Impressions of New Zealand

Shiraz - Mike Pollard

Impressions of New Zealand

Marlborough
We visited a total of eleven wineries in the Marlborough region. More than I had planned. And while we missed a couple that I wanted to see, we visited others that turned out to be very pleasant surprises. I hope to write more about some of these wineries at a future date, but for now I just wanted to mention two.

The first is TerraVin. I don’t know how widespread the reputation is of this winery, but if they continue to make wines of the quality that we tasted then their future is assured. Without a doubt the best Pinot Noir I have tasted. I’d love to put these wines in a blind tasting up against some really big names, maybe even from that place in France, begins with a B or something. The 2004 Hillside Selection was going all oldie worldie on me just before I tipped out my glass to taste the “J”. Oh yeah, sure, you made this in Marlborough, New Zealand. Its 85% Cabernet! Bordeaux blend, sure. But its bloody impressive. Still, THE wine was the 2005 Hillside Selection Pinot. If I can convince you to get just one bottle of wine, this is it. OK, get the ordinary Pinot, but make it the 2005. The yields were low, the flavors concentrated, and these wines have a mouthfeel that really is sex in a glass.

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