New stuff from NZ

[Florida Jim]

With five good palates in the room for dinner, it seemed the perfect time to try something new and different. Three Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand; Imported by Cordon Selections, Seattle, and presently retailed by Garagiste (888-264-0053 or www.garagistewine.com), in Seattle.

We started with some crusty Italian bread and two New Zealand olive oils (also available through Garagiste):

Oriwa EVOO, Nelson, NZ

Excellent and clean flavors of olive and pepper with good pungency and viscosity.

Consensus: use for drizzling on hot food or in salads.

500 ml $30.99

2002 Frog’s End Estate EVOO, Nelson, NZ

Wonderfully fresh and pungent with very bright olive and pepper flavors.

Consensus: world class oil to be drizzled on bread or for anointing delicate foods.

250 ml $30.99

With the bread and oils we tasted the 2002 Fiddler’s Green, Sauvignon Blanc (Waipara, NZ):

Very strong scent of gooseberry, with some musk, chalk and asparagus aromas; quite focused/

Broader on the palate but still crisp and delineated flavors that follow the nose and add some mineral tones, very concentrated, intense, nicely textured/

Medium length, grapefruit finish.

Of the three Sauvignons, this was the wine with the most distinct character and needed to be paired with food to show its best. I think it would do very well with goat cheese and probably will be the longest lived of the three.

Idiosyncratic and not for everyone but the favorite of more than one taster this evening.

$19.99, full retail.

With fresh, sliced tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella and capers; followed by sautéed chicken with artichoke hearts on couscous, we tasted these two wines:

2003 Kaimira, Sauvignon Blanc (Nelson, NZ):

Closed with screw-cap and appeared to have some bubbles when poured/

Some gooseberry and boxwood but not as powerful as the Fiddler’s Green, a hint of green olive with a rounder, softer nose than the FG/

Flavors follow the nose with very slight residual sugar notes that are nicely balanced against solid acids such that the wine is both full and bright in the mouth, plenty of cut when tasted with the food and some complexity/

Medium length, clean finish.

A wine of some character and very nice balance; of all the Sauvignons, the best food wine. A good choice for all sorts of light fare.

$18.99, full retail.

2003 Brightwater, Sauvignon Blanc (Nelson, NZ):

Fruit sweet on the nose with almost no gooseberry, more grapefruit and mineral tones that evolve to melon and pear with hints of petrol and smoke; quite complex and alluring/

Very complete and complex on the palate with flavors that echo the nose adding orange peel accents; round fruit, smooth texture and solid acids make for a nicely taut and perfectly balanced wine; remarkable complexity,/

Long finish emphasizing melon and mineral.

This wine stood very well by itself and, for my taste, is a wine I will use regularly as an aperitif. One of the most complex and refined Sauvignons I have had. Delightful.

$19.99, full retail.

After dinner we also tried a 1994 Kiona, Late Harvest Muscat (375 ml) which was just too oxidized to drink and a 2000 Shafer, Syrah Relntless which, to my taste was simple, confectioned and needed to be chewed. Not my style of wine but others enjoyed it.

Best, Jim

PS Prices on the sauvignons at Garagiste are less than full retail.

[helenjp]

Thanks for the read!

After being away from NZ nearly 15 years, there are an unbelievable number of unfamiliar names. I'll enjoy looking out for some of the producers you mentioned when next in NZ.

Kiwis being what they are, they would rather go broke making 10 bottles of wine than join up with the bloke along the road and produce 25 bottles. Consequently it's not much easier to get hold of wine from small producers when in NZ than it is overseas...but I enjoy all the other stuff I find along the way!