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Wither Hills are in fine form at the moment. I like the whole range. Every egg a bird you might say.

Not exactly backwards in coming forwards this has immediate, if not obvious, appeal with nectarine, citrus, mango, a touch of funk, spicy oak and some savoury lees characters. In the mouth full bodied and equally full flavoured - tropical fruit, juicy sweet lime, spice and creme caramel all taking part in the riot of flavours that’s settled and controlled by a good hosing down of crisp clean acidity. Good long aftertaste of spice, mango and citrus to close. It’s a lovely wine, action packed and fun to drink. Definitely a crowd pleaser..and something of a bargain too.

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I like Marlborough Pinot (but not as much as Martinborough) and quite often prefer it to more glamorous (and expensive) Central Otago offerings…

It smells of juicy plum and cherry fruit, mulchy autumn leaves, a typical Marlborough tamarillo tartness and spicy toasty oak . On the palate good weight and texture with a particularly attractive spread of fine grained tannin. It has tart acidity and excellent freshness with a slightly bitter cola/chinotto flavour adding to those found on the nose. Highly enjoyable.

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I had a glass at lunch and that’s when I liked it best - crisp, chilled and refreshing - and later that evening for a re-taste warm but without quite the same effect.

It smells of passionfruit, Pez, fennel, lime and a bit of wee on cut grass. On the palate fine and shapely with a mix of pineapple, lime and passionfruit although not overtly tropical or brash - more subdued and refined. It also has a little spice and mineral with fine acid and a bit of flinty textural interest. It drinks really well and feels balanced and vinous, not falling into the Marlborough sweet and sour trap like many. Dry white first, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc second and a good version of both.

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Bright red colour that gets my interest right away. The aromas are clean and red berry fruits with a hint of oak. The palate is rich with good mid palate feel although slightly short. It does open up quite well and finishes with a good bit of red cherry. A great value Pinot.

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Anthony at Boccaccio Cellars told me to get onto this wine because he said it was a match made in heaven with his signature dish of Findus Ham ‘n Cheese Crispy Pancakes. My culinary skills are not quite as advanced as his so I had to make do with oven roast duck breast and steamed Asian greens on a bed of spiced couscous. I usually like to add that I think Marlborough is generally under-rated as a region for Pinot Noir…so I will.

It smells of ripe cherry, spice, cocoa, tamarillo, smoke and Autumn leaves - at once both typically Pinot and NZ. On the palate medium to full bodied with bright sappy sour edged cherry and plum fruit that’s rich, mouthfilling and complemented by spice, cola and dried herbs. With smooth fine grained tannins, a velvet texture and excellent length of flavour this delivers the complete Pinot package - satisfaction guaranteed.

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Curiously I found myself in the unusual position of really wanting a nice cooling glass of Sauvignon Blanc this afternoon. Doesn’t happen that often but I feel a bit frazzled today. Wither Hills usually do a nice line in the old SB so I picked this out of the 1,274 bottles (or thereabouts) of Sauvignon Blanc that seem to be floating around. Good choice.

Pale and crystal clear it strikes a fine balance between the herbal capsicum and snow pea smells and the fruity ones of gooseberry, citrus and fresh pineapple. It’s a bit spicy too and I always like that. On the palate precise and clean with good drive and attractive flavours of light tropical fruit, lime and capsicum spice. Nice and dry with a little roughing up providing a bit of textural interest. Finishes clean and long with a lick of spice. A great example of the ‘classic’ Marlborough style.

Other vintages: 2005

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I was flicking through the current issue of AGT wine and saw that Bob Campbell MW had given this a big 95 point rating. ‘Oh’ I thought, ‘I think I might have one of these in the pile’. So I looked and I found one. What’s in the box Carl Cox? Certainly one of these.

Pretty and slightly floral with apple, lemon biscuits, a little honeycomb and a bit of spice. On the palate again light and fresh with apple, lemon and lime, pastry crust flecked with cinnamon and a little yeasty complexity. Fairly dry with a light foamy mouthfeel and balanced clean acidity (although just a little coarse) and a good dry finish with a yeast and lemon aftertaste. Not especially complex but makes for a nice refreshing drink.

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I hear 2007 is supposed to be a very good vintage for NZ Sauvignon and this wine certainly bears this out. Just for the record Secret Stone is a Fosters Wine Estates brand. I like the packaging.

Very pungent kitty litter smells with gooseberry, lychee and grapefruit, fennel, herbs and some flowery aromas. On the palate a fuller style with an explosive mix of light tropical fruit, peach, citrus and some spice and grassy flavours. Attractive mouthwatering acidity balanced with a touch of sweetness. Excellent length finishing with a crisp grapefruit and grassy aftertaste. I can’t imagine this not being very popular.

Other vintages: 2006

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NZ Sauvignon Blanc prices seemingly continue to creep up upwards in a stealthy ivy like manner… Stoneleigh is a Pernod Ricard brand for those not in the know.

This shows a little restraint with aromas of ruby grapefruit, gooseberry, lychee, kitty litter and grass with a flicker of sweaty reduction. On the palate light and dry with passionfruit, grapefruit and grassy flavours. Acidity is a little obvious but the overall balance is good. Decent length of flavour with a clean grapefruity finish. A good example of the ‘classic’ style and one I like.

Other vintages : 2006

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The Lebecca vineyard is in Wratts Road in Rapaura, and is on deep gravelly silts. And it certainly isn’t a cheap Riesling, but I don’t mind when it delivers. Lots of things on the nose, all at the same time, a collision of aromas, pretty florals, oranges, lemons, pear, pineapple, cumquats, minerals, bath salts and a little musky. Ripe fruits on the palate, with some sweetness though not like a dessert wine, lightly candied oranges and lemons, quite delicate and delicious, soft acid and finishing with pith and a bit of soap. Not especially intense, but the purity of the fruit has to be admired. A lovely wine. I am told that with 85g/L residual sugar that this sits somewhere between a Spatlese and an Auslese in style, though I am no expert on stuff like this.

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I do like a little theme and the mini-theme for this afternoon is inter-regional blends of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc from the 2007 vintage. Ows about that then! This is made by a triumvirate of winemakers being Hamish MacGowan (Angus The Bull) , Andrew Margan (Margan) and Sarah-Kate Dineen (Maude Wines).

Aromas of lemon, lime, fresh pineapple and sweet green peas. Fresh and inviting. On the palate pine-lime, spice and some grassy flavours. Good flavour with acidity that freshens rather than overwhelms although it is slightly chunky. Finishes with grassy grapefruit flavours. Nice wine. Looks smart and drinks well.

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In a bracket of fine wines served blind this looked very good. It was bright with a very nice shade of red/ruby. The nose was pure red cherry with a nice dose of pencil shaving oak. The palate was lovely in terms of the fruits and length, full of cherry with a bit of plum and a bit of blackberry with a tart finish. It was strange in terms of its structure because it seemed a little like a Rousseau (oak treatment), maybe a little Central Otago (tart), yet the plummy richness of Marlborough. It was highly regarded by those around me and it turned out we preferred it ahead of a 2000 DRC, Bass Phillip Premium 02 amongst others. The front label suggests it is Cental Otago but careful reading of the back label reveals it also contains material from Marlborough. Clever blending!

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Friend Len often brings wines over that he reckons I probably haven’t seen. Spot on with this one. The Chardonnay Princess and I quite like good Gewurztraminer.One feature it needs to show is spice such as a hint of ginger and maybe a bit of musk and rose petal. One feature we don’t like is when they go oily and cloying on the palate. Residual sugar is alright if at low levels, balanced with a good acid finish. On the nose this had the spice notes we like and they were also on the palate. The lychee like spice has good length and it seemed very nice. Something niggled. I liked it but I reckon the residual sugar and acid balance wasn’t quite right. More acid or less sugar would have seen more praise. But it still made for a nice quaff late one balmy Sunday afternoon, along with some fine Red Hill Cheese.

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This wine is blended from several base wines from different sites around Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. These sites grow different clones and with different soil profiles there is an intention to produce a complex and structured wine. It is aged for 9 months in a mixture of new and seasoned French barriques, then fined and filtered and bottled under screwcap.

A light cherry red. On the nose, cherry fruit and raspberries, and hints of mushroom and spice. The palate is clean and rounded, red cherry fruit and some game, nicely balanced and with pretty good length. And then with some time in the glass, it showed oyster shells and appeared a little salty and minerally. Very odd indeed, but overall a very pleasant wine.

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The winery is the new project of Dan and Sarah-Kate Dineen, formerly of Tower Estate and Tempus Two respectively. They decided to leave the Hunter Valley and start up in New Zealand as they obviously prefer more challenging wine regions…. I also have a 2004 Central Otago pinot to investigate. Love the packaging.

Slightly sweaty aromas of passionfruit, gooseberry, spice and nettles. On the palate good intensity of flavour with passionfruit, grapefruit, kiwifruit, nettles and spice. Crunchy clean acidity. A dry wine with mouthwatering freshness. Finishes sweet and sour with a nettley edge and very good length. A classic and very direct Marlborough style. Big thumbs up.

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I have a plan now. I’ll take a break from the sauvignon blancs for a while (although I do feel I am starting to get my eye in..) and tuck into some 2006 rieslings next. This wine fooled me again as I was unpacking it (but only briefly) making me double take to see if it was cork sealed. Nope. It’s Stelvin Lux. I like them…even if it does sound a bit like a soapy religion. You could chant in the shower - ‘Horray Stelvin! Rama Rama.Ching.Ching. I am clean. I am pure.’

Aromas of tropical fruit, grapefruit, sweet grass and a slight creaminess. On the palate clean and crisp with tangy grapefruit, tropical and grassy flavours. It strikes a nice balance between fruity and more herbal flavours. Finishes dry with mouthwatering grapefruity flavours. I like them like this.

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It could be argued that Marlborough sauvignon blanc was initially made famous by having an outrageously pungent capsicum, wee and nettles sort of aroma. I suspect that many makers are moving away from this style now and looking for more ripeness and tropical fruit flavour. This then, is a particularily ‘old school’ example. I don’t mind it at all but I know that many find it a bit much.

Aromas of tomato plant, green capsicum, sweat, passionfruit and citrus. On the palate biting and crisp with flavours of capsicum, passionfruit, grapefruit and a salty mineral character. Certainly mouthwatering and very fresh. Finishes bone dry with strong grassy herbal flavours.

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Gris is the word
Gris is the word, is the word that you heard
Its got groove its got meaning
Gris is the time, is the place, is the motion
Gris is the way we are feeling

Apparently…

Aromas of nashi pear, pez and bananas. Flowery and fruity. On the palate plenty of pear, candy and tropical fruit flavour. Quite full bodied with soft lightly slippery texture and no intrusive alcohol. It is all juicy fruit and rather like biting into a big juicy pear. Touch of phenolic grip on exit. I served it well chilled and imagined I was having a fruit juice. Healthy!

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A Kramer wine. Gooseberries and asparagus, minerals and some richness. The palate is tight and steely, ripe gooseberry fruits with a minerally and herbaceous edge. It is an austere wine, but has an underlying power and I just cannot look away. I had a second glass, and then a third. A wine that speaks of purity, white snow-capped mountains, with some sprite acidity and lemon on the finish. As Yoda would say, impressive stuff it is.

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Lots of semillon/sauvignon blanc and straight sauvignon blancs to review. I wonder if people are interested in reading about them? I think so.

Aromas of passionfruit, banana, nettles, spice and little spray of cat wee. Quite pungent in the classic Marlborough style. On the palate it has flavours of passionfruit, gooseberry, green capsicum and spice. Nice and tart but nothing over the top. Crunchy granny smith acidity. Clean dry finish. Good stuff.

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