Tagged with ' pinot noir'

Summer Selection

First Glass 14 November 2018
Summer Selection
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Huntaway Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2016
Served chilled this seems fresh and bright with lemon-infused buttery oak scents and a touch of caramel softening the palate with tropical fruit, accents of citrus and an increasing toasty richness. Gold NZIWS 2018. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Beach House 'Selection' Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2017
There's a hint of apricot and marzipan to the nutty oak scent and juicy stonefruit fills the palate with a creamy malo-influenced softness and savoury oak underpinning the bright, dry finish. Cuisine Best Buy. 13.5% alc.Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Keltern Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2017
Radiating tantalising grapefruit and toasty oak scents that come to the fore again together with stonefruit in the full-flavoured tasty palate, this seamless-flowing wine has touches of gun smoke, hazelnut and a lingering vanilla-tinged finish. Superlative expression of chardonnay and it takes chilling well. Three gold medals so far. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $52.99.
 
Vavasour Marlborough Pinot Gris 2017
Bright and fruity on the nose and soft in the palate with ripe fleshy pear, a fruit salad brightness and a lemonade tingle. A touch of passionfruit emerges as the flavours linger. Easy drinking. Juicy. A crowd pleaser. Gold NZIWS 2017. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Maude Mt Maude East Block Central Otago Riesling 2018 
There’s a soft scent of apple on the nose and the crisp refreshing taste is bright and tangy with the most subtle suggestion of tarragon. Delicate to start but with increasing power and the medium sweetness is offset by racy acidity that makes it seem more dry. Gold NZIWS 2018. 9.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $26.99.
 
Te Kano Central Otago Pinot Noir Rosé 2018
This beautifully presented wine is watermelon pink in hue with strawberry, raspberry and pink bubble gum scents and juicy ripe berry fruit flavours that flesh out the mid palate, and the finish is crisp and dry. Two gold medals. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Mud House Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017
Moderately deep bright pinky red, bragging of its youth. Attractively scented and full of flavour, this medium-bodied, smooth-flowing and immensely drinkable pinot gushes with chocolate-coated cherries nicely honed by the freshness of wild berries with lovely savoury notes emerging on the long tasty finish. Gold NZIWS 2018. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $20.99.
 
Craggy Range Te Muna Road Martinborough Pinot Noir 2016
Dark Burgundy red with moderate colour intensity. Appealing aromas of chocolate and cherries underpinned by savoury oak follow through to the silky palate that is ultra smooth in its flow. Full of juicy cherry and raspberry fruit with touches of chocolate, vanilla and cake spices, this soft and beautifully balanced pinot is long, savoury and satisfying. Trophy for Best Wellington wine at NZ Wine of the Year. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $38.99.
 
Quarisa Q Malbec 2017 – South Eastern Australia
Inky crimson-edged dark red with a savoury, earthy aroma embellished with concentrated berries and the slightest suggestion of mint. Spicy and bright in the silky palate that’s crammed with dark plums, jammy blueberries, vanilla, smoky oak and leather with a sprinkle of pepper and a firm, ripe finish that lingers more-ishly. Gold NZIWS 2018.
14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $15.99.
 
Quarisa The Great Bonza Shiraz Cabernet 2017 – South Eastern Australia
Dark red with the slightest suggestion of bricking to the edges. The sweet fruited scent leads into a seemingly medium-bodied palate with upfront juicy red and black currant fruit and stewed plum flavours balancing out the slight edgy and subtle herb notes with an underpinning of tar, leather and spice. Soft. Easy going. Perfect BBQ wine. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $15.99.
 
Reillys Dry Land Clare Valley Shiraz 2016 – South Australia  
Inky black red, intense, bright, deep. Seductive spices infuse the deep winey scent and it is intensely concentrated in the succulent palate. Full of black and blue berries, plums, prunes and a raspberry jam brightness with dark smoky cigar box vibes and peppery spices, this opulent wine is framed by massive tannins that will soften over time. One to buy for the cellar right now. Trophy for Champion Shiraz, NZIWS 2018. 15.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $35.99.

Felton Road Wines from Central Otago with Blair Walter

First Glass 4 July 2018
Felton Road Wines from Central Otago with Blair Walter
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were not tasted blind

 
Felton Road Dry Riesling 2017
Straw in colour with a delicate lemon sherbet aroma and a crisp, dry, steely, green apple fresh taste. There’s a flinty undercurrent, a shimmer of salinity and a pleasing touch of honeysuckle that tempers the racy acidity and brings succulence to the lingering finish. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $32.99.
 
Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay 2017
The bouquet has an understated chablis-like nutty, creamy, malo elegance with the most subtle nuance of caramel and the most delicate toasty savouriness. In the mouth this is a wine of body and texture with tingly acidity punching though the creamy flow with neutral oak, a flinty / earthy undertone, fruit reminiscent of loquat, melon and just ripe apricot and softness to the long graceful finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $42.99.
 
Felton Road Block 2 Chardonnay 2016
The bouquet evokes a soft sense of chardonnay long before revealing yellow fruit and light nutty scents. Immediately vibrant and tasty with sweet oak, bright tropical fruit and a touch of apple with underlying flint. From a warm vintage this is fine and elegant with a long, full, mouth-coating finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $52.99.
 
Felton Road Block 2  Chardonnay 2010
Smoky, fumé scents are joined by sweet nutty tones and the taste is full-bodied, creamy and nutty with fruit reminiscent of custard apple and pawpaw with slight peppery tingles and a touch a caramel corn on the mouthfilling finish. The vibrancy of the acidity is quite remarkable in that brings life and liveliness to this 8-year-old wine that exhibits finesse and elegance all the way through. From a vintage similar to 2017, this is quite delicious. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: NA
 
Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2017
Bright ruby garnet, deeply translucent not opaque. Intense aromatics of bottled cherries with leafy notes, refined savoury oak and subtle chocolate tones. Bright, fresh and tasty with a sensuous savouriness, a youthful edge to the fine textured silky tannins, a touch of spice and game, succulent cherry fruit and a ‘sucking on a cherry stone’ feel to the remarkably long finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $58.99.
 
Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir 2017
There’s a touch of violet to the deep ruby hue and immediate opulence to the scent that oozes fruit, savouriness and pinosity. Concentrated and spicy tasting with ripe cherry and blueberry fruit, a touch of chocolate, lovely savoury oak tones, a tingly undercurrent from the youthful acidity, a flourish of anise and subtle lilac-like florals. Full and satisfying with a fine velvety texture and loads of flavour and flare. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $69.99.
 
Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir 2014
Good depth of colour and alluring mellow savoury notes to the scent where a touch of rusticity comes through. Full-bodied, rounded, mouthfilling and tasty, deeply savoury and gamey with silky tannins and a fine textured flow. It’s a slightly funky wine with body, texture and layers, fruit like old bottled cherries, and has a spicy vibrancy to the sweet-fruited succulent finish with a touch of smokiness as it lingers. Drinking superbly now - a great example of why you buy young and cellar even if only for 3 years. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: NA.
 
Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2017
Deep rich ruby with a flush of pink. The bouquet is so evocative with its sensuous oak, plump perfectly ripe cherries, a slight leafy/herbal nuance, black forest chocolate and spice. This is old school pinot - an earthy, gamey, savoury pinot - a dense and concentrated pinot with vibrant red and purple fruit, a voluptuousness to the texture and a long satisfying finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $94.99.
 
Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2013
There's a touch of tawny to the garnet hue and a white mushroom nuance to the scent together with cherry jam and mellow savoury oak. Spicy and tingly to the taste indicating the acidity is still a defining factor in this wine yet there is a fullness and roundness with fruit, oak, savouriness and subtle anise spiciness all in harmony and a lingering aftertaste that delightfully persists. Beautifully structured and still evolving. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: NA.

older wines revisited mingled with new vintages

First Glass 7 February 2018
Older wines revisited mingled with new vintages
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Te Awa Single Estate Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
The bouquet of this citrine-hued wine is reminiscent of lightly toasted hazelnuts and stonefruit with just a hint of pineapple, and it’s smooth, creamy and nutty in the palate with lifted lemony leesy flavours that sign off with malty savoury oak that’s underlined with a lingering and very pleasing bright pineapple /peach / mandarin flourish. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Dog Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017
This is a rich straw gold colour with a wild yeast / fumé nuance to the grapefruit and tropical fruit scent and the taste is full-bodied and textural with a flinty shimmer rippling through the concentrated passionfruit, mango, apple, herb and lime flavours with grapefruit again on the deliciously long quenching finish. Not an over-exaggerated style by any means. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $23.99.
 
Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2014 – NSW, Australia
Light gold in hue with an enticing bouquet of light nutty toasty notes, the most delicate suggestion of butterscotch and hints of peach but unexpectedly restrained in the more lemongrass palate that does not hint at all of its four years of age. It's a very smart, elegant, cooler climate, higher altitude, Burgundian-inspired style with underlying gunflint notes, lingering tropical fruit and nectarine and exceptional length. Will be very long lived. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $39.99.
 
Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Marlborough Chardonnay 2016
It's a light golden hue with an enticing malt, stonefruit and gunsmoke scent and terrific concentration to the profoundly flavoursome palate with deliciously juicy peach, melon and tropical fruit and toasted hazelnut lingering on the polished finish.  Of all the chardonnays tonight this is the most sociable, the most readily drinkable and the most hard to resist. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Tenuta Ulisse Terre di Chieti Pecorino 2016  - Italy
Pear and citrus fill the bouquet of this straw coloured, off dry wine that’s characterised by bright acidity and a juicy medley of citrus with a touch of honeysuckle / beeswax on the fresh, clean finish. It’s a fruity wine with substance and texture and served chilled it’s juicy and refreshing. 13% alc. Cork.. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Giesen Gemstone Limited Release Marlborough Riesling 2017
This has the most intriguing scent of pear and quince with a slightly earthy / funky  / apple skin note. It’s a little spritzy in the palate with apple sherbet and pineapple dominant tropical fruit with a touch of sweetness balancing the refreshing acidity and an apricot hint to the lingering finish. What’s unusual about this wine is fermentation and maturation in granite rock tanks. 10% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Giesen The Brothers Marlborough Pinot Noir 2015
Rich ruby garnet hue. Generous cherry and summer berry fruits fill the bouquet yet it’s surprisingly quite fresh in the palate with upfront acidity indicating it needs to be accompanied with food right now. It’s a savoury, earthy, mushroomy pinot with a little bit of grip to the tannins and fruit sweetness evolving on the finish with a touch of toasty spice.  13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Archangel Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
This has a saturated dark ruby / crimson tinged hue. There's a hint of mocha infusing the opulent bottled black cherry bouquet together with a touch of tar and char and it’s earthy and savoury to the taste with firm tannins, sappy oak and spicy notes and the sought after 'peacock tail flare’ on the finish where creamy chocolate and black forest cherry emerge. An oaky sumptuous mouthfilling pinot that leaves a great deal of satisfaction. AirNZ Pure Gold Medal.   14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $33.99.
 
Terra Sancta Shingle Beach Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
The edges are thinning on the fading ruby garnet hue. Sweet strawberry and red cherry fruit fill the bouquet with a savoury gamey undertone. It's a medium-bodied wine and quite dry on first tasting  with savoury, gamey, smoky, spicy oak and sappy herb notes, a little bit of grip to the chalky tannins and ripe red berry fruit together with violets pushing through on the satisfying, rounded, lingering finish. A versatile food matching wine. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $40.99.
 
Tenuta Ulisse Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2015 – Abruzzo, Italy
It's a bright inky crimson black hue. The concentrated bouquet has a profound depth of jammy blackberry and black cherry fruit and it’s lifted in the full-bodied palate with smoky cigar box notes, touches of vanilla and ripe bramble fruit. Rounded in its flow with the firm tannins tamed by the sumptuous fruit and there are hints of chocolate biscuits on the succulent and generous finish that’s balanced by harmonious savoury notes. Gold NZIWS 2017. 14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Chalk Hill Luna McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Bright glossy, blackberry red in the glass. Ripe dark berry fruits with a touch of eucalypt and smoky oak fill the bouquet and it’s full-bodied, sumptuous and mouthfilling to the taste with vanilla, plums, mulberries, touches of chocolate and cake spices and velvet cape tannins adding an aura of mystery and intrigue. A big wine with a powerful underlying oak presence at this youthful stage of its life. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Buller Wines Fine Old Muscat NV – Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia
Clear golden amber in the glass. The mesmerising heady bouquet is redolent of muscatel raisins, rancio and spirit and the taste is like liquid toffee nectar infused with muscatel raisins, candied peel, honey and fruit cake. It’s sweet but nicely balanced to the rancio savoury tones that come from years of maturation in old oak barrels. It’s A decadent treat. 18% alc. Cork. 750ml. First Glass Price: $41.99.

Welcome to 2018

First Glass 10 January 2018 
Welcome to 2018 with new vintages of previously successful wines
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Delaplace Vintage Champagne 2012 
Golden coloured with the tiniest bubbles, a tantalising nutty yeasty aroma and a crisp, lemon biscuit yeasty taste with vibrant fizz and just a hint of marmite in the savoury tones that come through. A delicious and very drinkable champagne that’s long and creamy with a satisfying lemony aftertaste and a lightly honeyed overlay. Fantastic way to start the tasting year. 12% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2016 – California, USA
Moderate gold in colour with a hot buttered toast aroma embossed with peach and vanilla and tropical and fleshy stone fruit in the palate. It’s smooth and mellow with a zesty vibe, underlying savouriness and a very long creamy finish. 13.5 % alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Selaks Founders Limited Edition Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Light gold in hue with an intoxicating toasted oak and mealy biscuity aroma and a fresh, mouthfilling, flavoursome taste with a malty richness, a toffee caramel smoothness and loads of peach and nectarine fruit that fleshes out the finish and reins in the cedary oak. A youthful wine with excellent potential to develop. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Mount Difficulty Roaring Meg Central Otago Pinot Gris 2017
Light gold in colour with a bright stewed apple and pear aroma, and poached spiced pear in the textural palate with a whisper of viper’s bugloss honey. It's off dry heading toward medium in sweetness level with refreshing acidity and loads of flavour. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Giesen New Zealand Riesling 2016
This bright lemon gold coloured wine is beautifully perfumed with honeysuckle and sweet citrus. It's one of those juicy and deliciously refreshing lower alcohol, Mosel-inspired styles with moderate sweetness offset by quenching apple-like acidity and a lingering zesty zing. Serve chilled to the bones at this time of year. 10% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $12.99.
 
Two Rivers Isle of Beauty Marlborough Rosé 2017
A trendy light salmon hue with berry aromas and a crisp dry steely taste – probably a little more European influenced than some of the ones we have been enjoying at First Glass lately. There’s hints of black cherry, blackcurrant and pepper and an exceptionally long, lingering aftertaste that is juicy and satisfying. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Lake Hayes Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016 
Youthful purple translucent red with a fragrant and generous bouquet full of black cherry fruit and gamey savoury notes that follow through to the silky palate. It’s warm and spicy with a medley of juicy berry fruit, just a little bit of grip to the tannins and a long creamy finish. A lighter style red that’s soft, smooth and very tasty and would benefit from a little chilling on a scorching summer day. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $27.99.
 
Castano Hecula Monastrell 2015 – Yecla, Spain 
This is a dark red colour, the bouquet is savoury and earthy with a waft of leather, sweet spiced tobacco, some kind of bramble berry and a hint of mocha. The taste is mellow and spicy with underlying earthiness and a smooth tannin flow.  A medium-bodied food friendly red with light tannins and a juicy finish.  14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Sisters Run McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Inky blackberry red with crushed chocolate biscuit aromas – dark chocolate with a bit of toast. Smooth flowing in the spicy, creamy, savoury palate that’s accented with  pepper and crammed with juicy red and black cherry fruit together with plums and mulberries and lingering chocolate notes. It seems a little young but the sweetness of the fruit makes it seem very drinkable. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Wirra Wirra Woodhenge Basket Press McLaren Vale Shiraz 2015 – South Australia 
Shiny inky blackberry red with a tantalising bouquet of Shiraz spices, vanillin oak and berry fruit. Sappy cedary oak is prominent at first to the taste but the opulence of the focused berry fruit takes over. A gorgeous, full-bodied, lifted red with a long creamy finish and a lovely fine tannin structure that underpins the seductively smooth flow. Gold NZIWS. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $28.99.
 
Belasco De Baquedano Swinto Old Vine Malbec 2012 – Mendoza, Argentina
The subtle tawny aura to the deep purple red hue suggests a little age. The opulent bouquet is velvety with concentrated bramble berries and perhaps a soupçon of mint and the taste is mouthfilling and sumptuous. It’s a heady wine with loads of oak and masses of fruit, jam, earth and tobacco and while its seems so smooth at first the tannins kick in on the ultra long finish. Should be a very long lived wine. 15% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $46.99.