New Zealand again. But I am quite excited about this one. As my regular reader (who, coincidentally is also the major contributor to this column) knows I am a fan of Kiwi Pinot Noir and do understand why the nation is famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, even if it has only been growing the stuff for a fraction on the the time that the French have been at it. This is neither of those.
Week J (2015) Jackson Estate, Botrytis Riesling, 2011. Marlborough. Majestic £19.99. 37.5cl
Not cheap, but then dessert wines generally aren't. It used to be unfashionable to like sweet wines. Big mistake that, as are most fashion based choices, because sweet wines often offer huge pleasure through a great combination of flavour complexity, mouthwatering acidity and low alcohol. True, they may not be the best choice to accompany a beef Wellington, but I like a good, hoppy, bitter real ale and that wouldn't be great with a creme brulee. With wine we should think outside the box, not just use it to get out of your box. Experiment, that's what this pointless blog is all about.
I won't bang on again about Botrytis, or noble rot, because you must be reading this on an internet enabled device and that means you can use Google, Bing, or the search engine of your choice to find a nearly reliable definition on some other wine typist's outpourings. I will, however, note that I was attracted to this wine because I have tasted some great German Botrytised Rieslings, but not one form New Zealand.
How do they compare, I hear no-one ask?
Pretty well, would be the answer if you actually cared. This is very sweet, has mouth-coating, almost syrupy texture which benefits from gentle chilling, and tastes of honey, apricots, citrus and warm spices like cinnamon. In the finish its Riesling character comes through. Up until that point it could be almost any Botrytis influenced dessert wine, but then it steps up a gear and is really very nice indeed.
This is not, at least by my standards, a cheap wine. At this price a full bottle would set you back about £40, unless of course you bought it as part of a job lot when you could get 25% off (that would have been a good idea), however, it is remarkable and the investment as an occasional treat is probably justified. Probably.
You may notice there is a tree on the label. This is, so I have read, a gum tree planted by the original estate owners, Adam and Alice Jackson, in 1867 some 12 years after they bought the land. It stands in what is now the Homestead Vineyard although at the time there were no vines to be seen. The first of those was planted 120 years after that gum tree and it is only since 1991 that wines have been sold. It is quite remarkable how much progress has been made in the development of the region as a major source of excellent wines, in under a fifth of the life of that tree.
Week J (2015) Jackson Estate, Botrytis Riesling, 2011. Marlborough. Majestic £19.99. 37.5clNot cheap, but then dessert wines generally aren't. It used to be unfashionable to like sweet wines. Big mistake that, as are most fashion based choices, because sweet wines often offer huge pleasure through a great combination of flavour complexity, mouthwatering acidity and low alcohol. True, they may not be the best choice to accompany a beef Wellington, but I like a good, hoppy, bitter real ale and that wouldn't be great with a creme brulee. With wine we should think outside the box, not just use it to get out of your box. Experiment, that's what this pointless blog is all about.
I won't bang on again about Botrytis, or noble rot, because you must be reading this on an internet enabled device and that means you can use Google, Bing, or the search engine of your choice to find a nearly reliable definition on some other wine typist's outpourings. I will, however, note that I was attracted to this wine because I have tasted some great German Botrytised Rieslings, but not one form New Zealand.
How do they compare, I hear no-one ask?
Pretty well, would be the answer if you actually cared. This is very sweet, has mouth-coating, almost syrupy texture which benefits from gentle chilling, and tastes of honey, apricots, citrus and warm spices like cinnamon. In the finish its Riesling character comes through. Up until that point it could be almost any Botrytis influenced dessert wine, but then it steps up a gear and is really very nice indeed.
This is not, at least by my standards, a cheap wine. At this price a full bottle would set you back about £40, unless of course you bought it as part of a job lot when you could get 25% off (that would have been a good idea), however, it is remarkable and the investment as an occasional treat is probably justified. Probably.
You may notice there is a tree on the label. This is, so I have read, a gum tree planted by the original estate owners, Adam and Alice Jackson, in 1867 some 12 years after they bought the land. It stands in what is now the Homestead Vineyard although at the time there were no vines to be seen. The first of those was planted 120 years after that gum tree and it is only since 1991 that wines have been sold. It is quite remarkable how much progress has been made in the development of the region as a major source of excellent wines, in under a fifth of the life of that tree.
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