I have not had a NZ Pinot…..
Gary, i’ve 2 comments:
1) Not too long ago you pegged Portugal as the new hot spot for dry red wine…..now it’s NZ Pinot….can u make up your mind already!!

2) You are way too spoiled…..100 pt wines…..never done laundry…i mean NEVER????
Your poor wife……..

Hugh

Gary, I have found it very difficult to find Central Otago Pinots in my area. When I do find one, it’s usually from a vinter that’s not on my shopping list and whom I know nothing about and thus I have yet to take the plunge. I have however had a Brancott (Montana) Pinot Noir from Marlborough (forget the vintage) which I found to be o.k., maybe a little too thin. But that was a few years ago. I sort of lost interest because of the lack of availability.

I have not tried Pinot Noir yet. I listened to you talk about it until you said you never did laundry before. Then I didn’t hear another word you said. I was too busy trying to process that statement. By the way, the technical term is “load” of laundry. 🙂

G-Man,

Nice ep. I still have yet to try a NZ pinot. I almost jumped on the Three Miners, but couldn’t justify spending 30 bones for a pinot from NZ. I sam going to have to get on that.

It is a “load” of laundry guy.

2003 Dog Point Vineyard Pinot Noir from Marlborough. Quite good, but not at the level of a red Burgundy. Maybe that’s just my bias.

Gary real nice straight forward not to over the top show today…..no kidding, mean that in a GOOD way:) REFRESHING!!!!! No I have never tried a NZ PN…guess I need to.

Never had a NZ Pinot, but I’m going to order some for a Pinot flight tasting. So far I have Pinots from France, Germany, Italy, California, and New York.

2004 Three Minors – Delicious.

I did a wine tasting with my family over the holidays where we tried several US Pinots and the three minors Pinot from NZ. Surprisingly enough the three minors was a clear winner. All the wines were in the same price range 25-35 and rated well by either WS or RP or GV.

I have had Three Miners PN from WL and others which I cannot recall. Three Miners was good, but will probably get better. I have two bottles left.

My first ever NZ pinot noir was happily tasted in New Zealand. My wife and I had the great good fortune to celebrate our 25th anniversary there in 2003, and while staying at a wonderful country lodge in the central part of the south island, we had a bottle of Neudorf pinot. It was wonderful. We sampled a lot of other NZ pinots, chardonnays and SB’s that week. Neudorf makes great whites too– the riesling being the best of the lot. New Zealanders are absolutely the most lovely people… good episode Gary, brought back a lot of fond memories.

Lucky enough to have a Kiwi friend who always has NZ Pinot Noir on hand. Ones I’ve had (by memory):

Wither Hills
Mt. Difficulty
Osler
Forrest Estate
Villa Maria
Ata Rangi
Cloudy Bay
Babich
Two Paddocks (Sam Neill’s vineyard…the dude from Jurassic Park)

that’s all I can remember off the top of my head. Yum.

There was a reference to IRON MAN referring to Gary taping multiple shows? Well, that’s a possibility but I’m hoping (being a diehard Cal Ripken fan) that it was referring to Cal’s induction into the Hall of Fame. A real class act. Hey, I can hope that is the reason.

QOTD: First off, great show being a Pinot Geek myself. The few that I’ve tried from NZ are, of course, Nobilo (ain’t bad), Cloudy Bay (SB is better) and Te something, I forgot.

My question to you: Who wins this weekend? Colts/Ravens and Pats/Chargers. Don’t care about NFC.

Cheers!
Dom

Go Colts!

Your talk of wine prices makes me jealous. Here in Ontario, Canada, we have a fairly high tax on alcoholic beverages. To get something that isn’t a generic brand, you’re often paying in the mid-$10 range, and up. To enter in the something really interesting category, you’re paying in the upper-$10s to $20s range.

QOTD: My first pinot noir, which was also from New Zealand, was the Spy Valley pinot you tried today. I thought it wasn’t too bad, but it was good enough to make me look around for pinots the next time I went to the wine store.

And Three Miners!!!! Great, great wine and I bought it at WL.

Never had a NZ Pinot!
Obsevation. I noticed the numbers that Gary has been counting down on white board behind him are no longer there since the Jets lost…I think anyway. Maybe the numbers were football related or did I miss something?

Shotgun is right – NZers really are some of the nicest people you will ever meet – and they keep all the really good NZ pinot for themselves – I’ve had US/NZ Pinot from Amisfield, Brancott, Spy Valley (completely agree with GV), Matua, Kim Crawford and Nobilo – none hold a candle to NZ’s that don’t get out of the country – two of my favorites are Wither Hills and Vidal – as time goes by, I’m sure more and more NZ pinot will reach the US – until then, pick and choose (and spend) carefully.

Anybody able to post the names of the 100 point wines Gary mentioned? I’m curious and wouldn’t know how to spell those if my life depended on it.

Rippon is a producer from Central Otago that I’ve tasted and liked. The guy who runs the winery was once in the New Zealand olympic ski team.

Great episode today!

Loved your reaction to the Spy Valley; Classic!

-Matt L

Nice little show today Gary. No NZ vino for me as of yet, however you have peaked my interest. I second Kahuna’s thoughts… must be nice!!!

Gary –

Thanks for the NZ Pinot notes. You finally convinced me to test the waters of the commercial side of Wine Library (see? this crazy “internet” blog thing DOES work!). Assuming the wine doesn’t SUCK, I’m sure I’ll be placing orders well into the future. Too bad for you I’m cheap. Ha!

smoot – I caught a reference to Sassicaia (Italy), DRC LaTache (Burgundy), and a couple others…I’ll have to re-watch and jot them down. All exensive and all virtually impossible to find, I can assure you of that.

QOD: Isabel Pinot Noir

smoot – The other two 100-point wines Gary mentioned were Mouton Rothschild and Pichon Lalande. BTW, the DRC stands for Domaine de la Romanee Conti. Most people would have to sell their soul to afford more than one or two bottles of that one, not that they’d ever find it for sale. Especially from the La Tache vineyard.

Hello,

Just found your site through a link on Vinography. I like your enthusiastic, energetic wine reviews. Bit of a break from the norm 🙂 I gotta ask the question that I’m sure you’ve answered a few thousand times… What’s up with the funky tasting glass? It looks more like a pilsner glass than a wine glass.

Cheers,
Darin

thanks mbannon – definitely just curiosity on my part. no delusions of being able to find/afford them!