Last updated 10:28, Thursday, 07 August 2008

Wine with Alan Irving

Culley’s Pinot Noir

CULLEY Wines – I’d never heard of them until Aldi added a red and white to their premier collection, one of them being my favourite pinot noir.

Heavenly stuff, it made even sweeter music for me than Quo, for as much as I enjoyed the concert, this is also a wine with real status.

Friends had three words for it: drop dead gorgeous. We allowed a suitable time to elapse after the concert to judge! Pinot noir is the most fickle red grape in the world to grow: it needs just the right combination of sun and rain, which is why in the past I’ve not been able to see past its natural home of burgundy. There the very best is sublime but at a hefty price.

More and more lately, I’ve graduated to the cooler climates of the United States, New Zealand, Chile (Cono Sur) and Tasmania which have achieved some spectacular success. Often a tad cheaper, too.

From the so-called New World, my most recent favourite pinot noir (or anything else) has been the Cycles Gladiator, from the Co-op. You know, the one of the naked lady with flaming red hair flying through the air clutching the handlebars of said cycle! Cycles Gladiator is from California, as is another classic, the Estancia, from Richardson & Sons.

Culley Wines are from New Zealand’s South Island, the quality Marlborough region.

Incredibly not a single vine was cultivated there until 1970: it was all sheep and rugger players, but now it’s all change with the wines rightly earning renown.

New World pinot lends itself to earlier drinking. Now I’ve discovered Culley’s I’ll be enjoying an awful lot more if it. Silky, light and fruity – perfect for summer drinking.

Culley’s white is the sauvignon blanc – that’s next on my list.

France’s Loire valley is the original home of sauvignon blanc. It makes a lovely change to chardonnay – that zippy, gooseberry taste making it a white wine of real character.

Neill Culley is a Kiwi winemaker who has established a growing reputation for excellence, he’s described as an innovative traditionalist for producing “fruit driven wines that capture its essence.”

Thanks, Aldi, for the introduction.