Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir 2005 Thursday, Nov 23 2006
Tasting Notes and New Zealand and Central Otago and Variety and Red and pinot noir
I have had a few complaints recently along the lines of ‘Winorama is turning into Pinorama!’ (or is that Pinotrauma) but rest assured I will be back at the bench shortly and tucking into a whole range of non-pinot wines…but for now I say if you can’t beat em join em. I have had some difficulty with Mt Difficulty over the last few years. I think it was the 2003 that was really quite reductive but this vintage is not only clean as a whistle but really rather nice too.
Attractive clear burgundy colour with aromas of red berry, plum, cinnamon bark, smoke, dried herbs and a sort of sweet smell that reminds me of cola. On the palate medium bodied with red berry, spice, licorice root, cola and dried herb flavours. Tannins are fine, dry and lightly grainy. Slightly sappy but fresh and juicy. This is not a big heavy wine. It has balance and considerable finesse. Finishes dry and lightly sappy but with excellent length of flavour.
Rated : 92 PointsTasted : Nov06
Alcohol : 13.8%
Price : $40NZD
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2007 - 2014
Source : New World
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16 Responses to “Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir 2005”
November 23rd, 2006 at 5:57 pm
I often see cola in Pinot Noir aged in Francois Freres.
I quite like these Dicey wines. (That’s a joke Joyce!)
November 23rd, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Could well be it. It smells like an sweet oak derived character.
What do you mean by Dicey..I am a bit slow at the moment…
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Family that own it is the Dicey family, winemaker is the tallented Matt Dicey. OK!
November 23rd, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Ha ha. Well as you know I tend to ignore winemakers…best that way.
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:09 pm
Perhaps Pinotaroma.
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Nah. Anything that starts with pinot could be confused with pinotage…
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Well the numbers speak for themselves
For reds:
Pinot Noir 220 tastings
Shiraz et al 241 tastings
Cabernet et al 159
(Hunter Valley 106, Barossa 114) suggests a degree of bias too!!
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Hang on..
Barossa (112)
Hunter Valley (106)
McLaren (105)
I’ll fix that aberation up when I get home!!
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:25 pm
Not to mention Burgundy (136) over clearly superior Bordeaux (23)..what have I created!
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:35 pm
It wasn’t YOU per se.
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:37 pm
I think it is fair to blame Frankenstein and not the monsters..
GW
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:42 pm
I wasn’t being critical, just analytical.
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:08 pm
better to be a pinophile than the other kind of phile. Vive burgundy!
November 23rd, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Anyone got any comments on the 04 vintage of this wine? Have a bottle sitting on the bench looking for an opening!!
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:27 pm
No but I wanna know.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
2004 drinking tonight - similar profile to GW’s note on the 05 above.”red berry, plum, cinnamon bark, smoke, dried herbs and a sort of sweet smell that reminds me of cola.” On the 04 they all jut out and say pick me pick me rather than acting as a team - it will come with time in the bottle.
Palate again similar to the 05, however a slight distraction is that the acid is a tiny bit too spiky for mine. Good wine however. 90 points