Divisive

It is incredible how one wine can be so divisive.  There we were at the A-Prentices and we joined The Prince for a glass or two of wine.  The Prince had his team with him, and they had been supping a few wines to start with.  One of the themes that they went down was 2008 Pinot Noir, so if anything, these fellows would have had a good perspective and setting to make a good judgement on the 2008 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir we added to the mix.  Their bottles included the likes of a Dujac premier cru red burgundy, a By Farr Geelong Auusie Pinot, and the likes of Craggy Range ‘Aroha’ and one of the Escarpment ‘Insight’ Pinots.

On pouring, immediately there was an expression of disappointment.  Head shaking, noses screwed up and mutterings under their breath.  Comments included “out of condition”, “dull fruit”, “unbalanced” and “not going anywhere”.  These words from people whose opinions matter.  Then there was the minority camp.  “Bright and juicy, succulent fruit”, “still primary”, “layers of flavour” and “beautifully structured”.  Of course SWMBO, The Prince and I were in this group.  Our faces had smiles and our eyes were bright.

 

Maybe we were influenced by our history – it was after all, our bottle, and we were proud of bringing it, therefore it had to be good.  We weren’t influenced by what the others had before.  Maybe they were being too critical?  Maybe they went down the wrong path?  Eventually we moved on and agreed to disagree, even though they were wrong.