Cut/paste from an email I received today from Jeremy:

On the NZ front everything I am reading is very positive about the 2004 vintage. Look out for Terra Vin vineyards (small boutique producer from Marlborough about to become the new Dry River of NZ.). It produces a great pinot noir (very similar to the SQN Acapella I tried with Otis but at USD $40- two labels the Hillside is the one I prefer- needs about 2 hours to 3 hours decanting), awesome cabernet and very good sauvignon blanc. Its the original Clayvin vineyard from la Stada, but the owners have decided to do there own thing. So as of this year no more Clayvin vineyard pinot noir from Fromm La Strada.

Merlot/ merlot blends worth looking out for- Esk Valley Reserve and the Terraces both up to usual high standard.Goldwater Esslin Merlot 2003 very big wine. Te Mata Coleraine and Te Mata Awatea both looking good from the barrel samples I have tried. Brookfields Reserve and Craggy Range also stunning.

Pinot Noir- well where to start... other than the Terra Vin...
- Martinborough is producing more extracted styles more in line with Musigny. The vine age is coming through and they are certainly not New world wines any more. They show cabbage, aniseed characters predominantly (most of the Pinot vines are around 20 -30 years old now.)with hints of sweeter sour cherry. It seems to be a terroir effect of Martinborough. So look out for the Martinborough Vineyards (and their lower tiered Te Terra for a cheaper drop.), Ata Rangi (and their lower tiered Walnut Ridge), Murdoch Jame's Reserve(for a feminine style), Alexander Vineyard (for a softer but very elegant wine), and Te Kairanga Reserve (a huge wine). Others that people have spoken about but have failed to impress me are Escarpement ( Larry McKenas new vineyard- he used to be the wine maker at Martinborough Vineyards) which I found over extracted and one dimnesional, while others have proclaimed it I think it needs more time. Dry River is at its usual standard- big powerful and rich but not worth the price tag IMO.

Marlborough- Seems to be the opposing style of Martinborough tending towards more femine styles- there are exceptions to this of course. La Strada produces its considerably awesome wines yet again. This more extracted but well balanced style of Pinot Noir showing through very well yet again- both Hutsch's last vintage of Clayvin and Reserve are awesome.. Cloudy bay Pinot Noir at its usual level of good to high, but is over shadowed by some of the lesser known players like.. Lynskey Vineyards, Kaituna Valley Block Reserve, Seresin and Mount Riley all showing great wines.

Hawkes Bay- Only Craggy Range has produced a Pinot Noir that I would drink on regular basis. Everything else is a little jammy and one dimensional.

Canterbury- Awesome pinot noir there- Pegasus Bays latest drop is pretty good, Mountford showing its usual standard of high quality- Daniel Schuster Omihi, Alan Mc Corkindale and lastly Waipara Springs all showing through very very well.

Otago- While many people are raving about this region only a few have really stood out to me. Felton Rd Block 3 and Block 5 both showing well in barrel, but worth the pricetag? Not so sure. Others worth looking at Gibston Reserve, Peregrine, Olssens, Alexandra Wine Company, Mt Difficulty, Carrick and Cornish Point. The others have been left on the vines too long IMO and some burnt toffee characters have shown through- not so keen ont hat considering the prices the wines are reaching.

others Neudorf Motere reserve Pinot

Chardonnay-
A long list of the usuals-
Kumeu River - mates and standard label
Matakana Estate
Neudorf Motere reserve
Mt Difficulty
MOrton Estate Black Label
La Strada,
Martinborough
Trinity Hill Gimblette reserve
Craggy Range
Dry River
Pegasus Bay
Seresin reserve
Ata Rangi Craighall
Te Mata Elston
Cloudy Bay
and many many more

Aromatics- well this year has turned out some stunners
Rieslings we have- la Strada Auslese- Otis can vouch for the quality of this wine, Dry River Craighall, Mt Difficulty Single Vineyard, Neudorf reserve, Pegasus Bay, Charles Wiffen 2004, Mount Riley, Huia, Martinborough.
Labels I suggest avoiding that i would normally recommend ..Framingham- I don't know what happened there, boring, lacking good structure and very fractured palate IMO. Cloud Bay- not that good for the price.

Gewurztraminer- Dry River, Stonecroft..thats about it....

Pinot gris (Boardo's fav I know...)- Well since the plantings of this grape has grown from a mere 50 hectares to almost 200 in the last two years there are lots but few I consider of good quality.
Kumeu River, Matakana up to their normal standards, Isabel very smart, Dry River are my pick of the huge numbr of offerings.

Syrah- Craggy Range the Sol, Mills Reef Reserve, Trinity Hill gimblett Gravels, Stonyridge, Te Motu, La Strada, Dry River, Stonecroft, Matariki. All bloody smart.

Well anyway, while a number of these vineyards feature over and over, they really continue to produce quality. Vineyards that have failed ot impress me this year considering the quality of the vintage and their previous years- Cloudy Bay- considering the awesome vintage the wine is at a usual level of excellence, but not stunning. Framingham- been a little disappointed with recent wines, Wither Hills- quality has dropped considerably in the last three years, Grove Mill - compromised quality for quantity and it shows, Chard Farm- the wine is just boring now.

Vineyards that have stood up to be counted - Kaituna Valley, Lynskey Vineyards, Alexandra Wine Company, Trinity Hill , Mountford and Unison (awesome IGT style wine blend of Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet.).

Much appreciated notes from our "reporter on the scene".

Due to a communication cock-up, my Cloudy Bay SB hasn't arrived yet. I'd bought three cases, two of which were for someone else who inadvertantly refused it all at delivery! Don't ask.

Still, I've got the best retail price for it when it arrives and I'm assuming by Jeremy's above notes and some from others that I've got a case of good stuff to play with.

Who cares about the notes... How is Jeremy?

Good question, David. That's exactly what I thought when I saw his name on my screen.

I emailed him about 2 weeks ago. I have not gotten a reply.

I suspect I should try again... and will.

I hope he's doing OK. I know I miss his participation here.

News!!! I just heard (email) from Jeremy. He's doing OK. I will post excerpts later.

Here's what Jeremy had to say:

Quote:

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Well personally things are better, professionally its another kettle of fish, presently as I predicted the wine shop is on the market. We have had a number of interested bites but mostly from Indian or Asian business owners whom don't really know much about wine but are looking for a business to get there citizen requirements underway (to get citizenship you must either have an income through a job, or own a business.).

Either way its time to move onto other things. Will probably spend some time weighing up options before deciding ona job. NZ Wine industry is looking for a wine ambassador to spread the word about NZ wines, so have applied for that. Also some other jobs around that I am looking at, all off shore based as the domestic wine market is pretty stuffed. To give you an idea while consumption rose again in the last fiscal year by %8 the value of the market only grew by half a percent. So that means the average bottle price has dropped. Mostly this has been in reaction to wine production being pushed up.

To give you an idea about the state of the NZ wine industry over %80 is now foreign owned (particularly by LMVH and Pernot Ricard.) and this in turn has forced production up. Like all good wines when you push production up the controls for quality tend to fall by the way side and overall the quality of wine has dropped markedly in the last three years. There are as always good examples of wine out there, but frankly I would suggest staying away from the big brands. Yields have increased in all major groups as off shore companies put an emphasis on the bottom line rather than quality. A little silly IMO in a market dominated by boutique brands (especailly when you consider that a company like Montana is internationally considered a boutqiue brand and it controls %45 of all the wine production in NZ.).

All in all a little depressing.

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Here is Jeremy's new Email address - feel free to drop him a line. He could use some cheering up:


jellis@woosh.co.nz

Thanks for the info, budman. I'll give him a ding.

Thanks very much for posting this, budman. My wife and I will be in Auckland for a couple days in November. I'll contact him once my schedule is set and see if we can get together for dinner.

Cheers,

Otis

Otis, that sounds great. Be aware, he may be doing a lot of travelling. I would contact him soon to see if he's going to be around at that time.