Bruce Willis' responds to rumours that Planet Hollywood will soon be serving Windy Peak Pinot
When someone claims that you can buy great pinot for under ten bucks you have to ask whether they a) made the wine, or b) still believe there to be some medicinal value in snake oil. In his recent Top 100 advertising promotion for Dan Murphy's, James Halliday suggested that the De Bortoli Windy Peak Pinot Noir 2008 is well, really good, and awarded it 92 points.
I know; it's a sub $10 wine and maybe not really worth committing so many words to it, but as a recent thread regarding this wine on the Auswine forum demonstrated, nothing quite stirs wine lovers passions like Pinot, even if it is at the beggars end.
I like De Bortoli and believe that, despite their huge portfolio, they make some pretty good wines. Steve Webber rightly deserves he credit he gets and the Windy Peak Chardonnay 06 (and a lesser extent the 07) is a pretty good value chardonnay. I even like the Estate Sauvignon, and that's saying something. Even so, I had my doubts about the pinot; Australian pinot and I have always had a 'Don't call me, I'll call you' relationship and I've had more misses than hits in my unending quest to find quality examples.
Halliday got all excitable about the wine making techniques used in the Windy Peak such as whole bunch fermentation, cold maceration and some hand harvesting, but like Bruce Willis, it just doesn't sing. Yep there's varietal fruit and acidity is balanced, but it's a thin insipid drink that, ten dollars or not, just isn't very nice.
A more cultured wine critic will tell you that your view on this wine will depend on how you like your pinot, as some prefer a young, fruit forward style with little in the way of secondary characters, and others prefer the less fruit driven, meatier Burgundian style. However, I just think that if you believe Cranberry Juice & Vodka the height of sophistication, then the Windy Peak is for you.
Now go and tell me how much you love this wine, until then I'll be seeing you.
Posts
3 comments:
So, not a big Halliday fan then.....
Anyway I opened a Hollick 2002 Cab Sav Merlot - didn't need much for it to settle and has gone down a treat. Very smooth, good length and deep berry flavours. Not sure what Halliday made of it - I just know it tastes great!
I am a Halliday fan, and still use him as a primary source of reference. For some reason though, he's a) handing out insanely big scores these day and b) hands out insanely big scores to wines that don't warrant them
I've spoken to a couple of people 'in the industry' and they've commented that he's 'allegedly' topping up his retirement fund. Personally I doubt that but either way, giving 92 points is in insane score for the Windy Peak. We all know he loves his Burdundy, so what scores is he giving to a great vintage La Tache, or does he have another scale for that completely.
Could be that the 100 point scoring system is just bollocks, but that's another story. Glad you enjoyed the Hollick - I have a couple in the cellar somewhere I must give one a go
BTW did I say 'insane' enough in that reply?
If I cared I'd improve my grammar. Hey ho.
Post a Comment