Recommendation: Not recommended.
Winery/Producer: Man O’ War Vineyards; Eastern Waiheke Island, New Zealand.
Grape Variety: Pinot Gris.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Ponui Island, New Zealand.
Vintage: 2014
Price: $30.99 (NZ$) about $23.50 (US$) plus a $20 corking fee.
Purchased From: Glengarry Wines, City Store; Auckland, New Zealand.
Paired With: Caesar salad with garlic and parmesan cheese. Creole chicken and shrimp curry, cooked by Queen Mary 2 Mauritius chefs, with basmati rice, pharata and cucumber salad.
Tasting:
He said: Chilled before drinking. Clear, dark sparkling golden color. Light rose and very ripe pear aromas. Strong, slightly sweet, overripe apple taste that goes into a long finish with just a tad of tartness at the end. In a blind tasting I might have said this was a Riesling with its heavy sweetness. It’s not the kind of wine we drink often, but we selected it to go with a Mauritius creole dinner we expected to be spicy and possibly a little hot. Unfortunately the dinner was very mildly spiced so the wine never did what is was suppose to have done…cooled the hot spicy meal. In the end we’re glad to have tried another New Zealand Pinot Gris and concluded that it’s pretty good but just not a wine for us.
She said: Clear with lots of well spaced legs that start slowly and then zip down the glass. Very mild aroma that blossoms as the wine touches the palate with its ripe, sweet fruit flavor. The wine has plenty of weight in the mouth and is smooth, but sweeter than I like. The finish was long and very nice with lots of the fruitiness. We chose the wine to pair with a dinner we though would be spicy and hot. It wasn’t, although tasty and moderately spicy it didn’t live up to our expectation for the wine. Although the pairing was acceptable it was not outstanding. Too sweet for sipping but its sweetness was not a big asset for the not-so spicy food. The dinner was difficult to pair with wine, and not surprising since wine is not a customary drink with Mauritius creole.
Comments: Purchased from a Auckland, New Zealand wine shop and consumed in the Britannia Restaurant on board the Cunard Queen Mary 2.
Alcohol: 12.5%
Bar code: 9 421000 330323
Imported by: NA