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edited by Sue Courtney
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Wednesday Round-up - the 2012 edition
Sue Courtney's tasting notes from the First Glass Fine Wine Wednesday $15 tastings

February 2012
[ Click here for index to other months ]

Some of the prices are 'special' prices. Check the First Glass website for current pricing.

Fine Wine Wednesday Tasting - 1 Feb 2012
Wines made from Traditional French Varieties
All of the wines were tasted blind.

Tohu Mugwi Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010
A sweet-fruited and floral smelling wine with a hint of snow pea that's joined in the palate by juicy banana passionfruit and honeydew melon. With a little age and a touch of oak to add a mellow complexity there's nothing at all brash about this wine. The texture is harmoniously smooth and the finish is rounded and long. Very nice and popular on the night. Gold Medal Air NZ Wine Awards.
13.8% alc. Screwcap. $22.99.

Domaine Seguinot Chablis Grand Vin De Bourgogne 2009 – Burgundy, France
A pale wine with a shy and delicate scent of tropical fruit, citrus and a hint of cream that's just starting to turn. Soft textured with a tingle of zest but quite neutral flavours of apple and pear. A steely, cool climate style with an incredibly dry finish that is expansive and long. 3 stars.
13% alc. Diam. $33.99.

Waimea Nelson Viognier 2009
We are redeemed in the aroma department with the rich, almost sweet, opulent, fragrant scent and the heady flavours of butterscotch and caramel in harmony with juicy apricot and peach. Rich in colour with a smooth texture, a curvaceous complexity and an expansive finish. I rate this 5 stars. Trophy New Zealand International Wine Show 2010.
14% alc. Screwcap. $22.99/$19.99.

Johanneshof Marlborough Medium Pinot Gris 2009
Expressively perfumed and fragrant, more redolent of Gewurztraminer than Pinot Gris and the taste is full-bodied, textural and spicy with Turkish Delight, spiced baked apple and candied violets. Made in the rich, opulent Alsatian style, it's golden in colour with a sweet disposition and a long mouthfilling finish.
13% alc. Diam. $29.99.

Main Divide Pokiri Reserve Late Picked Pinot Gris 2009
Golden hued with a lime and honeysuckle aroma and a rich sweet flavour of honey, beeswax, candied peel and a sweet orange marmalade finish. A late picked wine with a touch of botrytis, a lightly viscous texture and impeccable acid balance. Most of the tasters classified the wine as 'medium sweet'. 5 stars from the group on the night, inlcuding me. 5 Stars Winestate Magazine.
13% alc. Screwcap. $25.99.

Fairmont Block One Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2009
Dark garnet red with an intense aroma of plums, smoke and leather, this silky textured Pinot is full of flavour with that quintessential gamey savouriness, a touch of spice and a long meaty finish. A zing of acidity on the finish is a sign of its potential longevity. Fantastic price for a wine of this quality. Gold Medal NZIWS 2010.
14.5% alc. Screwcap. $19.99 special.

Pegasus Bay Waipara Pinot Noir 2009
Youthful ruby garnet in appearance, perfumed and floral with a little funk and game. Initially more strawberry and cherry flavours with slight grip to the tannins and floral notes, which are a clue to the region, makes it seem more of an 'elegant' style than the Pegasus Bay Pinots of the past, but there's a deep, earthy, gamey, savoury sense and a beautifully expansive and deliciously long finish that lingers for minutes. A beautiful wine to sip and savour. 5 stars.
13.5% alc. Screwcap. $51.99.

Quarisa 30 Mile Shiraz 2008 Australia
Black red with moderate intensity, it has a rich berry fruit aroma infused with cedary oak and a touch of spice and soft, juicy flavours of chocolate-coated blueberries with a touch of nutmeg and fruitcake cherries. A little sweet on the finish but this medium to full-bodied sipper is soft, smooth and so easy to enjoy.
14.5% alc. Screwcap. $13.99 special.

Church Road Reserve Hawkes Bay Syrah 2008
Black purple, shiny and dense. The bouquet is spicy and savoury with smoky oak and leather. A very dry wine but profound and rich with ultra-ripe fruit and lashings of black pepper. Still looking youthful but settled in the palate with a long lasting finish, it has excellent potential to age and is best enjoyed with food right now. Elite Gold Medal AirNZ Wine Awards 2009.
13% alc. Cork. $32.99 special.

Mitolo Jester McLaren Vale Shiraz 2008
Black deep and dense with a bouquet of sweet vanillin oak and super ripe fruit seducing the senses. With flavours of dark berry fruit, a hint of chocolate, a flourish of spice, underlying leather and a touch of chicory on the finish it seems easy to start but the tannins in this wine are deceptive. It’s big and bold with a firm dry finish.
14.5% alc. Screwcap. $29.99 special.

Quarisa Johnny Q Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Purple black coloured with a seductive aroma of creamy vanillin oak, chocolate and cassis. A big rich wine with a full body, smooth yet firm tannins and plenty of red berry and cassis flavour. The underlying acidity is a clue to its makeup. A lovely wine made by a very clever winemaker and undoubtedly the 'hot buy' of the night. The NZIWS judges gave it gold medal and we, inclcuding me, rated it 5 stars.
14.5% alc. Screwcap. $14.99 special.

Church Road Reserve Hawkes Bay Merlot Cabernet 2008
Shiny black red, impenetrable and dense. The bouquet of fine French oak, chocolate and anise oozes finesse and the palate back us the promise. With dark berry fruit, cassis and firm tannins, this is a deep rich wine with a long life ahead of it. Gold Medal NZIWS 2010.
14% alc. Cork. $35.99.

* * * * * * * * *

I like the Fine Fine Wednesday Tastings held at First Glass Wines and Spirits in Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore. All the wines are served blind and unlike the blind tasting assessments I conduct at home (which are usually from producer's samples or, more rarely, wines I have purchased myself), I usually have no idea in advance of what wines are being included in the Fine Wine Wednesday tasting line-up. Exceptions have been the Cuisine Top 10 tastings, 'Super Tastings', or producer-hosted tastings where the line-up of wines is advertised to attract the tasters. All I know is that with Kingsley Wood choosing the wines, anything goes and the wines being tasted may cost from under $10 to over $110 a bottle, though they usually average somewhere in the $15 to $55 price range.

I have continued to attend the tastings over the years as I feel it gives me a good insight to wines currently available in the market place and the general reaction compared to my own. Not everyone likes the searingly dry rieslings that I love, I've found.

It also provides an oportunity to taste some wines I otherwise wouldn't get to see and to retaste those that I have.

Footnote: Prices listed are the retail and or special prices at First Glass Wines and Spirits at the time of tasting. Check out www.first-glass.co.nz for current availability and pricing and New Zealand readers can purchase the wines online from there.
Sue Courtney's recent Fine Wine Wednesday tasting notes can also be found on the First Glass website.

2012 Tastings
January 2012 tasting notes.
February 2012 tasting notes.

Wednesday Wines index
2011 Tastings
January 2011 tasting notes.
February 2011 tasting notes.
March 2011 tasting notes.
April 2011 tasting notes.
May 2011 tasting notes.
June 2011 tasting notes.
July 2011 tasting notes.
August 2011 tasting notes.
September 2011 tasting notes.
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November 2011 tasting notes.
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2010 Tastings
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March / April 2010 tasting notes.
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June 2010 tasting notes.
July 2010 tasting notes.
August 2010 tasting notes.
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October 2010 tasting notes.
November 2010 tasting notes.
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2009 Tastings
January 2009 tasting notes.
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May 2009 tasting notes.
June 2009 tasting notes.
July 2009 tasting notes.
August 2009 tasting notes.
September 2009 tasting notes.
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2008 Tastings
January 2008 tasting notes.
February 2008 tasting notes.
March 2008 tasting notes.
Apr / May 2008 tasting notes.
Jun / Jul 2008 tasting notes.
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October 2008 tasting notes.
November 2008 tasting notes.
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2007 Tastings
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2006 Tastings
January 2006 tasting notes.
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2005 Tastings
January 2005 tasting notes.
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June 2005 tasting notes.
July 2005 tasting notes.
August 2005 tasting notes.
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2004 Tastings
Jan-Feb 2004 tasting notes.
Mar-Apr 2004 tasting notes.
May 2004 tasting notes.
June 2004 tasting notes.
July 2004 tasting notes.
August 2004 tasting notes.
September 2004 tasting notes.
October 2004 tasting notes.
November/December 2004 tasting notes.

2003 Tastings
January 2003 tasting notes.
February 2003 tasting notes.
March 2003 tasting notes.
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July 2003 tasting notes.
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October 2003 tasting notes.
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December 2003 tasting notes.

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