Six of our Club joined Western Hills Wine Society for a Rockburn evening.
The Western Hills Wine Society sent an invitation to us, which was shared along
with our last newsletter, to join them for their wine club evening hosted by
Rockburn from Central Otago. The presenter was one of their wine-making
team, Malcolm Rees-Francis.
Rockburn specialises in Pinot Noir, but the wines for the evening were:
- 2023 Rockburn Stolen Kiss Rose
- Rockburn Amber is a Pinot Gris fermented like a Pinot Noir
- Rockburn Chardonnay
- Devil’s Staircase Pinot Noir
- 2023 Rockburn Pinot Noir
- 2022 Rockburn Eleven Barrels Pinot Noir
- 2022 Rockburn Twelve Barrels Pinot Noir
- 2022 Rockburn The Art Pinot Noir
We were asked to keep a little of each of the Pinot Noirs in our glasses for a vertical tasting as they rolled out. As always, it was an interesting comparison, with some divergence as to which was best.
The Amber wine was called an ‘orange wine,’ and this type of wine originates from the Georgia area of Europe. It is an interesting tipple with a nice orangey colour, slightly murky, i.e., not filtered when it left the barrel, and the Pinot Gris has spent a year in oak. This wine is built to age over ten years if you like to cellar it.
It was an interesting and fun evening with a welcoming crowd.