Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2008
Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2008 with my new reference book on Wine Grapes in the background
Finally it’s back to posting on wine and I thought that as its got to be a favourite wine Mt Difficulty fits that bill. But I should really set the scene first to give an idea of why wine is more than just a beverage, it’s 6.00pm on a Saturday evening and we are sitting in the backyard of our holiday cottage watching the birds coming in to drink, eat and interact with each other. There are 4 Common Bronzewing Pigeons around the birdbath, Wattle Birds flitting in and out of the trees making a racket and creating general havoc, a couple of Pink & Grey Galahs eating seeds next to the house a couple of Australian Ringnecks high up in the eucalypts just outside the property and a family of Magpies lording over it all. An all round relaxing place and time to be drinking wine.
Even a Two Buck Chuck1 would taste good in this setting but a wine with a little more complexity is elevated to greater heights, something a Coke or Pepsi Max could never do. One senses come alive and one sees more in the wine than if it was been drunk out of a foam cup in a fast food joint (as in the movie Sideways).
Back to the wine. Nose is a beautiful scent of dark cherry and raspberry with a hint of the alcohol that one comes to expect from a Central Otago Pinot, the dark cherry fruits follow through into the palate with a wonderful sense of brightness for some subtle acidity and there are light fine tannins which give a truly beautiful mouth filling feel that lingers on well after the wine is gone and getting ready for the next mouth full. This is defiantly a wine that is at its best drinking after a couple of extra years in the bottle, it gives the wine time to balance out and not be dominated by either the fruit or wood.
As there are still some 13 bottles residing in the Wine Room, this will be a favorite that needs drinking over the summer and I’m sure there will be more than one or two Santa’s little helpers out there who will lend a hand.
After drinking another glass (kept under Argon in the Wine Room) 2 days after opening, I came to the conclusion this will get even better with some more bottle age, it had developed more earthy animal flavours and the were hints of wild thyme on the nose, this is great value Pinot.
Purchased from Langtons for $40.00 per bottle
winelibertarian.com 