On the Road to Queenstown: Felton Road Pinot Noir 2007, Central Otago + Pinot Heartland Stuff and a Teutonic Tinto

Last week I had a couple of Pinots (+ one Chard) from around the world. I had stuff from Burgundy, Teutonia and New Zealand. Well I suggest, just check them out ;-)

Felton Road Pinot Noir 2007, Central Otago

In general I try to provide a slight glimpse of background information for my headline wines. This time I am really not in the mood to do so. Probably because Felton Road is a very famous name in the Pinot and Riesling business in NZ or maybe I was just not so convinced by this Pinot and slightly demotivated. Maybe both!

The Pinot Noir from Bannokburn vineyard appeared relatively brown on the rim and was medium dark. Not super tinted like quite a lot of NZ Pinots. At first the nose showed tons of dark cherries, plenty of fruitful perfume, slight oak, hints of autumnal fragrances and here and there some wet stones and mineral’ish character. Unfortunately after a couple of hours and a bit more temperature (approx. 18 to 20 centigrade) it got plumper, a bit clumsy and not as multilayered as before. The strong fruit perfume, plums and coffee remained resp. evolved. Even some alcohol issues arose. Same for the taste! In the first three hours there was quite a lot of gripping material, good tension, some profound mineral characteristics and very decent fruit flavours of spicy dark cherries and a bit of cassis. A certain sweetness was present right from the start. Not mawkish or pushy. The earthing tartness helped the overall picture. So, no real problem. Later though, it got a bit displeasing (at least for me, I think I got a real big problem with too much fruit sweetness in Pinot Noir). Like the nose, the character of the Pinot got more broad, plump (or ponderous), sweet'ish, warm (or even hot and alc'ic), less gripping and def less impressive. Anyway, it wasn’t me! Still a pretty complex and concentrated wine. Very questionable QPR! Sorry to say: Disappointing!!!

Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée Bossiéres 2002

The colour and density of this single vineyard village showed a totally classic colouration with clearly aged orange-brown reflexes. The nose showed some delicate fragrances of ripened strawberries, some plums, strange liquorice and sour dark berries. A certain V-R elegant buoyancy was obvious. Unfortunately this attribute weakened gradually. In the first hours the taste seemed a bit acidic and tart. The fruit was reserved and definitely more from the strawberry plus rose-hip tea side. The minerals features were in existence. Later (approx. 5 hours) a broader, more expressive, less acidic and more fruitful wine awoke. Decent finish, fair concentration, not really complex and to the end maybe even a bit too drooly. A decent and not so 2002ish Pinot!

Domaine Robert Jayer-Gilles Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Beaune 2005

For me the best and definitely youngest wine of the evening! Well, what can I say: I like young and wayward stuff ;-)!  Oh hell, ignore that, please! Crappy joke! Back to the wine:
Super vital seeming colour, a lot of transparency although relatively dark. The nose was very Jayer-Gilles Hautes-Cotes like! Loads of intriguing dark cherry perfume, sophisticate gentle character and a bit wet forest floor on a cold autumn afternoon. Not over complex, but indeed very appealing. On the palate it seemed juvenile and a bit rough. At first I got a ridged tannin structure, a not too fierce acid, a lot of tartness, austere cherry flavours and something indefinable nasty, BUT (right from the beginning) it showed wonderful potential and genuineness. Whatever that might mean!?! After approx. five hours it showed some more accessible flavours of dark and muddy cherries, mushrooms, earth and traces of dark chocolate. Really great potential for “little” money! Dead certain - it will be a good representative of Hautes-Cotes squirearchy! Just give it one or two more years!

Domaine Louis Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 2001

This time the 2001 Puligny-Montrachet! The nose presented itself as nicely aged and still rather lively. I got fragrances of aged lemon and lemon peel, maybe even candid lemons, and very gently nut’y impressions. The taste showed crispness, gentle acid, good and clean lemon fruit, some sea salt and wet rubble. No real tartness, but well proportionate nuts. In the first two hours after opening in a really nice shape. Afterwards it might have lost a bit of power and life. Anyway, decently sophisticated and pretty Puligny’sh wine! If you got one in the cellar – maybe think about to finish it this year!

And an additional nomination from Teutonia:

Weingut Kühling-Gillot Spätburgunder Burgweg Großes Gewächs 2007, Rheinhessen

And then we had an additional participant. A Teutonic Tinto or better a Spätburgunder Großes Gewächs from Rheinhessen. At first this Pinot showed a pretty beastly nose of smoked ham and other fleshy features. Then, after approx. 2 hours, more appealing scents of cassis, not so dark cherries, perhaps some nettle and a little bit too much oak. Now the taste! After a while, again approx. 2 hours, the Burgweg showed nice but pretty intense, maybe even smashing flavours of ripened strawberries and medium dark cherries. I got a lot of nice fruit sweetness and maybe a bit too much extract. Mineral features were present, but not overwhelmingly distinct. The smoked ham etc. flavours integrated in the overall picture and did not make a lot of harm. I guess a pretty enjoyable modern style Pinot Noir with certain barrel issues and maybe a hint too much booze. Anyway, absolutely decent wine!

Really nice tasting with totally different Pinot Noirs styles. Maybe no real super awesome surprise. At least not in a positive sense. Anyway, ... nice one!