2008 Marlborough

2008 Lake Chalice Pinot Noir, Marlborough

A New Zealand pinot noir, for a change. I like Marlborough. The north end of South Island, it's sort of the poor cousin to Central Otago, which has achieved the reputation of producing New Zealand's finest wines. That's a bit unfair, no? Because I've had some great wines from Marlborough, at the fraction of the price of some Otago wines. But I kind of like that they're a bit under-appreciated. I always like the underdog.

Pale in colour, but the intensity is great - pure fruit, earthy twigs, and lots of rose petals, the hallmarks of varietally correct pinot noir wines. The alcohol is a bit unbalanced, on a linear palate. Not a great wine, after that first paragraph, but let's remember that this is still a baby.

DF