Greetings from Marlborough, New Zealand! This part of the world is wine country, home to Cloudy Bay, sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. It’s interesting because the world market knows New Zealand for its sauvignon blanc and pinot noirs, but by volume, it is chardonnay that is the most sold white grape and merlot for red. Who knew??
Harvest in the southern hemisphere is usually late February. For this year though, it’ll be early March. Guiseppe and I visited two wineries– Cloudy Bay and Hans Herzog. At today’s tasting in this private tasting area, my group tasted 6 Cloudy Bay Wines:
Sparkling: 70% chardonnay, 30% pinot noir: made in the traditional method. Very small bubbles. Had baked bread yeast flavors (go back to my New Year’s Eve blogpost if you want to understand more about sparkling quality markers), was crisp, medium in body, medium+ length.
Sauvignon blanc: very pale lemon, almost clear. Piercing gooseberry aromas, grapefruits, citrus skins. Was stainless steel fermented, released within 9 months. Very high acid, medium body, grapefruit, lemons green apples, grassy for flavor notes.
2008 Te Koko – an oaked Sauvignon blanc – darker lemon with clear rim. Consistent to the core. Sauvignon blanc barrel fermented.
2007 Riesling – had petrol/kerosene on the nose (very attractive and one of those sought-after aromas in riesling!), some rose petals, stone fruit. Had medium+ fullness in the mouth, high acidity. I found it pleasant thought light and a reflection of the region.
2009 Pinot Noir: had a ruby core to clear thin rim. It smelled earthy, red cherries, raspberries, truffles, mushrooms (lots of mushrooms) – classic young pinot noir aromas. On the palate was pepper! Spices, cloves, stewed cherries, and red plums. Had long length and long finish. I found it good value for its quality. This PN was a blend of 6 different vineyard sites. The CB Mustang is a single vineyard pinot noir.
We tasted all the wines in this beautiful room with a tour of the facilities. Now owned by LVMH, the French luxury brand conglomerate, you could tell that money was poured into this place by the looks of the tasting room and area. Too bad we couldn't linger because it was lunchtime!
For lunch, we went to visit the Hans Herzog Estate winery and restaurant. What a beautiful place it was. It was started by Hans Herzog, a Swiss man with winemaking roots. He and his wife moved here in the 1990s and grows numerous varieties on their small plot that one would never associate Marlborough like tempranillo (Spain's answer to cabernet sauvignon), arneis (from northern Italy), barbera (from northeast Italy) and others.
We had lunch in New Zealand's only Michellin starred restaurant. We started with a confit of monkfish with salad of watermelon, cherry tomatoes, coriander and puffed rice. It was paired with the Herzog 2010 riesling. There was so much petrol on the nose. I know, it sounds weird, but petrol as an aromatic in riesling is highly desirable! The main course was an angus beef tenderloin with green beans, oven roasted eggplant and truffled mashed potatoes. While I'm trying to limit my beef intake these days for health reasons, I must say that this beef was just to die for! It was paired with the 'Spirit of Marlborough' merlot cabernet 2002. There was definitely age on the nose and palate. My notes said: mint, menthol, tobacco, pencil shavings, cherries and stewed plums. It was SOOO good, I asked for a second glass. For the dessert, a vanilla panna cotta mousse with coconut espuma and tropical ragout was served with botrytis pinot gris 2009. One was better than the other.
It was time to go and too bad because they also rent out a cottage for stays on the property.
We'll be home soon and miss you all.
Love, Jennifer
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