Otago pinots you liked other than the Allan
| > Scott. Will be going next January.
|
| Not so far, Larry, but we've barely scratched the surface so far.
Still
| to come are Felton Road and Chard Farm, both of which have good
| reputations. Martinborough (up near Wellington on the North Island)
is
| actually the source for the most appealing Pinot Noirs I've had from
| here. Much more investigation needs to be done, though ;-)
|
| Mark Lipton
|

Here's some help; http://cowa.org.nz/

and
http://cuisine.co.nz/cuisine.nsf/win...ral,pinot,noir


cheers greybeard