Cornish Point, Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Medium bodied and dark ruby. Agree with Cleric John that the dominant tone is dry, sour cherry. Very Burgundian in the bad sense: barely pleasant wine that cost too much and had high expectations. We had this at the end of dinner after '05 Le Cadeau (Oregon) and '09 Au Bon Climat (CA/Santa Barbara), both of which were delightful with grilled salmon.

At first the Kiwi Pinot was rather stinky, full of cow shit, and showed additional scents of bright cherries, biscuit cake and impressions of sweet-sour-sauce. After some hours a more fruit full character developed. Not very perfumed or elegant! More a bit stubborn and almost one dimensional. The taste showed intense raspberry and bright cherry flavours, hints band aid, some smoke, diffuse herbal aromas and quite a lot of fruit sweetness (very close shave, but still acceptable). The acid is …

Decent enough wine. Shows well on the nose with dry tart cherries, and a little tar and earth, as well as on the front palate with fresh dark cherries and bright acidity, but falls off on the finish.

Delicius. Aromatic, spicy, fresh and fruity. Starts of with fresh strawberry fruit, but develops a more thick cherry fruit feel. More powerful than elegant (for a Pinot) and there is a little to much alcohol heat, not entirely balanced, but still and excellent bottle. Not the best value though, i was expected a little more. Maybe it needs a little time?

Dinner at Edmund and Shuming's (Edmund and Shuming's place @ the Marbella) : A Felton Road wine in disguise (more on that later), this was surprisingly Burgundian and rather good indeed. Just a little too volatile once the screw capped was opened, but it gave plenty of pleasure when it was on its game. Nose could have easily been mistaken for a ripe Vosne-Romanee at first pour, with sous bois, truffles, meat, bramble, wood spice and ripe dark cherries giving …

red fruits first. slight leather and oak underneath. fine tannins. very refined. this fan of huge shirazes (so I'm biased), trying to understand Pinots, found it lightweight and thin - but I enjoyed this more than most Pinots I've tried.

Wine Education Service - Central Otago - Wines with Latitude (LSE) : Great almost Burgundian nose, lots of development, fruity. Lovely mouth, still quite fruit, very soft but a bit transient.

spicy, big red fruits, nice acidity and very soft tanins. A bit of thin finish. A nice, enjoyable bottle

50+4+12+17+7=90

2nd bottle gave a better impression and was certainly more integrated with a strong but subtle bouquet of cherries. The palate was short but clean but appeared more complex than I remembered. This wine was more enjoyable. Decanted for 1.5 hours and served at 15-16 degrees . Maybe cooler than the last was the secret.

Smooth fruity and well balanced. lacked sophistication which I expected in a £20 bottle of wine.