Wine Talk | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

As I sit at my desk writing this article it is pouring with rain outside and I can only hope that warmer, more settled days are ahead. The summer months are ideal for serving young, fresh sauvignon blancs and more are now coming on to the market from the record 2004 harvest. As mentioned previously, a large vintage doesn't necessarily mean a high quality harvest. There have been comments made of the variability of the 2004 sauvignon blancs and I would tend to agree with them. However there are many very good wines out there. At a recent tasting of new releases I was impressed with the Sacred Hill Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004 with its big, up-front tropical fruit characters, concentrated fruit weight and lingering taste. I also liked the Dashwood Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004. It has a typical Marlborough sauvignon bouquet and attractive fruit and zingy acid. An ideal wine to serve lightly chilled if and when the unseasonable weather improves. The Vavasour Sauvignon Blanc 2004 is made from Awatere Valley fruit. It is also a well-made wine, which like other good sauvignons has good structure and balance with enough acid to enhance but not dominate the wine. I also liked the Framingham Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004 with its tropical fruit and capsicum aromas and fresh zingy structure. The Cross Roads Destination Series Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2004 is an easy drinking wine that has been partially barrel fermented and has had full yeast lees contact to add palate weight and complexity. Cloudy Bay recently celebrated 20 vintages of sauvignon blanc with the release of their Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004. Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc was a wine that helped put New Zealand on the world wine map and is undoubtedly the most recognised New Zealand wine label internationally.

The 2004 vintage has attractive gooseberry characters and is a well-structured wine from this premium producer. An ideal Christmas stocking filler was Cuisine Wine Country. This publication is a guide with maps of New Zealand's wine regions. There are descriptions of 427 wineries as well as where to stay and eat and things to do in each area. The publication has been written by Lauraine Jacobs and Karl du Fresne with Cuisine's wine editor, Michael Cooper acting as consultant. Jacobs is Cuisine's food editor and head restaurant reviewer, while du Fresne is a former editor of the Dominion and long-time wine journalist.

Cuisine Wine Country is attractively illustrated and at $16.95 represents excellent value. Ideal as a reference or to take with one when visiting our wine regions.

Consumers are going to be blessed with a multitude of wines to choose from in 2005, due in part to the record 2004 harvest. The retail market is very competitive so there are bargains out there to be found. The advice of wine merchants, wine reviews and the results of wine competitions hopefully help in deciding what to buy. The festive and holiday season is a great time for casual dining, and also experimenting by trying new wines. On behalf of my fellow wine writer Don Beaven, I would like to wish readers the compliments of the season. We look forward to sharing with you some of our wine drinking experiences in 2005.