New Zealand wines at Vintages, May 24, 2008

 The Time and Date: Thursday, May 1, 2008  Noon to 2 PM

The Event: media May 24^th Pre-Release Vintages Tasting of New Zealand Wines.

The Venue: LCBO Summerhill Scrivener Square

The Target Audience: wine press

The Availability/Catalogue: all wines are being released on May 24^th at Vintages, about nine days after the New Zealand Wine Fair (see below).

The Quote: "The line tasting is arranged by varietal in the tasting room followed by lunch in the Kitchen Event room." We were to try wines against foods.

The Wines: There were 28 wines, each accompanied by personal tech note sheets.

 

**** Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Sacred Hill Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2006 ($19.95)

-Lowburn Ferry Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006 ($38.25)

-Nobilo Icon Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006 ($25.95)

-Goldridge Estate Hawkes Bay Syrah 2005 ($19.55)

-Villa Maria Private Bin Hawkes Bay Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($17.20)

 

***1/2 Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Brancott B Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($35.15)

-Lawsons Dry Hills Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2006 ($19.50)

-Coopers Creek Gisborne Chardonnay 2005 ($26)

-Pisa Range Black Poplar Central Otago Pinot Noir 2005 ($48.85)

-Craggy Range Sophia Hawkes Bay Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($61.95)

 

*** Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

-Sileni Estate Cellar Select Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($15.95)

-Oyster Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($16.95)

-Craggy Range Te Muna Road Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir 2006 ($46.95)

 

The Food: Daniel et Daniel did the catering. There was butternut squash linguine, with duck confit and shaved Brussels sprouts (meant for the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay), spring risotto with asparagus and fiddleheads and baby snow peas (meant for the aromatic varieties of Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer), roasted lamb chops with Israeli couscous and pistachio (meant for the Pinot Noir), and roast venison with a chestnut-celery root puree (meant for the Bordeaux varieties). Of course, we could mix and match – and we did!

The Downside: too many wines to try to assess with food-wine matches in the allotted time. It would have been useful to have had a bucket for spitting out food.

The Upside: it was fun going back and forth between the foods and the wines.

The Contact Person: rketchin@ketchin.com

The Effectiveness (numerical grade): 96.

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com