Blog

CATEGORY: Wine Tasting Notes

At the end of February I jumped at the chance to visit Fine Wine Delivery Company in Auckland, to taste some library releases from the portfolio of Misha's Vineyard of Bendigo, Central Otago. Very belatedly, I have written up my notes I fondly remember (I think) working in the vineyards there over the summer of 2013/14 - tough work on steep sites, but I certainly got a lot fitter! It was great to catch up briefly with Misha Wilkinson and her husband Andy during this very popular event. The walk around event consisted of multiple vintages of 5 different wines, totalling 19 wines. The current vintage To View More >>

This entry was posted in Wine Tasting Notes, Wine by Tom Jarvis | Leave a Comment

17.2.18 I recently tasted two 2013 McLaren Vale Shiraz wines side by side in a miniature "Do You Get What You Pay For?" exercise. I'd managed to source the Gemtree Uncut Shiraz at the bargain price of NZ$19.99 against a usual price of $30 to $32. The bottle was not decanted - I would however recommend doing this both for aeration, and because the wine has thrown some sediment. The wine spends 16 months in French oak barrels froom 225l to 500l in size, with minimal racking and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. There is quite a lot of oomph in this wine; on the nose there is plenty of To View More >>

This entry was posted in Wine Tasting Notes, Wine by Tom Jarvis | Leave a Comment

13.11.17 Château Clerc Milon 2005 should be a fairly classic example of red Bordeaux wine. This Pauillac property, ranked as a Fifth Growth in the 1855 Classification, languished in obscurity until becoming part of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild stable in 1970. It now has a strong reputation for often portrayed as a lighter sibling of Mouton. This 12 year-old from a great vintage is, on paper, a solid buying proposition, ready to drink but with another 8 or more years of life in it.  the 2005 Clerc Milon is generally rated as the best example for many vintages, and is a blend To View More >>

This entry was posted in Wine Tasting Notes, Wine by Tom Jarvis | Leave a Comment

16.7.17 A couple of Wednesdays ago myself and five colleagues attended a very special customer tasting at Glengarry Wines' Victoria Park branch in Auckland. We were tasting 8 white Bordeaux wines, six of which were in what I would call the affordable-on-special-ocasions category - with five of these being from the Pessac-Léognan appellation. The two others were Y d'Yquem, a more established luxury classic, and a new Vin de France from Château Palmer - both at prices which will forever be beyond me. Ch. Olivier Blanc 2014 Pessac-Léognan (NZ$49.99) Very pale colour To View More >>

This entry was posted in Wine Tasting Notes, Wine by Tom Jarvis | Leave a Comment