Producer: Spy Valley

Varietal: Gewurztraminer

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $20

Merry belated Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas don't expect a "Happy Holidays" from me. In fact, you probably won't get a genuine Merry Christmas from me anyway since I'm pretty sure I've stopped celebrating the actual religious holiday of Christmas. Festivus anyone?

More Spy Valley... the bouquet on this gewurztraminer smells of cinnamon, passion fruit and honey with a slight hint of cloves. The rep behind the table said that he could sense a bit of melon too but couldn't get the cloves. A nicely refreshing change to my reds, the palate wasn't too different from the bouquet. It tasted of cloves, cinnamon, honey and a bit of pepper and had a silky clean finish.

So it turns out that 1/3 of all sick days are requested on Mondays. Also, January seems to incur more sick days than any other month. I think I'm feeling a bit under the weather...

Happy new year!

J

Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $17

At this point in the night I was really diggin' on these New Zealand wines. It really was very refreshing. The bouquet smells of melon and mineral which is characteristic for the area. Also it had a cold wintery crispness to it which was nicely awakening. The tasting had soft flavours of grapefruit, melon with subtle stone and mineral accents. It had a light body with good acidity and finished quickly. Well made!

On a different note, Brittany Murphy died of a heart attack this afternoon. I'm sure that will be hitting the presses tomorrow morning. On Google Trends, 8 out of 10 of the top searches were about her.

Christmas shopping done! Boo yah!

J

PS: Sorry for the shitty pic. Perhaps I'll get an iPhone for Christmas?

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Vintage: 2008

Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Price: ~ $22

What does the above link have to do with wine? Nothing, just move on...

My first New Zealand wine of the night and it did not disappoint. It won Wine Access' silver medal "Value Wine" award for 2009. Additionally, and in comparison to the Rolling Stones rep, the Spy Valley rep was informative and eager to teach us more about the region.

The bouquet on this pinot was of fresh blueberries and for the first time of the night—liquorice, all embraced by a crisp ruby red colour appearance. On the palate it had a surprising spice which gave way to stone and mineral accents which I learned was characteristic of the Marlborough area. The surprise spice kept me coming back and the medium body gradually unfolded it's complexity. It doesn't linger; it finishes quickly and cleanly. An interesting and excellent value wine!

Okay, peace ooouuut!