Roaring Meg of Mt. Difficulty wine Sender: Ian

le-on Mon, 10 Oct 2005 00:56:04 GMT, tu disais-you said:-

I can't say that I agree 100%. At their very best, I've found some (a few, admittedly) Oregon and Califunny PNs comparable in complexity and interest to all but the very best (and most expensive) Burgundies. For example, Domaine Drouhin's top PN was a delight, and certainly better than most Burgundies (which I've frequently castigated for not being worthy of their name). Williams Selyem, while being profoundly excentric is vastly better (and more expensive) than most Burgs. So were the Goldeneye wines from Anderson Valley, IMO.

Again, I've said this before, but it bears repeating, I think. I'd estimate the proportion of uninteresting wine to good wine world wide as being around 5 or 10 to one. 80 to 90% of wines made world wide are without much interest in other words. I'm NOT saying they're bad, just uninteresting. And of the areas I've visited in the world and areas I know reasonably well, I'd guesstimate the proportion doesn't very too much.

What fires me up in Burgundy particularly, is that it's a tiny area - compared with other major wine areas in France - with a small production. The area REALLY suits the Pinot Noir well, and with care and respect almost ALL the wine made there could be interesting. So for carelessness and greed and I don't know what else, these winemakers are - in my opinion - betraying the heritage that they've got.

Of the NZ Pinot Noirs that I tasted while in Central Otago, there wasn't one which I'd clbutt in that league. As Andrew so justly said, it's hardly suprising, as most of the vines have only been in the ground 4 years! "Old vines" in Central Otago speak are vines that have been there 10 years. In Burgundy, if I'm not mistaken, a village level wine (Chbuttagne-Montrachet) for example, a wine can't GET even that relatively lowly appellation before the vine's been there 7 years. So I'd not really criticise the winemakers for their wine. I WOULD criticise journalists and publicists for puffing the wine WAY beyond its merits. -- All the Best Ian Hoare mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website