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The Wine Press
ESSEX COUNTY WINE SOCIETY
As summer 2005 ends we hope you can look back with some
fond memories of the summer and we suspect some of the thoughts will be of
pleasurable wines you have drunk. Thirty-three years ago the Essex County
Wine Society was begun in order to experience the diverse world of wines.
In the coming year, 2005-2006, we will taste wines from California, France,
Italy and New Zealand. The variety of wines to be presented will be wide.
Our vinous education continues.
This letter is being written before the first event of
the year, the Fall dinner at Chez Mark Chase in Montclair. Comments, if
any, on the wine served at the dinner will be reserved for the next Wine
Press.
Our October 6, 2005 tasting is a first for the
Society. We will be sampling a selection of Pinot Noirs from New Zealand.
Our presenter and long-term ECWS member, Ron Simpson, is a New Zealand
native. Ron spends six months of the year in New Zealand on the South
Island near where many of these wines are made. He knows many of the wine
makers personally.
New Zealand first had grape vines planted in 1819 but
it is only in the past twenty or twenty-five years that “Pinot Noir has been
propelled from relative obscurity to superstar status” (Jancis Robinson in
Decanter- New Zealand 2005 supplement). Oz Clarke, another British wine
writer, says – forget about Oregon and California, the best burgundies are
coming from New Zealand.
New Zealand is really two islands, North and South (the
West Island, also known as Australia is not pertinent to this discussion).
From top to the bottom New Zealand measures about 1000 miles. According to
New Zealand Wine (in a promotional brochure), the temperate maritime
climate, strong clear sun and cooling sea breezes are great for wine. The
country contains diverse microclimates although the North Island, being
closer to the equator, tends to be warmer and more suitable to wines
requiring more intense heat for ripening. There are areas in the North
Island which are cooler and provide the appropriate conditions for Pinot
Noir. Jancis Robinson feels that there are at “at least six wine regions
[which] demonstrate there own distinctive take on the red burgundy
grape”(Decanter- New Zealand 2005). We will be tasting wine from several of
these areas.
Rosemary George in the Wines of New Zealand (Faber and
Faber 1996) notes that the “Pinot Noir grape is a temperamental grape
variety. . . reluctant to show its true quality . . . of all the vinous
varieties in the New World, Pinot Noir has adopted with the most difficulty.
. . New Zealand’s advantage over the rest of the New World is that it has a
longer growing season than anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, with a
cooler climate combined with more daylight hours”. “New Zealand Pinots tend
to be lighter than Northern California’s finest examples, although there are
certain similarities with the breezy fruitiness of many of the Central
Coast*. As [compared to] Burgundy, New Zealand wine is different. It is
sweeter, more obviously fruity, much more open and, for the moment anyway,
will not live as long (J. Robinson Decanter- New Zealand 2005)”.
The South Island, especially Central Otago (and Ron’s
home), will be source of many of the wines to be tasted. It is reported
that this area, which is near the 45th parallel latitude South
(Bordeaux is at the 45th parallel latitude North) has a
continental climate with long, dry summers and snow in the winter. While
the number of wineries and wine grape acreage has increased three-fold in
New Zealand in the past 10 years the number of wineries in Central Otago has
increased ten times.
We will taste ten of the most awarded Pinot Noirs on
October 6, 2005. Four will be from Mt. Difficulty, including a 2002
Pipeclay Terrace, which was named the Champion Wine of the show at the
prestigious Bragato Wine Awards 2004. The 2002 Pinot Noir was the Champion
Pinot Noir at the New Zealand Wine Society’s Royal Easter Show 2004. We
will have two wines from Felton Road said to have put Central Otago on the
international wine map (Cuisine, Wine Country, 2005). We will have a wine
from the North Island, Martinborough Vineyard, called “trendsetting” by
Cuisine. Other wines to be presented include those from Mount Maude,
Richardson and Valli. Valli’s Pinot Noir Gibbston received 5 stars (out of
5) in the Winestate magazine.
We certainly look forward to this tasting.
The tasting following the Pinot Noir tasting is on
November 3, 2005 and it will be of the 2001 California Cabernets conducted
by Linda Smith.
The cost of the tasting will be $44 for members and
$52 for guests.
Our web site is ecwsnj.com and includes the 2005-2006
schedule and copies of the Wine Press as well as information on the purpose
and history of the society. If you should find individuals who might be
interested in joining our group, consider referring them there.
In vino veritas and a votre sante\
Bob and Howard
*a California Central Coast Pinot Noir Tasting is
Scheduled for March of 2006
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