Morton Estate Wines, New Zealand.

Brief notes taken on the night..

White Label MSB ’09 £8.99
Grassy nose, easy and fruit led, lime, constant, relaxed and very clean. Fairly typical.

White Label Hawkes Bay Pinot Gris ’08 £8.99
Made with 3rd generation oak, warm pear and spice on nose. Apple and other white fruits, some oil, quite ripe with depth, something savoury too, excellent.
My wine of the night, stunning.

White Label Hawkes Bay Chardonnay ’08 £8.99
Made from a thin-skinned Chilean Chardonnay clone. Little on the nose (probably needed more time), lacking body IMO, custardy, nutty, acidity comes through eventually. OK.

Coniglio Hawkes Bay Chardonnay ’04 £28.99
Big in NZ and was the first NZ wine to be marketed for over $80. 2 years in French oak and only 4k bottles produced.
Something sweet on the nose but not giving much away at first. Soft and full, baked apple tart, gets heavier, flavours gain complexity on a long finish, needs food.
Its good, but I'll take three bottles of the Pinot Gris….

White Label Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir ’07 £10.50
Cherry nose, fresh and young, strawberries and cocoa, medium length and body. Not bad.

Black Label Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir ’07 £15.99
Warmer on the nose, fuller. Red cherry richness, quite intense with a new-oak thwack. Alcohol was hot. Not great.

White Label Hawkes Bay Mercure ’07 £8.99
Bordeaux blend with Merlot up front. Quite sweet but fresh- a minty lift, summer fruits, nicely weighted, juicy with an increasing cigar-y background. American oak with soft tannins. Very good indeed for the money.

The Regent of Morton ’02 £18.99
Another Bordeaux blend showing its age, warm on nose, smoky merlot, quite fine and complex, gentle oak, a pleasure to drink

Where are they available? I'm a Pinot Blanc/Gris fellow.

These are new to the UK, now available at my local independant merchant, should start to appear is stores soon.

The Pinot Gris was exceptional, I have pre-ordered my case (with a little first-come discount thrown in )

Which independent merchant is that GK?

Of all the wines I tasted when I lived/worked in NZ in 2001, Pinot Gris was often the most intriguing. Huia (Marlborough) produced one that tasted similar to your description, with a ginger note thrown in.

Good to see that they're increasing the range of grapes grown in Hawkes' Bay. Ten years ago the wines (with a coupe of exceptions) didn't have the intensity and class of those produced in Martinborough, not that far to the south. I'm not sure why we don't hear much about Matrtinborough in this country - I was hugely impressed at the end of a day's winery touring there.

Ed,
You may not have seen this post it was hidden elsewhere.

I bought "Te Tera" pinot noir 2008 from Majestic. A tiny parcel in the warehouse. The wine was from The Martinborough Vineyards. Google, they have a good reputation with Bob Cambell and other MW's, and won the Tri nations cup for the 2007.

Looking at the price on the site, in NZ $'s, I bought with some improptu luck, a good price as well. If you are interested in more details - Post a reply. They may be ale to find some for you in the network.

NB,
You tried another Nanny Goat recently ? Or did it wing it's way back to M & S ?

_________________
Duncan

Here you go Ed- Link.

Thanks GK.

Duncan - yes I am interested in that PN. I'll give Majestic a call tomorrow and see if they can find some.

The Nanny Goat went back to M+S. Interesting - I had a glass of Cono Sur PN this evening; a worthy but simpler wine of course but with a similar annoying sweetness