WTN: NZ PN and SB

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the home of Lester Harvey, Manila's top importer of NZ wine, for dinner and to try some new bottles and samples of Pinot Noir.

I was first to arrive and while waiting for the other guests, Lester started me off with an SB.

The Ned Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - Made by Brent Marris, ex owner of Wither Hills. There's an explosion of overripe guava on the nose. This wine is very fruity and sweeter than most SB I've tried. It also seems to have more body. I thought it was quite good though a bit over the top.

With dinner we tasted the following Pinots:

Felton Road Calvert 2006 - A bit gamey. Spicy and smoky. Lots of acid. Very long finish. Good.

Felton Road Block 3 2006 - Curiously, all I wrote for this was good fruit. I guess it didn't make much of an impression.

Felton Road 2004 - I guess the regular Felton bottling. Good bouquet. Sweet fruit. Very nice.

Delta Vineyards Hatter's Hill 2005 - Full-bodied at first but, oddly, seemed a bit hollow. Sweet strawberry fruit. Not bad for the price.

Fromm Clayvin Vineyard 2004 - Creamy oak on the nose. Full-bodied, rich wine. Spicy. Ripe fruit. Still tannic. Will likely improve with a bit more age. Very good.

Pyramid Valley Vineyard Growers Selection Eaton Family Vineyard 2004 - Sweet strawberry. Very juicy. A bit of chocolate. Complex. Long finish. Excellent and my WOTN.

Bell Hill 2004 - Another curiously short note. Very sweet fruit. Very good.

No duds in this lineup but I thought the Fromm and the Pyramid Valley were clearly superior.

Thanks for the notes. I know some Felton Pinots can be found in USA but not sure about some of the others.

The Ned Sauvignon Blanc 2007 .

Confusingly there are two Ned SB's, one with a black label and one with a white label. The black label is from a named vineyard -Waihopai Vineyard. I assume the white label is bought in grapes....

Thanks for that additional info. The one we drank had a black label.

I visited Mike and Claudia Weersing at Pyramid Valley Vineyards a couple of weeks ago. They're American ex-pats, and what they are doing is just amazing. They run their vineyard biodynamically, and it's an incredible set-up, with narrow rows, manual tilling, close planting and single guyot pruning at 30 cm height - it looks like Grand Cru Burgundy. Limestone over clay, which is very unusual for NZ.

So far they have just released their super-negoce wines (of which you tried one - it's a lovely Pinot), but their first vintage from their own vineyard, a couple of 2006s, will be released soon - and they look breathtaking (although I didn't try the final wine...just barrel samples).

Thanks for the additional input. The Pyramid Valley wine I had was purchased in NZ. I don't know if it can be imported to the Philippines, but the way you describe their winery, I hope we can get some here.