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Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

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Matt Richman

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Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by Matt Richman » Sun Nov 11, 2012 3:49 am

  • 2008 Brodie Estate Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Black fruit, full flavored, long dark sappy finish. Dry espresso, big expansive with good acid and energy. Big and muscular but not sweet. Very nice.
    B
  • 2009 Margrain Chardonnay - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Good acid, a bit flat. Restrained. Nice yeasty quality.
  • 2009 Margrain Pinot Noir Home Block - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Silky and smooth. Nutmeg, expansive fruit, bright with some dark notes. Very Martinborough. Delicious, full flavored but full of class.
    B/B+
  • 2009 Margrain Riesling Proprietor's Selection - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Bright with green appley acid and a long finish.
    B--
  • 2009 Palliser Estate Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Smooth and silky with black fruit, baking spices, charred oak and a long bitter walnut finish. Very stylish.
    B
  • 2010 Margrain Pinot Gris - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Light, dry with a bit of honeysuckle and citric tropical fruit. Very nice bright style.
    B-
  • 2010 Margrain Pinot Noir River's Edge - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Simple, dry with a black tar rubber finish. Dark fruit and a long bitter finish.
    B-
  • 2011 Margrain Chenin Blanc - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Rich, full bodied with a nice green apple finish. Round and on the sweet side.
  • 2011 Margrain Sauvignon Blanc Botrytis - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Thick, sweet, syrupy with a long sweet tropical finish. Big and dense. Needs a bit more acid.
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Chardonnay - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Broad and yeasty with sharp steely citric acid.
    B-
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Chardonnay Pencarrow - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Buttery with plenty of oak and bright steely acid.
    C++
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Pinot Noir Pencarrow - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Lots of baking spices, black fruit, tar, long black bitter finish.
    B-
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Riesling - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Lots of stone fruit, peach, long clean acid with a hint of honeysuckle. Very nice.
    B/B-
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Bit of spritz, bright with lots of mineral. High acid with a bit of peach. Full of class.
    B/B-
  • 2011 Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc Pencarrow - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Smooth, clean, crisp. Steely with a bit of sweetness and lemony acid.
    C++

  • 2009 Schubert Pinot Noir Marion's Vineyard - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa (11/5/2012)
    Concentrated, dense Pinot Noir with very pure black fruit, soy, tobacco and umami. Black toasty tannins. Tightly wound but really energetic and expansive in the mouth. Really well put together with strong, full but not sweet fruit and enough acid to balance. This is really wonderful wine. Drinking well with plenty of life, this is only going to get better.
    A-
  • 2009 Matahiwi Estate Pinot Noir Holly - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa (10/31/2012)
    No formal notes, but I liked this. At NZ$24 it was a bargain.
  • 2010 Julicher Estate Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/23/2012)
    I tried their second label, 99 Rows and really love it, a good bargain for the price. But the top cuvee is not a great bargain IMO. The black fruit of Martinborough is there but not the silkiness and depth and wonderful mouth feel of most of the area's better wines. Good coffee flavor, decent herbs and complexity and good acidity, but otherwise there isn't enough there to compete with the best wine from the region. To be fair it's not as highly priced either.
    B/B-
  • 2008 Alexander Vineyards Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/21/2012)
    This doesn't have the depth, weight, or silkiness of many of the better Wairapa Pinot Noirs we've had. Has the black fruit, but it's a bit flat and dry. Tobacco, herbs, leaves and some black cherry. Fine, but nothing to look for.
    C+
  • 2008 Schubert Cabernet-Merlot - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Silky, soft, bold, big and strong. Dark cherry, blackened oak, leafy green pepper. Some juicy acidic toasty tannins. This is a baby, drinking fine but will improve for years. Old styled with new world fruit. Very nice. Buy.
    B
  • 2009 Schubert Syrah - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa (10/13/2012)
    Smooth, silkky and broad. Bacon, dark fruit, rubber. Classy, suave. Long tight finish with a little flower petal. Lovely. Along with the Schubert Marion's Pinot Noir, the best wine I tasted on our trip to Martinborough.
    B+/A-
  • 2010 Croft Chardonnay - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Soft oak with smooth, creamy fruit and a bit of lemony acid. Very nice.
    B
  • 2010 Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Floral, smooth with black tar, rubber, long black finish. Dry black pepper. Good complexity. Very nice.
    B/B+
  • 2010 Schubert Pinot Noir Marion's Vineyard - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa (10/13/2012)
    Peppery, floral with a bit of cinnamon. Black tar fruit with tight acidic tannins. Full of class, expansive in the mouth. Young. Lovely, this should mature beautifully in a few years. Along with the Schubert Syrah, the best wine I tasted on our trip to Martinborough.
    B+/A-
  • 2010 Vynfields Mad Rooster - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Tight, bright, acidic. Full flavored and light bodied. Bright with pepper and tight tough tannins and tar. Nebbiolo-like.
    B-
  • 2010 Vynfields Pinot Noir Reserve - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Peppery, spicy with black fruit and bright acid. Tight with fine tannins. Very restrained. Young with promise. Classic old styled.
    B/B+
  • 2011 Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir Te Tera - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/13/2012)
    Dry with bright cherry and some darker notes underneath. A bit bitter on finish with black tar.
    B-


  • 2008 Te Kairanga Pinot Noir Runholder - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/15/2012)
    Coffee, black cherry, bitter dark acid. Long bitter black finish and some tar and rubber. Has a pretty side. Strong, muscular Pinot Noir with dark tones. Very nice if a bit disjointed. Good for the price.
    B-
  • 2009 Nga Waka Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/15/2012)
    Another wonderful Martinborough Pinot Noir. This is a little sappy with smooth, silky, dense dark fruit, well integrated acid, and burnt oak tannins. Strong and solid with some pretty rose notes, it expands in the mouth. I think this is drinking really well and will develop in the bottle for several years. Has some fruit to spare and an energetic acidity. Very nice.
    B
  • 2008 Hudson Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/14/2012)
    Easy drinking with cinnamon, pepper, medium light fruit, flowers, and light toned acid. A bit of dark notes, but mostly on the bright side. A little atypical for Martinborough Pinot Noir, lighter in both body and flavor. Good long finish and a good acidic grip. A very nice wine, although not as deep, extracted or dense as its neighbors.
    B/B-
  • 2011 Murdoch James Pinot Noir - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/12/2012)
    Rich, full flavored, medium light bodied. Has the typical Martinborough dark notes with juicy bright acid. Cinnamon, pepper. Very nice, although not as suave as many of the top wines from town.
    B/B-
  • 2008 Julicher Estate Pinot Noir 99 Rows - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (10/11/2012)
    Nice full round black fruit. Mature and drinking well. Muscular full bodied Pinot Noir. Has a little candy on the finish Very nice. More about strength than complexity.
    B
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Ian Sutton

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Re: Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by Ian Sutton » Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:02 am

Hi Matt
Many thanks for the notes - we've been twice before to Martinborough, and there's some crossover on the wineries visited (Te Kairanga, Martinborough Vineyard, Palliser). Margrain we've not visited, but the wines when they were in Oddbins in UK (before rigamortis set in to that chain), they were very good value at ~ £10 a bottle for the Chard & Pinots.
regards
Ian
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Re: Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by JuliaB » Sun Nov 11, 2012 1:14 pm

Great notes! Thank you for taking the time to post.

JB
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Jay Labrador

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Re: Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by Jay Labrador » Sun Nov 11, 2012 8:24 pm

Good to see notes on Schubert. Thanks! These are just now coming into Manila so I'm eager to try them.
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Re: Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by Matt Richman » Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:05 am

You have Schubert in the Philippines? I'm surprised, they seem like a really small company.

As you can tell I was very impressed with their wine. I'd love to hear what you think. I liked them so much I thought I was going crazy, but I opened a bottle at home a few weeks later and was still thrilled.
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Re: Lots of notes from a long weekend in Martinborough, NZ

by Jay Labrador » Mon Nov 12, 2012 11:42 am

Matt Richman wrote:You have Schubert in the Philippines? I'm surprised, they seem like a really small company.

As you can tell I was very impressed with their wine. I'd love to hear what you think. I liked them so much I thought I was going crazy, but I opened a bottle at home a few weeks later and was still thrilled.


Yes, the wines just arrived. The importer has family in New Zealand so I suppose that helped in securing some for our market. There was supposed to be a tasting of the wines last week but it was postponed. I'll definitely be attending when the tasting pushes through. I'll be sure to post notes.
Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.

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