Life is too short to drink bad wine

In need of light and fruity wine? Then this Pinot Noir from New Zealand would be a good choice. Urlar is apparently gaelic for earth and these guys have biodynamic certification. Here what they about the wine: The classic 2016 vintage delivers an elegant wine of dark red berry fruits, dried herbs, lifted red florals and subtle savoury notes.  The fruit is complexed by layers of whole bunch nuances, undergrowth, spices and earthy cedar.  Elegantly concentrated with fine tannins and a silky texture.  Beautifully suited to a rack of lamb or gamey dishes such as venison or duck. Urlar Pinot Noir 2016 Wairarapa, North Island Ca 230 NOK or 20€

This is a "reasonable" Pinot Noir from New Zealand. Quite a dark Pinot colour with a nice smell of dark fruit, some pepper and herbs. The taste is fruity, lively and light with a quite distinct acidity towards the end. Quite a decent every day drinking Pinot for 180 kr or 15$. MOMO Pinot Noir 2013 Marlborough,  New Zealand

This is quite an expensive Pinot Noir from Central Otago on New Zealand (south island). Dark purple colour. Big smell of dark fruit, crushed redcurrant and some spices. The taste is fullbodied to be Pinot with a great acidity and a spicy aftertaste. Its a very good wine, but perhaps on the side. It will probably develop with time. Ca 350 kr. Sato Pinot Noir 2012 Central Otago New Zealand

Delightful Sauvignon Blanc of the zesty kind filled with exotic passion fruit. Bone dry white wine with lots of zingy fruit of the tropical kind. Citrus  and tropical fruit on the nose. Refreshing acidity and a great balanced wine with delightful crispy finish. Aperitif or with seafood. Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Marlborough 190 NOK or 15$

A reasonable Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Zingy and zesty and pink grapefruit flavors. Jolly good with a fresh dry taste filled with passionfruit. Drink as an aperitif, on the terrace or with seafood. Paretai Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Matua Valley Estate Marlborough Ca 130 NOK or 6€

What can I say? I really love Burgundy wines , but this Pinot from Central Otago on the south island, New Zealand is just stunning. Dark red color with a pronounced aroma of dark cherries, plum, raspberries and last but not least pomegranate! Absolutely lovely and so seductive… and it continues when you drink it; Great fruity and fresh well balanced taste with a long delicate finish. Despite a slightly steep price, I went to the shop the next day and bought the remaining four…. Felton Road Pinot Noir 2011 Bannockburn, Central Otago Ca 35€ or close to 400NOK

A long time since the last blind tasting, but that has not affected the panel anything. This is a Pinot Noir from down under was quite rapidly the general opinion to great surprise by the host. Medium red colour with purple rim and with a gorgeous bouquet of red fruit, vanilla and chocolate. The taste was ever so seductive and well balanced. Super easy to drink with smooth sexy tannins. Felton Road "Cornish Point" Pinot Noir 2011 Central Otago, New Zealand Score 17.30  Ca 40£

This Pinot Noir from New Zealand and Central Otago is of stunning quality. Packed with red fruit, cherries, spices and pomegranate. A wonderful velvety and super balanced taste filled with fruit and great balance. Absolutely lovely stuff! Felton Road Pinot Noir 2011 Central Otago , New Zealand Expensive but ah so lovely

Medium purple colour  with a delightful smell of sweet raspberries, some dried fruit and forrest ground. Juicy taste with a nice acidity that is just right. Very little tannins. Overall good balance and a very soft  taste. Perfect cabin wine and definitely Pinot Noir ! (but not from Burgundy....) Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2011 Marlborough, New Zealand Delightful Pinot at ca 240 NOK Score 17.1

This is a reasonable and quite a nice Pinot Noir from Marlborough in New Zealand. Seductive sweet red berries and vanilla on the nose. "Warm" balanced taste. Perhaps not extremely advanced but a perfect party wine with a handy screwcork. Pinot Noir 2010, Matua Valley, Marlborough 

Delightful light and attractive Pinot Noir at a reasonable price. What more can you want ? Nice bouquet of red berries and vanilla. Very pale red colour. Great fruity mouthful with a "warm" finish but good enough acidity. Simple, cheap and very nice. Clifford Bay Pinot Noir 2009, Marlborough, Low price 150 but good quality Clifford Bay | Home

This is the optimum Pinot Noir from New Zealand. Pinot grown on the Calvert Vineyard in Central Otago on the south Island. This vineyard is situated inland and the wine is different from many other New Zealand wines as the Felton Road Calvert is less "sweet" and has more acidity. Lovely smell of violet, raspberries and pomme granite. The taste expresses silky fruit with a long firm and perfect finish. It is crispy clean with great acidity and minerality. Yummy yummy but expensive (around 40-50€). Felton Road Pinot Noir "Calvert" 2009, Central Otago, a commanding Pinot Noir from down under. 40-50€.

Julicher is situated on the north island on New Zealand not far from Martinborough. Medium red wine with a bouquet of raspberries, cherries and strawberries. It's not a light Pinot Noir, rather on the "heavy" side with a sweet warm velvety taste with just enough acidity to avoid a "cooked" taste. Packed with fruit all the way and very very easy to like and drink.... Julicher  99 Rows Pinot Noir 2009, Martinborough, always good to drink...ca 30$ New Zealand pinot noir, Martinborough wine, wineries, vineyards

Found this Pinot Noir by Jackson Estate in the local wine shop. New Zealand well recognised for its Sauvignon Blanc (Jackson Estate has a very good one indeed) also can produce impressive Pinot Noir. Cool climate perhaps but this Pinot Noir has 14,5% alcohol which is a lot. However seductive sweet dark cherries and chocolate on the nose and a very nice fruity well balanced taste. Although slightly too warm due to the alcohol. To be served slightly chilled. Jackson Estate Pinot Noir 2009, lovely Pinot from down under. 30€ . 

This is a cheap version Sauvignon Blanc (new world Sancerre) from New Zealand. Pale straw colour (although from the blue bottle it could be different). Classical gooseberries, herbs and citrus on the nose. Hints of grapefruit. Bone dry white with beautiful acidity and lots of fruit. This wine is great as an aperitif or with sea food. Twin Island 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, low price ca 130, great value for money Web page:   Twin Islands

The 2008, 2009 and 2010 of the Sauvignon Blanc from Cloudy Bay were tested during the Arsenal-Barcelona game last week.  The 2008  Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc had a delicious  tropical fragrance of fresh passionfruit and pineapples.  The palate was long and  succulent, combining exotic fruits with a  natural acidity (maybe a bit "warm"). As it turned out the 2008 vintage was very warm with a perfect hot summer and harvest conditions. Barcelona 1-0. The 2009 vintage was more crispy, zingy and zesty with more minerality. The palate juicy with taste of citrus/lime and a lively crispy acidity. Perfect example. 2009 was in fact quite a cool year in Marlborough with more rain than usual. Arsenal 1-1. The 2010 was like a mix of the two but with a heavier texture. Apparantly slightly barrel fermentation was applied. Notes of passionfruit and more grapefruit with a creamy finish. Lovely stuff too. 2010 had a very warm start with some rain during the harvest. Ar...

I was going to write about this wine which at a Low price of 130 seemed like a bargain if it was similar to other Pinot Noirs I have tasted from New Zealand. This wine is from the lowest ranked selection at Matua Wines and should perhaps in my opinion perhaps not even been produced. Due to an unappealing synthetic smell and taste I had to stop drinking and open another bottle wine. Stay away! The only positive thing was the colour and the screwcork... Matua Wines Welcome to Matua

This wine is named after the owner and founder John “Stich” Stichbury. Jackson Estate has been one of the leading stars in developing Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand.  This version express great aromas of passion fruit, grapefruit and riper citrus. Zingy, zesty and lovely fruity  palate followed by a fine but well integrated acidity. Textbook stuff!  It almost cleans the palate! Jackson Estate Stich 2009 Sauvignon Blanc, 10 GBP  or 200 NOK- perfect aperitif or with asian dishes, P+ if bought in UK Jackson Estate

Sauvignon Blanc and New Zealand has turned out to be a big success. Villa Maria produces a wide range of white and red. This Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from around the Marlborough region and has not been exposed to oak. The wine is thus zingy zesty clean and vibrant with gooseberry flavours, citrus and passion fruit. Perfect for the warm weather that we are experiencing on the west coast here in Norway this week. In addition is it quite reasonable, 140 NOK. Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Private Bin, Marlborough New Zaland, perfect with grilled salmon Award Winning New Zealand Wines - Villa Maria Estate NB!....the Madonna album "Ray of Light" is the perfect Sauvignon Blanc album...... Madonna – Frozen

Cloudy Bay from the Marlborough region in New Zealand produce some excellent Sauvignon Blanc. Compared to Sancerre (100% Sauvignon Blanc) these white wines have the same zingy and zesty smell and texture, but are perhaps less mineral like , less green and grassy but more fruity without harming the bone dryness of the sauvignon blanc giving a really seductive dry white wine. The wines are perfect with seafood, but do well also with Asian inspired food. Cloudy Bay has become quite a cult wine and maybe difficult to get hold of a bottle. If you do come across it, do not hesitate to buy and try it with fresh prawns. An excellent combination, especially if the prawns are from Norwegian waters.