Tastings, tastings

One of my many discarded resolutions for 2009 was that I was going to keep detailed notes of every single wine I taste a la Michael Broadbent. I think that lasted until the NZ Wine Fair in mid January when everything tasted the same. I am not often photographed with my bicycle either, so it looks like grey hair continues to be the only thing that Michael and myself have in common. Plus ca change....

Anyway, Liberty had their portfolio tasting last week with a dizzying 250 wines on display. I only had the last hour to taste so was pretty focussed. Needless to say, the wines in general were of a very high standard, but my favourite was the Isole e Olena Chianti Classico. Refined, elegant and balanced, pure class in a glass. If I didn't bring in some tasty Italians myself, I would say Liberty have the best Italian list in the country, but they are definitely in the top two!! Their Aussie range is excellent as well, albeit expensive. But you get what you pay for.....

Simon Tyrell had his tasting today in town and he had an excellent range of wines as well, with the stars coming from the Rhone, as you might expect. I really liked the Aphillantes Cotes du Rhone Villages 05, which would make may Chateauneufs blush. The Simone Joseph wines are really good as well, great value as is the MArtinelle Cotes du Ventoux. The last wines I tasted were a traditional style Rioja called Castillo de Clavijo - enjoyed those as well.