Yikes! Prohibition?

What's the last wine you had?

2013 Esk Valley Merlot/Cabernet Sav/Malbec. Consumer/supermarket style wine. Good value, and has won a gold medal and trophy in a local wine competition. That possibly overstates the quality, but a nice wine.

14&Category

( I stopped posting TN's about 10 years ago after being ticked-off posting a note on a wine that was unlikely to be known in international markets, very small production and higher priced. Clearly not french because those characteristics do not apply to a TN from burgundy ! :-(( By pure chance, the producer IIRC was/is Esk Valley, and I still have a couple of bottles.)

cheers.

OT, but is that like the Esk Valley in New Zealand? If so there is a very fine ornamental maple from that valley called Acer pseudoplatanus 'Esk Sunset.' (Sometimes wrongly listed as 'Eskimo Sunset.') Check it out! :)

I don't understand your latter comment, why shouldn't you post about a small production wine only available to the US market? Certainly 10 years ago anyway this group was dominated by US correspondents.

-E

Hi Emery, Yes, the Esk Valley in NZ. The Esk Valley Estate winery is located at the northern end of Napier City NZ. The road up the Esk Valley goes to Taupo, a town at the centre of North Isalnd beside the largest lake in NZ, a large volcanic explosion crater, and an area famous for its fine trout fishing.

I've driven up the road many times, the first part (out of Napier) winds through lovely forest but at the top of the valley you encounter miles and miles of very dull plantation pine which is logged for raw logs for China trade and some wood pulp for paper making. Checked out Acer pseudoplatanus on the web. Interesting.

cheers.

ps Last nights wine was 2013 Ch Lascaux rose. Very pale pink, lighter than normal I think. Soft,easy, could do with a bit more acidity for my taste. B- (on an assumed Dale scale)

I drove along that road a couple of weeks ago while on holiday in NZ. Stayed at an up-market B&B run by a chef who poured a fabulous Neudorf chardonnay at one dinner. Graham

FWIW, I think that Esk Valley is one of the finest wineries in NZ, despite being part of (IIRC) the Villa Maria empire. I've visited there on both my visits to NZ (the first visit arranged by ex-Lord St. Helier) and have been consistently impressed with the quality of the winemaking. In fact, a bottle of Esk Valley Syrah came back with us from our last visit, along with the obligatory bottles of Felton Road, Amisfield and Martinborough Vyds.

Mark Lipton

Yes, Esk V is part of the Villa Maria empire. VM added the Te Awa and Kidnapper Cliffs brands a couple of years ago to the list. Previously brands of Julian Robertson, US hedge fund manager.

Esk V is known as one of the better exponents of merlot dominant wines. The use of malbec in their blends helps, IMHO, to define the style. A distinct point of difference.

greybeard

Had a really nice tasting there in 2013. Very nice folks and really nice wines. Buy them whenever I can find them.