Glengarry Event Report

PYRAMID VALLEY VINEYARDS - WITH CLAUDIA WEERSING

Event Venue	Glengarry Thorndon, 53 Hutt Rd, Thorndon
Event Date	6:00pm Wednesday 30 May

When I got the brief for the Pyramid Valley tasting I was pleased. I had heard a bit about Mike and Claudia's journey to find the perfect spot to produce the wines that they wanted to showcase. What I was unprepared for was the dedication that they both put in to the entire programme. Even finding the perfect site took them about seven years as they were looking for the perfect limestone that Pinot Noir and Chardonnay loves. Claudia was an amazing communicator and had me enthralled straight out of the starting gates. Every step at Pyramid Valley wines is in place to ensure the health and wellbeing of every grape, and it works, all the wines had a common thread and every tasting note that I wrote contained structure and vibrancy, these wines danced on the palate.

All the wines were superb but my top 3 were the Rose which is a one-off wine made from two of their Pinot Noir home blocks, it was mouth filling an off dry style, not overtly fruity and very much a food wine. The Lions Tooth Chardonnay 2015 that we tasted was among the top New Zealand Chardonnays that I have tried, it had aromas of citrus and sweet spice while the palate was silky (I am a sucker for a silky palate) and weighty and the finish was long reminiscent of good White Burgundy, it just kept going and going, this is well worth its price tag. The other stand out was the Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, this wine was savoury and earthy and again had great palate weight. This is one wine that is worth finding a gap in your cellar for. Other wines in their repertoire are Sutherland Till Chardonnay from Marlborough it was lush and creamy, also a Pinot Blanc/Gris blend that had a suggestion of sweet but finished dry that was superb. There is also another Pinot Noir that is from Marlborough that was rich and plummy and a Cabernet franc from Hawkes Bay aromatic, fine grained and delicious. Fantastic wines, a passionate owner a good night was had by all.