Pinot and Friends

My mate (the Pinot Noir nut!) popped over last night to pick up some tools. When offered a glass of wine, he said "only if you have a bottle open" - what a ridiculous statement; I'm a wine blogger! Anyway, we finished off the 'Arry's Original and then, because it's him, we opened a bottle of Pinot. The first thing that has to be pointed out about this bottle is the groovey label! We very easily made our way through the bottle over the course of the evening. What was supposed to be a quick 'tool pick up' ended up with them (his wife came too!) having food, a few bottles of wine, coffee and long chats very late into the night - but that's what friends do! It's nice to have people over who understand a bit about wine that you can open a bottle with.

Composite, Pinot Noir, 2006, Ara, Marlborough, New Zealand.

This is the first vintage of this wine. Good ripe, juicy red cherry and strawberry aromas with some soft spicy notes around the edges. The nose is quite focused and refined. There is a real energy about this wine. The palate is soft and rounded with more spicy cherry. The wine has balanced acidity, soft tannins and good length - this is good stuff. The palate is quite structured and savoury with spicy edges working along side vibrant fruit. Good complexity. 4/5 (13% abv)