"What's that package?" asked Neil when he got home from work the other day.

"Wine" I said. "What else? Open it."

"This is different", he exclaimed. It was a wooden box. A really good wooden box. Well made with edges chamfered off and a top with a logo that had been branded into it. The top slid smoothly back to reveal two bottles of wine packed in straw between a wooden partition that was dovetailed in. It all smelt crisp and new. Even the accompanying brochure had taken on the smell of new wood.

I hope that's all the overpowering new wood we are going to smell, I thought.

"Shall I whip the top out of it?" he asked, then, on picking up the bottle said, "Oh, I don't have to. It's got a screw cap. Or at least the Pinot Noir has. The Pinot Gris hasn't. Strange".

Yes, I too was surprised the Pinot Gris had a cork when the Pinot Noir had a screwcap.

The wines were labelled Amisfield, from Central Otago. Central Otago Pinot Noir from 2002. Neat! I remembered the barrel samples at the Central Otago Pinot Noir Celebration earlier this year in February. There were some stunning wines to taste. I couldn't remember Amisfield, though I definitely remember seeing the winemaker, Jeff Sinnott, there.

"I may have tasted this already. I'll just check my notebook", I said to Neil.

As I thought. No 'Amisfield' in my notes from the celebration's Grand Tasting. But I had tasted a Lake Hayes. And then I made the connection. For 'Amisfield' is the name given to the Lake Hayes winery building situated almost on the shore of the lake of the same name, just a little east of Queenstown. It is named for Lakes Hayes' premier vineyard, 'Amisfield' on Amisfield Sheep Station, about 7km north of Lowburn on the shores of Lake Dunstan much further east on the other side of the mountainous Pisa Range.

Are you confused. I am - just a little.

So to that barrel sample. Was this the same wine? No. It couldn't be. My notes said ' 50% Gibbston Valley, 40% Lowburn (which must be Amisfield) and 10% Lake Hayes'. It was a spicy wine with lots of cinnamon and anise, very smooth with a lovely ripe tannin structure and a positive herbal influence. "One to look out for" I wrote.

However the notes in the cute little folder that accompanied the wine I now had in front of me said this bottle was 100% from the Amisfield Estate, a combination of Clones 115, UCD 5 and UCD 6 grown on Blocks 2,3 & 4. It was a terrific growing season and the grapes from the debut harvest were soaked for a week before a wild yeast fermentation began. Burgundian yeasts were added as well. The wine was matured in French oak.

The screwcap make a clean crack as Neil twisted the bottle to break the seal. He poured the wine into glasses, filling them with the colour of youthful pinot, all purple and pink.

The wine smelt wonderfully aromatic, with the perfume of violets, musk and spicy wood the first impression, rich ripe cherries the second. It was smooth and silky in texture with just a tittle of graininess that will settle as the wine matures. Like the barrel sample there was plenty of spice, cinnamon and anise together with cloves and a crack of coriander. A woody herbal flavour comes through to join the spicy rich flavours, then finishing dry and savoury with the sweet cherry fruit balancing it to perfection. Good acidity lifts the finish and the anise flavours linger for an age. It's just delicious.

"Mmmm, it's good", says Neil, agreeing.

"We should try some food with this". I said. Neil drew the short straw to go to the supermarket and pick up the goodies, the ingredients for a Gourmet Mixed Grill. We had lots of different foods - all small servings - to match to the Pinot flavours including mushrooms, bacon, kumara, salmon, herb crusted rack of lamb, eye fillet steak and venison sausage. Some worked, some didn't. The best flavours were the Spicy Herbed Venison Sausages (60% venison, 40% pork) and the Mushrooms cooked two ways - whole mushrooms simply browned in a combo of butter and oil, and Spiced Mushrooms in Pinot Noir cooked with thyme, anise and pinot noir.

Jeff Sinnott, the winemaker, is well known from his previous placement at Isabel Estate in Marlborough where his Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs were internationally acclaimed. His belief is that wines must be a reflection of the vineyard site. He must be congratulated on this, his debut vintage for Lake Hayes / Amisfield. The Pinot Noir is certainly stunning.

It retails from the winery for NZ$40 a bottle. It is also available in retail in selected wine stores. Recommended cellaring is up to 5 years, but as the notes say, why wait?

As for the 2002 Pinot Gris ($30) , I'll open it later ...... when I find the corkscrew.

For further information check out the Amisfield website.

© Sue Courtney
15 June 2003