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+--- Thread: Skeeter Indulgent Day. (TN's for 10 wines) (/thread-8737.html)
- Skeeter - 08-03-2003
Todays been a great day, culinary-wise. The wife and I joined two friends of ours for brunch at Soljans Estate (www.soljans.com) Winery's cafe, allowing me to indulge my penchant for Eggs Bendict. (Gods' gift to breakfast.)
Afterwards, we tasted a few of the wines, naturally. Including...
Soljans 2002 Auckland Pinotage: A favorite of my sister, this one. Quite a light drop, very drinkable and very enjoyable. Their "Vintage Selection" Pinotage was good too, but I prefer the Auckland. (Not that I'm any real judge of reds... Much more the white-wine guy at the moment.)
Soljans 2002 Barrique Reserve Merlot: However, THIS red was a treat. Only released a few months back, apparently. 5% Malbec added, giving it a gorgeous plummy color, smooth and mellow on the togue with some subtle tannins lurking in the back. quite complex, should devlop beautifully over the next 3-5 years.
Afterwards, I persuaded my friends to check out Westbrook Winery, a personal favourite at the moment. (www.westbrook.co.nz Although the page is somewhat out-of-date.) Discovered the 2002 reisling I mentioned a few weeks back has been sold out... Glad I picked up the extra bottle now residing in the father-in-laws cellar. However, I was in for a nice surprise. As well as the 2001 Blue Ridge Chardonnay I gave a glowing review of recently, there was also...
Westbrook Blue Ridge Chardonnay 2002: Yep, just released! Give this one a year or two and it's going to be at LEAST as good as the '01... possibly superior. Both have some nice buttery characters on the tongue and are as good or better than any Chard I've tried in the last five years. I picked up a bottle of the '01, as their stocks are diminishing rapidly... damn my tight budget. (And lack of willpower) Also tasted...
Westbrook 2000 Barrique Aged Merlot/Shiraz/Cabernet: Nice peppery flavours from the shiraz element. Definitely in the "I could drink that" section of my Tasting Notes.
Westbrook 2001 Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Shiraz: Much more oak present in this one, not really my style. Maybe with another year in the bottle, who knows?
Westbrook 2002 Sauvignon Blanc: Great "drink me now" SB... tons of gooseberry/citrusy flavors. (The bottle notes mention "honeydew melon"... Erm, never tried it, but I'll take their word for it.) Incredibly fresh, enticing aroma, too.
Westbrook 2002 Blue Ridge Sauvignon Blanc: 5% of this saw oak, making a nice contrast to the tank-fermeted SB. More complex, still with the great bouquet. The wife loved this one, I liked the former. (Guess we'll need a bottle of each, huh?)
Westbrook 2000 Late Harvest Reisling: And finally, my presonal favorite... the obligatory Dessert Wine. This one is excellent, long on the finish, honey and apricot on the tongue and not bad on the wallet. (NZ$28/375ml half-bottle) Currently in the #2 spot on my top five stickies, after the Selaks Founders Reserve.
To round off the day, the wife and I headed to a dinner we'd won in a staff contest. (Free Food! My favourite kind!) Not having to shell out the 47 bucks for the (excellent) buffet, I was allowed a couple of glasses of vino. An Allen Scott 2002 Riesling with dinner. (Didn't take notes, too busy eating... but crisp and aromatic, and killer with the seafood!) and with dessert...
2000 Cantebury House Noble Reisling: I just discovered this was Champion Wine of Show at the 2001 Air New Zealand Wine Awards... and rightfully so. Very sweet, very smooth. I compared it to a liquid toffee apple. (Their website refers to "pinabble"(sic)... never tried a pinabble. 8>P ) It matched nicely with pretty much all of the mini-desserts I tried, bar a very. VERY rich chocolate mousse. (Especially good with the Kapati manuka honey ice-cream and the awesome rhubarb-apple crumble.)
All up, an excellent day... back to culinary reality tommorrow, I suppose.
- Innkeeper - 08-03-2003
Sounds like my kind of day. Great notes.
- winoweenie - 08-03-2003
What a killer afternoon. This would have been fun even if the wines were average. Thanks for the excellent post. WW