Another day, another wine from New Zealand. Needless to say, I didn’t have high hopes. New Zealand was quickly becoming my least favorite region. Seeing that it was a pinot noir only made things worse and made me long for my favorite pinot noirs from Oregon. It’s not that I didn’t believe that New Zealand didn’t make any great wines, but I did believe that Wine Awesomeness was failing to send me any.
This wine, while produced by Mount Brown Vineyards is not placed under the Mount Brown label. It exists as an offshoot of the main vineyard label. The pinot noir that is labeled as Mount Brown-produced has been reviewed by critics to be a 90-point wine. However, critics have not reviewed this Wild River pinot noir at all. *
The Wild River pinot noir still came from the same region as the rest of the Mount Brown estate. The Waipara Valley in New Zealand is on the east coast of the southernmost island. It is considered to be a sheltered part of the island since it resides within a hilly valley and lies protected from the winds coming off of the Pacific. Instead warm winds and low rainfall provide some of the longest growing seasons in all of New Zealand. *
This wine was from Waipara Valley, New Zealand and sampled on January 13, 2018. The simple red of the Pinot Noir sparked hope for deliciousness in my taste buds. It smelled of spice, chalk, and what I imagined the rocks that get blasted in preparation for highways smell like. I was listening to “Holla Back Girl” by Gwen Stefani. Dark berry tastes abounded. It resembled overripe blackberries and raspberries that were baked in a pie. It was altogether too bloated and sweet. However, it was surprisingly great with the hearty Piri Piri Chicken dish.
I gave this wine a rating of 2.5. Thinking back that may have been a bit generous and would probably only hold true if paired with another hearty chicken dish.
Sources: