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Some New Zealand Selections
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ISABEL 2006 SAUVIGNON BLANC $17.99
 Owned by a former Air New Zealand pilot, this
is a marvelous vineyard in the Wairau valley in the Marlborough appellation. Isabel
is an outstanding producer, Michael Tiller and company knowing that quality begins in the
vineyard. They have gravelly soils with a calcium-rich clay subsoil. The water
table isn't as high as some vineyards in the area and the subsoil holds enough moisture so
they don't have to irrigate to keep the vines going. Mr. Tiller (the pilot) has had
his crew plant twice as many vines per hectare as is normal in New Zealand....the idea
being fewer grapes per plant equal higher quality fruit. Does it work? Well,
taste the wines and you be the judge.
For our palates, the Isabel line-up is in the quality range of "excellent."
First cabin! Sauvignon Blanc, as you might expect, is a showy bottle of
wine.
Some years ago we served the 1998 Isabel side-by-side with the 1998 Cloudy Bay. The Isabel
tasted like what
Cloudy Bay has tasted like in the past and the Cloudy Bay, though good, lacks some of its
zesty vitality.
Mr. & Mrs. Tiller explained to us they used to sell a lot of their grapes to Cloudy
Bay, but didn't in 1998. Ha! So that explains it. (Happily, Cloudy Bay's
latest is back on form and rivals the Isabel!)
The 2006 is the current vintage. We're big fans, as usual. This
vintage has the seriously "zingy" character we like in Marlborough
Sauvignons. They had a bit of rain in the midst of the harvest, so the
first fruit into the winery produced the typically zesty, herbal
Sauvignon. They waited for things to dry off and the second part of
the harvest, they say, produced a Sauvignon with more "stone
fruit" notes and a bit of honey. The blend, as it turns out, is
delicious.
It's quite nice with seafood courses and we've enjoyed this as an aperitif,
too.
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- OYSTER BAY
 The
Oyster Bay company is owned by private shareholders with a significant
percentage of the enterprise being owned by the Delegat wine family.
The Delegat family farms the vineyards and makes the wines. We've read
a bit about various legal wranglings over the actual ownership and
management of the winery. It may make the Mondavi brother's feud in
the Napa Valley some years ago look like arm wrestling by comparison.
Sauvignon Blanc from this outfit is really nice and quite reasonably priced
with their 2006 vintage.
We have the wine sale tagged, reduced from $15 a bottle to just $11.99.
The wine offers some of the citrus and gooseberry notes which typify many
New Zealand Sauvignons. I also find a stony, minerally element
which leans in the direction of a good Sancerre from France's Loire
Valley. The resulting wine then is somewhat in between a French Loire
Sauvignon and a typical New Zealand bottling. What's not typical is
the $11.99 sale price. Don't wait.
The winery also offers a terrific Chardonnay. This is remarkably good,
sporting lots of green apple notes and mildly toasty elements from the oak
and lees-stirring. Half the juice is fermented in French oak, while
the other half goes into stainless steel. Both segments are aged on
the spent yeast and this yeast sediment is stirred regularly to contribute
additional complexity and a toasty quality to the wine. This is a
lovely wine, especially given its modest price.
- Currently in stock: 2006 Oyster Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
(list $15) SALE $11.99
2006 Oyster Bay Marlborough Chardonnay SALE $11.99
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SAINT CLAIR
 This
winery made some superb Sauvignon Blancs a few years ago, winning some
blind-tastings we had organized. Some difficulties with the importer
at the time meant the wines were not available, much to our disappointment.
We were delighted to see Saint Clair has returned to the Bay Area and we
bought a bottle to taste and evaluate.
It's close to previous vintages, displaying lovely citrusy notes and a
streak of an herbal tone that can only be Sauvignon Blanc. Think of passion fruit,
lime, citrus blossoms and a hint of grass.
I was interested to see the winemaking notes on this wine. Some
Sauvignon producers like to give their wine some "skin contact,"
citing increased aromatics and flavors. Saint Clair's winemaker Matt
Thomson prefers to press off the skins as quickly as possible. The juice
is fermented in stainless steel at low temps to retain as much "grape"
as possible. The results are delicious.
The 2007 is a rather dry white with nice snappy acidity. It's a lovely
wine for cocktail service and it'll match nicely with Asian-styled foods and
many fish courses.
- Currently in stock: 2007 Saint Clair "Marlborough"
SAUVIGNON BLANC (list $18) SALE $15.99
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SERESIN ESTATE
 Cinematographer
Michael Seresin is a native born New Zealander but left his homeland in
the 1960s to pursue his movie-making career in Europe.
Apparently his year in Italy had a major affect on his appreciation of
good wine and good food. He was making TV commercials and had
thought about buying a vineyard in Italy. Seresin didn't pull that
trigger, however and it wasn't until 1992 that he purchased acreage back
home in New Zealand.
In 1995 he worked on luring winemaker Brian Bicknell away from his gig
in Chile where he worked for the Viña Errazuriz winery. They pair
share a healthy winemaking philosophy and their 170-something acres are
organically-farmed. Further, all their wine is produced from
estate-grown fruit. No outside grapes are purchased to augment
production, a rarity in New Zealand these days.
Their Sauvignon Blanc features all sorts of "lots" of wine.
Various soil types contribute their own "fingerprints" to the
wine. Some are fermented in older French oak, while some are
vinified in stainless steel tanks. Some batches are fermented with
indigenous yeasts, while others are fermented with a particular yeast
culture. Battonage, the periodic stirring of the yeast sediment in
the tank or barrel, adds further character to the wine. Then a
drop of Semillon is added to the mélange. It's a remarkably good
bottle of Sauvignon, no matter where it's from.
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- Seresin, by the way, has his hand-prints on numerous films.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a recent effort. He's
also been involved with Bugsy Malone, Shoot The Moon and Pink Floyd-The
Wall.
The Pinot Noir comes from three vineyard parcels and is a really lovely
red. It displays notes of black cherry and a touch of plum and
earth. The oak is modest here, so the fruit takes center
stage. It's drinkable now and will probably be good for a few
years. Best served cool.
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Currently in stock: 2004 Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc Sold Out
2005 Marlborough Pinot Noir "Leah" $24.99
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- ATA RANGI 2006 Martinborough PINOT NOIR
$54.99
 One of the original pioneering winegrowers in this
"new" region of New Zealand, Clive Paton saw the benefits of Martinborough's
deep soil and relatively dry climate for the cultivation of red wine grapes.
We see
only a few bottles annually of exceptional Pinot Noir. If you like the wines of
Burgundy's Robert Jayer-Gilles, then you'll probably be as entranced with Ata Rangi Pinot
Noir as are we. Yields are low, French oak is high, a delightful combination. I
included the Atat Rangi Pinot in a recent blind-tasting and it was the first
place wine. Not surprisingly.
- CLOUDY BAY 2006 SAUVIGNON BLANC Beg
CLOUDY BAY 2005 CHARDONNAY $27.99
- Associated today with the Champagne producer Veuve Clicquot,
Cloudy Bay was founded in 1985 by the folks at Australia's Cape Mentelle winery.
They are world famous for their exceptional Sauvignon Blanc, but also produce Chardonnay,
Pinot Noir and a bottle-fermented sparkling wine. We receive a small allotment of
Sauvignon Blanc and dole it out to our best customers.
As the supply is so small, we suggest you get on your hands and knees right now to beg
for a bottle. Following the tradition of top Napa Valley wineries, we'll entertain
any and all requests for this wine if you send us a short and original 500 word essay
explaining why you should be entitled to have the right to spend money for a wine the
whole world wants.
The 2006 is in stock and requires begging, supplication, etc.
Twenty five bucks won't hurt, either.
Their Chardonnay is virtually ignored by most folks, so that wine, while not
easier to obtain, does not require the 500 word essay for purchase.
Here's the winery description for the 2005 Chardonnay:
"Savoury
aromas of sesame biscuits and white mushrooms meld with the fragrance of
ripe oranges and yellow plums, depicting the combination of wild yeast
fermentation and vibrant Marlborough fruit. The palate is textural and
generous with zesty citrus and nougat flavours, subtle toasty oak, and a
long mineral finish."
I am usually allergic to winery and winemaker's
descriptions of wines, since the prose rarely matches the wine in question,
but this bit of verbiage actually does make sense if you've
tasted the wine!
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SELAKS 2002 RIESLING/GEWÜRZ "ICE WINE" $17.99 (375ml) This winery and accompanying restaurant were purchased
some years ago by the famous House of Nobilo (one of their clan is a pro golfer, so you'll
sometimes see the Nobilo name on the sports pages of your newspaper).
Selaks has a pretty good name for table wines and is a highly-regarded source of "Ice
Wine," blend this vintage of Riesling and Gewürztraminer. I
don't know why they're allowed to call this "Ice Wine," since
American producers of frozen grape (not on the vine but in a freezer) wines
can't use the term on their bottlings.
In any case, the resulting
wine is amazingly well-balanced for a wine of such sweetness. The other nice feature
of this is the modest price tag, the wine costing far less than comparable German or
Austrian "ice wines." The 2002 is crisp, mildly citrusy and very fresh and
floral.
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While we don't have the facilities to keep an
encyclopedic collection of New Zealand wines in the shop, we'll be happy to special order
your favorites. There's been a flood of wines arriving in the market.
AVAILABLE BY SPECIAL ORDER
AMISFIELD
Pinot Gris
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Noir
SPY VALLEY
Riesling
Gewurztraminer
Chardonnay
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Gris
GUSTO
Sauvignon Blanc
NEUDORF
Sauvignon Blanc
Pinot Noir
Riesling
GOLDWATER ESTATE
Roseland Chardonnay
Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc
Zell Chardonnay
Esslin Merlot
MATARIKI
Quintology
Sauvignon Blanc
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