Rendered fairly austere by it's richness of body. Lovely old fashioned Marlborough flavour of blackcurrant comes through quite well but there's no passion fruit, boxwood or capsicum complexity on the finish cos the finish is buried underneath the lees/oak.

Yawn

Thanks for letting me, thanks for letting us know.

Goose, I so nearly bought the Avery MSB last time, when the 25% campaign was running, and on the previous occasion when the 2012 was on offer. Yet your TN is ok for me.

My current top MSBs are the Villa Maria reserve wines, with Taylor's Pass perhaps taking the top spot for overall dimension. I do not know how Clifford Bay '12 or '13 performs though, nor the Astro '13's i have, which I have fought to keep back in my rack.

At the mo, Cellar selection '13 is still popping spritz on first opening, I have not kept any though, because VMCS then became my budget MSB this spring from the Co-Op deal. Like you, I have the same problem, the "also rans" nothing doing styles have become a yawn. I will def. try an Avery next time for a change, since, as you describe, a "classic" old school Marlborough is harder to find.

Yeah, supping a satisfying MSB is an expensive business these days.

_________________
Duncan