Last night I took my sister to one of my favourite restaurants, El Matador.
Of course it wouldn't be dinner out without a glass of wine. I had the La Multa 'Old Vine' Garnacha 2011. It was the perfect match for my plate of sweetbreads.
Other wines drunk since New Year are an old favourite Lawsons Dry Hills Gewurtztraminer, Rockburn Tigermoth Riesling, Chard Farm Riesling, and Red Knot GSM.
Last month in Auckland we visited the Villa Maria winery near the airport. It amazed me that it's right in amongst an industrial area but as you drive down the driveway past the rows of vines, you can forget you are within the bounds of New Zealand's largest city.
We tried several of their range - the Cellar Selection 2010 pinot noir (Marlborough), Syrah 2010 (Gimlett Gravels), Reserve Cab Merlot 2007 (Gimlett Gravels), Reserve Semillon Botrytis 2011, Methode Traditionelle (Pinot Noir grapes from Auckland, Chardonnay from Hawke's Bay), Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (Marlborough), Reserve Chardonnay 2012 (Hawke's Bay).
That's quite a good tasting line up.
I was particularly taken by the chardonnay. It would be easy to drink without food. 100% maloactic fermentation resulted in an amazingly creamy, buttery wine. Exactly how I like my chardonnay.
The sparkling, too was surprisingly tasty - excellent balance - not too sweet nor dry and with beautiful fruitiness coming through.
However the two bottles I walked away with were ones I didn't actually taste. I can't wait to try them. They were the Omahu Gravels Viognier 2010 and the Ihumatao Vineyard Verdelho 2011.
I took two bottles of Argentine wine up with me that were great but I can't for the life of me remember the names. One a malbec and one cab sav.
I think I'll keep a list of everything I taste from now on and hopefully by the end of the year I hit 300 :-)
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