Peregrine Pinot Gris 2006

We had a good experience earlier this year visiting the Peregrine cellar door in the Gibbston sub-region of Central Otago. I found the wines to be consistently interesting, and the winemaking displayed a clear idea of style. The aromatic whites, as was the case for me at many cellar doors in Central Otago, seemed especially delicious, so I've been wanting to get stuck into some of the wines that arrived in a recent shipment from the winery. Tonight we have the 2006 Pinot Gris. I'm not a pinot gris fan, in general.

But oh, here we have a pinot gris with actual flavour. Granted, it's not an especially complex flavour, but still. The primary aromas are of crunchy pears and apples, with a slightly herbal (perhaps aniseedy) astringency adding some a non-fruity dimension to the flavour. The palate is graced with bubbly acidity that is fun and suggests the wine would benefit from some food (chicken salad is on its way). The aniseed/herbal flavour is more apparent in the mouth. Some phenolics make themselves felt, adding both mouthfeel and bitterness to the finish, and I think these are well judged. The wine feels a bit hot, but again, I couldn't say it's unbalanced at all.

I'm still not a huge pinot gris fan, but this is certainly a nice wine.

By the way, if you like Peregrine wines, they sell to Australian buyers out of a warehouse in Sydney, at their NZ prices. Just email them for an order form.