Regular gathering of a group that likes to match bottles looking for an
occasion to be opened with good food. No specific theme this time
around.

1996 Lanson Gold Label Brut Champagne - apple nose, initial soft
entry quickly switches to a juicy acidic finish - quite tasty.

with smoked goose liver canapés.

2003 Vergelegen Flagship White - the top white from this Cape
producer, blended from Semillon and sauvignon blanc. This was a dead
ringer for a Bordeaux! Long clean finish made it a nice foil for the
food:

with mussel soup.

2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir (Otago)- an amazing show from this wine!
Bright colour, big sweet nose of violets and cherry, great
concentration in the mouth, more dark fruit than red ones, with very
good length. I don't think this wine will improve, but it should hold
for some time. I wish the pricing was a bit more favourable.....

with wild mushroom ragout in potato nests.

1983 Ch. La Lagune - I have a couple of these left in the cellar, and
have been drinking them before the longer lived 1982, but hadn't
tasted one in awhile, so I looked forward to seeing what the wine was
doing. It had a quintessential Bordeaux nose, the tannins now resolved,
and was smooth and pleasurable. If you have them, don't hold them
much longer, but this drank very well!

with lamb and rosemary sausage on a bed of puff pastry and oven dried
tomatoes

1980 Sassicaia - my contribution, chosen because it was my last
bottle and was a lesser vintage that I had been keeping around for the
purposes of doing verticals. After my vertical last year, there was no
reason to keep it on hold, so I brought this and the next wine, not
expecting too much from the 1980. It turned out to be one of those nice
surprises. Garnet colour, quite good, really. Good nose, no tannin,
some acidity, with some flavour interest, obviously old, but
nonetheless surprisingly elegant and alive. It would have served well
on its own in other circumstances. It was a better bottle than the one
I opened for my vertical last Fall.

1981 Sassicaia - I had been worried about this vintage when planning
the vertical, but was quickly disabused of any risk of it being in its
dotage once we tasted it, so I wasn't worried this time. Although the
colour showed a bit more brown than the 1980, the nose was deeper and
more complex with dark fruit and vanilla, and the tannins more
prominent. It was brighter on palate with less acidity, and excellent
length.

1996 Argiano Solengo - this Tuscan winery doesn't produce a lot of
this - about 500 cases in this vintage, and seems to vary the blend
every year. This time around it was cab, sangiovese, merlot and syrah,
but other years it can be all sangio/syrah, or have some cab added.
Sweet oak nose with spicy berries, then quite dry in the mouth, with
seemingly less tannin than the 1981 Sassicaia! Good length and low
acidity. I have a few of these in my cellar and will now move them up
from the 'hold' to 'drink' status, but there is no rush at all,
as they should last many years.

with sage stuffed pork chops

2000 Albert Mann Altenbourg Pinot Gris Vendage Tardive - we like to
experiment with whites with cheese rather than reds, as they often work
better and are affected less by the cheese. This wine was middling pale
yellow, had a noticeably botrytised nose, with peach notes, a rich
entry and middle, and medium dry finish. This wine is all about
balance, and Man's wines represent much better value than the top
Alsatian producers in many instances. Years to go with this wine.

Next gathering of this group will be an anti-Sideways dinner featuring
merlot based wines.

2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir (Otago)- an amazing show from this wine!
Bright colour, big sweet nose of violets and cherry, great
concentration in the mouth, more dark fruit than red ones, with very
good length. I don't think this wine will improve, but it should hold
for some time. I wish the pricing was a bit more favourable.....

Bill
Had Akarua Pinot Noir 2003 on Friday. Identical tasting note.
agree on price GBP17, but I suppose streets ahead of a village Burgundy at
17 quid.

Akarua is just around the corner from Felton Road and I was really taken
with their chardonnay. I thought the 2004 Pinot was a little austere.
FWIW, had a great lunch at Akarua.

John

"Bill Spohn" wrote in message...

> 2002 Felton Road Pinot Noir (Otago)-
> an amazing show from this wine!
> Bright colour, big sweet nose of violets and cherry,
> great concentration in the mouth, more dark fruit than
> red ones, with very good length. I don't think this wine
> will improve, but it should hold for some time.

> I wish the pricing was a bit more favourable.....

Which of FR's Pinots did you have, Bill? And may I be as bold as to inquire
just how much one would pay in Canada?

Felton Road is one of Central Otago's "older" vineyards [planting started in
1991!!!!!] - the home [Elm's] vineyard being divided into blocks, according
to slope, soil type etc.

Thus, Felton Road produced three Pinots, two single Blocks, labelled #3 and
#5, and a third simply labelled Felton Road Pinot Noir, an assemblage from
all other Estate owned and leased vineyards.

Block #5 is a bit of a brooding overstated wine, which takes a little time
to blossom; while Block #3 is more of a "less is more" type - more stylish.

The "Estate" Pinot is a sexy bitch - if this was a woman, you would want to
rush it off to bed!

Felton Roads wines will never be the cheapest of Central Otago's wines -
they are small and are steadily building a fine reputation, while there is a
veritable flood of Central wines coming on to the market over the coming
years.

--

st.helier

It was the estate - at about $60 Can.!

"Bill Spohn." wrote.............

> It was the estate - at about $60 Can.!
>

How do I say this nicely. H-O-L-Y S-H-I-T !!!!!!!!

Bill, CAD1 = NZD1.20 (in round figures)

Felton Road's Estate Pinot Noir retails here for around NZ$40-45.

(For this exercise I shall use the higher figure)

The NZ retail includes GST (12.5%) together with NZ Excise Tax and Levies
totalling approx. NZ$4 per bottle, making a tax-exclusive *retail price* of
NZ$31.50.

Assume a retail margin of 25% and allowing a little for domestic
distribution and we would be talking about an ex-winery price of about
NZ$24.

This equates to roughly CAD20 ex winery.

How the hell can the retail price in Canada be CAD60?

Considerable State Sponsored price gouging????

--

st.helier

"Bill Spohn." wrote.............

> It was the estate - at about $60 Can.!
>

How do I say this nicely: H-O-L-Y S-H-I-T !!!!

Bill, let me play around with the numbers.

CAD1 = NZD1.20 (in round figures).

Felton Road's Estate Pinot Noir retails here for around NZ$45-48.

(For this exercise I shall use the higher figure).

The NZ retail includes GST (12.5%) together with NZ Excise Tax and Levies
totalling approx. NZ$4 per bottle, making a tax-exclusive *retail price* of
NZ$38.50.

Assume a retail margin of 25% and allowing a little for domestic
distribution and we would be talking about an ex-winery price of about
NZ$30.

This equates to roughly CAD25 ex winery.

How the hell can the retail price in Canada be CAD60?

Considerable State Sponsored price gouging????

--

st.helier

117% Gov't mark-up on wines in B.C.
D

st.helier wrote:

> "Bill Spohn." wrote.............
>
>
>>It was the estate - at about $60 Can.!
>>
>
>
> How do I say this nicely: H-O-L-Y S-H-I-T !!!!
>
> Bill, let me play around with the numbers.
>
> CAD1 = NZD1.20 (in round figures).
>
> Felton Road's Estate Pinot Noir retails here for around NZ$45-48.
>
> (For this exercise I shall use the higher figure).
>
> The NZ retail includes GST (12.5%) together with NZ Excise Tax and Levies
> totalling approx. NZ$4 per bottle, making a tax-exclusive *retail price* of
> NZ$38.50.
>
> Assume a retail margin of 25% and allowing a little for domestic
> distribution and we would be talking about an ex-winery price of about
> NZ$30.
>
> This equates to roughly CAD25 ex winery.
>
> How the hell can the retail price in Canada be CAD60?
>
> Considerable State Sponsored price gouging????
>
> --
>
> st.helier
>
>