New Zealand In A Glass
First up, I want to commend the organisers on a well put together event. Each attendee was presented on arrival with a Riedel tasting glass, a bottle of water, pen, paper exhibitor list along with a full colour high-quality booklet listing all exhibitors with contact information. Inside the event, there was plenty more water available along with bread, crackers and even some sandwiches available. My only gripes being the spit buckets being on the floor, the members of the public wearing their ropey colognes/ perfumes and ruining the beautiful perfumes of the products on show and the exhibitor who didn't know the Residual Sugar (RS) of the Riesling they were pouring!
My focus for the event: Waiheke and Hawkes Bay reds (and maybe a little else of what took my fancy).
Man O'War
Standout wines: Valhalla Reserve Chardonnay 2009, 100% barrel fermented - 40% new French, wild yeast fermented. Some yeasty notes on the nose with good supporting Oak. Typical riper characteristics of good quality Chardonnay. Savoury conclusion.
Ironclad 2008: Blend of Merlot (52%), Cabernet Franc (27%), Malbec (10.5%), Petit Verdot (9.1%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (1.4%). Beautiful lifted berry aromatics, well integrated on the palate and some concluding earthiness supported by fine drying tannin.
Cable Bay
Merlot Malbec Cabernet: A blend of Merlot (45%), Cabernet Sauvignon (24%), Malbec (20%) and Cabernet Franc (11%). 600 cases made. Beautifully perfumed, plumminess exhbited from the Merlot along with some dreid herb notes. Typical cassis along with some of the earthen, leathery notes one would expect. Fine tannin concludes the experience.
Trinity Hill
The Gimlett 2008: Another 'Bordeaux' blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (43%), Merlot (41%), Petit Verdot (7%), Malbec (6%) and Cabernet Franc. There's a pattern forming here: beautiful perfume with blackcurrant and cassis notes dominant. But it's the gentleness that makes the wine stand out. It has fine tannins and is of moderate length, but on the palate it has a fullness to it that has you yearning for more..
Source: New Zealand
Price: $45
Closure: About 9PM
Website: http://www.nzwine.com/
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