From the cellar – Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir 1998 – $$
No pic for this old drop bought at auction last year. I knocked the top off the bottle at the traditional pot luck dinner with my cycling mates the night before the annual Forrest Graperide. My fifth time racing, and first time I did the 101kms in under 3hrs. Big smile on my dial crossing the finish line!
The wine the night before was not such a great result…too old, past it’s best. I kinda expected that, as the vineyards vines were relatively young at the time, so were never likely to produce a wine to last 15 yrs. Still, it wasn’t poison, and wasn’t off. The wine was deep and dusty and tannic, with some jammy characters under the complexity and funk; the fruit had dried off, and with it the florality. It was fun to try, and I managed to get half way through the second glass before trading up to a younger model…
