Wine Tastings
‘Escaroth’ Pinot Noir, Blank Canvas
Blank Canvas is a winery owned by international jet-setting winemaker Matt Thomson and his Master of Wine wife Sophie. Here they produce some of New Zealand's most exciting wines from vineyards in Marlborough and Hawkes Bay. This is an organic, single-vineyard Pinot Noir which, while very light in colour, has bucket loads of flavour! Very classy Pinot.
Perfect with roast lamb or pork, or game, or mushroom dishes. Delicious with most things...
Akarua Brut Rose NV
Akarua, owned by the Skeggs family, were among the first people to buy and plant vineyard land in Central Otago in the mid 1990s. As well as producing amazing Pinot Noir, they went on to prove, with the help of Tony Jordan, that Otago is a great place to make sparkling wine.
This beautiful, elegant Rose is a blend of 68% Pinot Noir and 32% Chardonnay; it has complex flavours of wild strawberry and brioche and is on a par with great Rose from Champagnge.
Noble Riesling 37.5cl, Framingham
Framingham are Riesling specialists and this is a beautiful example in the Beerenauslese style. Light and beautifully fragrant, with rich lime and honey flavours and a long, elegant finish. The purity they get in their wines is astonishing and goes some way to explain why they have been named Winery of the Year for the last two years (The Real Review - New Zealand's top wine publication). This will age spectacularly if you can be bothered to keep it...it's so delicious right now.
Lovely on it's own, or perfect with fruit desserts or rind-washed and blue cheeses.
Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah
Founded in 1993 by winemaker John Hancock together with Robert and Robyn Wilson, owners of The Bleeding Heart and The Don in London, Trinity Hill has become a byword for quality and consistency. Winemaker Warren Gibson has been with Trinity Hill since 1997. He is also in charge of the 80 hectares of vineyard owned by Trinity Hill and knows Hawkes Bay and the Gimblett Gravels exceptionally well. The wines reflect this. Warren and his team make wines that show the best of what Hawkes Bay and the Gimblett Gravels can produce. The wines have an elegance, balance, drinkability and precision of flavour that makes them a joy to drink.
