Bacchus wrote:
To my taste, the JE is very nice, but it's still an aperitif / swigging wine. This Ned beast is a food / sipping wine.
Ba, at the Mo - yeah, to assess the producers and growers, many people prefer to do a horizontal, rather than flip around the vintages.Yep, The Ned is clearly different for this 2009 vintage. I'm looking forward to doing a proper evaluation of the '09 vintage from all our favourites in the past, to see who is outperforming.
For the record. I am a relative newbie to exploring these NZ Msb's. Sir, I was comparing these wines to the '07's and '08's and VM CS '06 that I know or just about remember.
Because I was seduced by good '07's and in particular JE 07 for £6.99, I have almost skipped '08's apart from:- Pairs of Saint Claire Oh Block 6, and recently Clifford Bay, one Cloudy, one SC Block 18,
3 x Ned, and 2 x JE and 6 x The Reach, and a returned lot and unhappy Montana basic.
Of the cheaper later 4 in green type, JE08 was well ahead of The Reach, and The Ned just behind.
Oh Block 6 though, head and shoulders above, but a fiver more money, and the other dearer upscale 08's are still in the rack for Christmas, New Year and Spring.
2009 MSB is all to play for after Christmas and into the summer, sprinked in with the odd good chilean and SA ones,
As aide memoir to the old grey whistle test, I always keep one MSB of each / Loire maybe two back for next years comparatives with DYP or fuller styles. But this year, I carry foward more ripe JE 07 which is the bench mark at the price.
The discipline here is
One tasted and the rest C'fwd on varying DB dates, or some drunk and some C'fwd on DB dates , or, All but one drunk and the single B'fwd for comparative. This method produces an incredible choice after many years, yet preserves a chunk of specials that are maturing in the longer keepers section.
Some pleasant surprises
as the ole grey matter is definitely inferior to a cellar record. Hope that helps
Looking forward to your comments on the Cellar S for '08.
cheers, another lengthy post, sorry for that.