Indra and Chris were our hosts for a wonderful tasting for which there was nearly a full contingent of 28 Cellar Society members and preferred guests. We filled 3 large tables and enjoyed a wonderful buffet dinner.
As for the tasting, there was one clear favorite with 92 points ($50 2014 Escarpment Te Rehua), which had 10 more points than the #2 choice ($35 2014 Dog Point). But choices 2 through 8 only differed by 25 points. The wines varied considerably in flavor profiles so there was something for everyone, as witnessed by the fact that every bottle of wine was someone’s #1 choice and also someone’s #8 choice. One bottle ($60 2014 Escarpment Kupe) with the floral nose that finished #7 had five #1 votes (one more than the winning bottle), but also had seven #8 votes. Here are the full results of the voting:
The Pinot Noirs came from 3 different regions in New Zealand: (1) Martinborough on the North Island, and (2) Marlborough and (3) Otagao on the South Island. Click here to view a map of the New Zealand wine regions:
New Zealand Wine Regions
To see the full wine descriptions and notes from the tasting, click here:
2018-02 New Zealand Pinot Noir results
Co-hosts Indra & Diane
After the tasting was done, we were in the post-Valentine’s Day celebratory mood!
Co-hosts Chris & Mignone
TASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
WHAT: Current Vintages, New Zealand Pinot Noir
WHERE: Metro, 3524 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette
WHEN: Sat. Feb. 17 at 6 P.M.
Diane, Indra, Chris and Mignone will be our hosts for the “Current Vintages, New Zealand Pinot” tasting. We are tasting a silky, vibrant, sexy red varietal so bring your loved ones for a special Valentine’s Day tasting with good friends, good wine and good food. The tasting will be at Metro, one of the premier fine dining establishments in Lafayette. As usual there will be a fabulous pre tasting that will include some special wines from the private collections of our hosts. Metro is across from Whole Foods and is walkable (10 minutes) from the Lafayette BART station, although there is ample free parking in the large lot that Metro shares with Whole Foods.
The menu will be buffet style in Metro’s lovely private dining sun room with a fabulous Raw Bar Assortment of oysters, shrimp cocktail, and clams; grass fed Five Dot Ranch tri-tip; penne pesto with chicken; street tacos; and kale & butternut squash salad. And that’s before we get to the homemade chocolate chip cookies and mini butterscotch Pots de Creme with salted caramel. Your foodie hosts have made sure again that the food will not upstage the wine on this night. The cost of the dinner is set once more at $50/pp and the tasting fee will be lower than last year, in the $25-$30 range. The restaurant has capacity for more but we are tentatively anticipating as many as 30 diners and a single pour limited to 23 tastings inclusive of guests so you should RSVP ASAP! Shared pours are encouraged as we would like to continue to invite guests with the long term goal of fortifying our membership ranks.
In 2011, John Henry & Sue Beyer hosted the Cellar Society’s first and only tasting of New Zealand Pinot Noirs, opening to us the possibilities of this wine region and the Pinot Noir grown there. We firmly believe that you will find these Pinot Noirs in 2018 are the result of further effort to develop delicious, contemplative and memorable wines. We have tried to select 8 Pinot Noirs based on reports of each wine’s structure, complexity and elegance, as well as recommendations from the wine retailers. Despite California’s position on the Pacific Rim, there are limits on what Pinot Noir is available here.
Indra kindly requests that you respond with your RVSP to indrajit@aol.com with the number of diners (including guests) and tasters in your party (even if you already already mentioned something to him in his slightly inebriated state at the planning event!).
Forbes has had this to say about New Zealand Pinot Noirs:
“New Zealand might be best known for its racy, bracing, utterly juicy Sauvignon Blanc but the varietal that truly reflects the soul of this charming island nation is Pinot Noir. It’s approachable, contemplative (without being weirdly cerebral) and refined in an honest simple way, much like the Kiwis themselves.
New Zealand is home to nearly 700 wineries, most of which are small family-owned businesses. Given the extraordinary range of soils (one winemaker characterizes the country as the United Nations of soils), New Zealanders are able to successfully cultivate a range of varietals: Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah and Riesling to name a few. Rimmed by a breathtaking range of crisp youthful mountains, New Zealand’s Marlborough region is really one large glacial footprint where contrast reigns supreme. Palm trees and yucca grow alongside brisk, pristine mountain streams fat with trout while the air, despite its seaside proximity, remains relatively dry. As a whole, it is a young region and experimentation is in full swing”.
Over 30 years into growing Pinot Noir, …”the results are defined by fruit-driven intensity. The Marlborough wines are consistently elegant, finely tuned examples of new world fruit and old world complexity”. Nick Lane, part of the winemaking team at Cloudy Bay, admits the vines finally have some proper age. “For the first 8 to 10 years the vines just don’t know what they’re doing, and we work with that. But, then it’s time for them to get a haircut and a proper job and they finally start showing potential. Now we are seeing the results of that hard work.”
Eric Asimov of the New York Times in 2011 also wrote about New Zealand Pinot Noirs being at an early stage of development. He noted (7 years ago) the Pinot Noir vineyards are only a “couple of decades old” in comparison to the old world (Burgundy) where “centuries have gone into developing an understanding of the vineyards“. Consequently for many of the Pinot Noirs sold, while they are fresh and bright, there can be a “lack of structure“(tannin and acid) and a lack of “clarity or precision“.
Cellar Society of San Francisco 