Wednesday, 1 April 2009
I've written more extensively on Brook Eden Vineyard elsewhere, but with a couple of bottles laid down for medium-term cellaring it's probably appropriate to have a look at one if the wines that transformed Hughesy from a Pinot-sceptic to a more Pinot-positive frame of mind, the Brook Eden 2007 "Friends" Pinot Noir.
Most of the Pinots I'd tried earlier had come across as, more or less strawberry-flavoured lolly water, but I guess that's a reflection on my taste buds rather than the wines themselves.
Suggestions that Pinot Noir is really only suited to four locations on Earth - Burgundy, Oregon, New Zealand and Tasmania - would probably get right up the nose of vignerons from other regions, but there you go. When finances and access permits I'll be checking out some wines from the other three areas to see whether the theory matches Hughesy's perceptions.
Regardless, the samples of this wine in the first tasting pack I received from Brook Eden were tasty enough to have me lining up for half a dozen, with a six-pack of the "Friends" Pinot Rose to fill out the carton.
The "Friends" tag stems from the fact that the frosts that struck several regions of southern Australia wiped out Brook Eden's entire crop.
Deep red in the glass with a nicely perfumed nose and a soft balanced mouth feel and some length on the finish it'll be interesting to see how this one develops in the short to medium term.