Dry, spicy – ask Bananas

Posted on August 2, 2010 by tigchandler

Bananas – my beanie bag spider monkey from Cairns – not a shy retiring character as you can see – is so bananas about my latest NZ gewürz he had to pose with it before he let me taste.

And he was right that little chap! From Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, this dry gewürz has the right amount of fruit sweetness and spice and incredible length.

The nose is very generous – fresh, lychee, spice and honeysuckle.

It hits the tongue with full-on spice and zing. Rich and soft and mouthfilling with lychee flavours in perfect balance. A long and delicious dry, spicy, gewürzy finish.

Oi! Nanas – give it back!

Tigs XX

Brookfields Gewürztraminer 2007, Alcohol 13.5 %

Posted in Gewurztraminer, New World wine, NZ wine, Wine varietals and blends | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Matua Valley – still SB pacesetters

Posted on July 28, 2010 by tigchandler

Here I am again, unashamedly ranting on about wines that have tickled my fancy. I’m on the NZ theme since I just got back from there, and between work commitments visited some iconic wineries including Matua Valley in West Auckland.  

Matua Valley is the winery credited with launching NZ sauvignon blanc in the 1970s – so it had a lot to live up to when I visited with my friend. The host – Steve – spotted our enthusiasm for knowledge and tasting and produced a bottle of fumé blanc from 1981 (pictured).

As a little background, my friend Glenda and I were intent on buying a red wine to have with our dinner. I wanted to try the iconic SB from Matua Valley but the dinner decision was red. Until we tasted the Paretai Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009. It really did knock us for six.

As a wine lover it’s moments like this I live for – when a wine really does surprise you and for all the right reasons – and is still a bargain price (just over $20 NZ a bottle). This trailblazing winery still has the edge when it comes to Marlborough sauvignon blanc – a wine many are expressing fatigue over, as more and more producers enter the market. I would never have believed that one of the highlights of my trip would be a Marlborough SB.

So to the wine – a pale straw colour with a faint hint of green – on the nose it wanted to leap out of the glass and fill your senses with rich, generous, fresh grassy aromas, overladen with passionfruit and fresh strawberries – yes! It brought to mind a warm summer’s day sat in a freshly cut meadow, partaking of a summer fruit plate, ripe and plump and soft. Close your eyes and you can almost feel the breeze… 

A deliciously rich and full mouthfeel, long and satisfying, the aromas following through into flavours reminding you of the sauvignon blanc – the grassy tones – but with much more than you ever expected from such a wine. Add in the powerful flavours of rich ripe summer fruits to massage and excite your mouth as the zingy acidity comes through in perfect balance, leaving the flavours long and lingering, leaving you groaning with pleasure and wanting more…

Really – that good? Oh yes and then some.

And to top it off it has a cool label!

Alcohol 13.5% Residual sugar 2.0g/L

www.matua.co.nz

Tigs XX

Posted in New World wine, NZ wine, Sauvignon blanc, Wine varietals and blends | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Get into it! Oh boy…

Posted on July 13, 2010 by tigchandler

OK so my veneer is very thin – my main reason for this blog – to share my passion for wine. I know there are lots of us out there – now there’s one more!

I am just polishing off the last of a beautiful wine that I must tell you about. I brought it back from NZ a few days ago – not  sauvignon blanc, not a pinot noir – but something that NZ is equally fabulous at making – a Gisborne gewürztraminer. Such an under-appreciated wine.

This pale straw wine bursts with flavour. The first flavours to hit the nose are ripe tropical fruits, a touch of honey, with lifted notes of delightful Turkish Delight. The palate is soft and balanced and full and so so luscious… The aromatics will make you groan with pleasure, the palate will follow through with no disappointment… Full and soft juicy tropical fruit with zingy ginger spices, lingering to leave you savouring the spice and juicy flavours.

Satisfying, luxurious, exciting – the nectar of the gods – and only around the $17 mark in NZ. Just beautiful.

Get into gewürz people – it’s such an under-appreciated gem.

Alcohol 13.5%, residual sugar 7.5g/L

Posted in Gewurztraminer, New World wine, NZ wine, Wine varietals and blends | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

New Zealand Wine Centre – what a find!

Posted on July 13, 2010 by tigchandler

I was lucky enough to take a trip to the land of the long white cloud and while in Napier, Hawke’s Bay, I saw an advert for the New Zealand Wine Centre. On arrival I was delighted to find a sensory room and tasting experience (6 wines) for the price of $29 and a very helpful and amiable host. The $29 gave you entry to the sensory room for as long as you wanted – to read about and smell the aromas associated with wine varietals, characteristics and faults. As a wine enthusiast for many years there was more information than I could take in – no one would be bored.

Then for the tasting experience – you go into a small theatre with 6 wines laid out with generous amounts of each, and tasting notes provided and a pencil to make your own notes. A movie plays, taking you over the green rolling Hawke’s Bay region in a helicopter – the varying wine regions explained. Then one at a time six winemakers talk you through each of the wines. I loved it, so relaxed, and I sat there for a few minutes afterwards retrying the wines.

There was also information about viticulture – with a mock vine and diagrams for pruning and training vines – plus information about winemaking – as well of course as the opportunity to try more wines in the shop – a shop I would happily have planted my sleeping bag in and lived there. I felt cloaked in the warmth of the exceptional NZ wines lining the walls and aisles.

What a fabulous way to introduce people to the wine region and to the wines in a bite-sized but sufficiently informative and enjoyable experience. I think every wine region and country needs this. Food – or wine – for thought…

Posted in New World wine, NZ wine | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Hello world!

Posted on July 13, 2010 by tigchandler

Hello world!

Introducing tigchandler – a wine-obsessed globetrotter with an affiliation to several countries and very strange accent – I am intending to post some interesting wine articles and will welcome all constructive feedback.  Bear with me while I find my feet – first up will be some NZ wine reviews since I just got back from there…

Tigs

Posted in Blog statistics, Wine2030 | 3 Comments