When The CorkDork suggested Kiwi Reds for this, the 17th edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, I thought it was a great idea. Personally, I had only tried one New Zealand red, a pinot noir from Spy Valley. I enjoyed it, so I was happy for the excuse to explore more.

Well, it was much more difficult to find a wine to post about than I thought. Isn’t NZ supposed to be a fairly "hot" region for wines beyond sauvignon blanc? After visiting a few mediocre shops that didn’t have any wines that fit the bill, I headed to one that I thought would give me several options.

How many did it offer? Three…one being a newer vintage of the Spy Valley (which Derrick didn’t care for too much).

So, after some consideration, I selected this bottle of Borthwick Vineyard 2003 Pinot Noir.

You can visit the Borthwick Vineyard website for background information (they have a nice "story"), but we’ll get right to the tasting notes here.

Eyes:
Medium, slightly opaque crimson

Nose: The nose is faint, even with some time in the glass and vigorous swirling, but some cherry aromas are present

Tongue: Medium-to-light body, low tannins (despite what their website says) and lower-than-anticipated acidity. The flavors are primarily cherry with some cola-like notes as well.

Price:
$25
Lenn’s Grade: C+

Comments: While not offensive, this wine was underwhelming At this price point, I expect to get a little more — even from the sometimes-pricey pinot noir. It’s an 03 bottling, so maybe it’s just still tightly wound and young, but I don’t taste enough acid or tannin here to offer any hope for long-term aging. At this point, I’d consider this a gulping pinot noir and that’s certainly not what anyone wants for $25, right?

Let’s thank The CorkDork for turning our sights to New Zealand…