It’s an exciting time of year as we plan events for our calendar. One tasting to look forward to will be the
release of the 2008 Escarpment Vineyard ‘Insight’ single vineyard Pinot Noirs
along with the flagship ‘Kupe’ with Larry McKenna. His Pinot Noir wines are among the best made
in this country and they are eagerly sought-after. At present, we should have Larry at Regional
Wines sometime mid-March. We will confirm
this and details soon; keep an eye out for notice in our emails and
on-line.
I had the opportunity of tasting every vintage of
Escarpment ‘Kupe’ Pinot Noir over the summer holidays. Here are my thoughts on the wines as posted on my personal blog:
“The 2006 is a gorgeous wine. Lovely
plump, primary fruits, fully-ripened tannins and a perfectly pleasing balance.
Young, but ever-so drinkable now. The 2005 was far more structured, and in fact
a monster in texture. Cool blackcurrant fruits intermixed with summer fruits,
in a frame that needed resolution. The 2003 was more elegant, and now starting
to show a little secondary development in flavour. Fresh as a daisy still and
with super aromatic lift of florals. A beauty that can age still. I've never
tried all three together before.”
As can be seen, the 2006 ‘Kupe’ was the star for
our group, showing the beauty of the ‘perfect vintage’. Regional Wines still has a few bottles of the
2006 ‘Moana’ single vineyard Pinot Noir available. Larry tells me he has just had a re-look at the 2008 ‘Kupe’ and
completed blending trials for the 2009 before bottling. He thinks they look very special indeed…
- Raymond Chan