Wine Reviews
WINE AS COMPANY
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The Central Otago landscape is young, wild and dynamic, much like its wine industry and without coincidence I suspect. To remind me of this sense of awe, I’d open a bottle of the Quartz Reef Bendigo Estate Pinot Noir. Made by regional spearhead and beloved madman Rudi Bauer, this wine is wilder than beautiful but something close to it, much like the place and not surprisingly, its people.
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The Central (Otago) Line
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Making your way back to the Cromwell basin stop in the industrial area where most of the Bendigo based producers have their tasting rooms. Bendigo being the one if the other sub regions of the expansive basin, is the driest and the hottest in Central. Wines here have a touch more heat and dustiness to them but can also attain a beautiful grace to them. Quartz Reef’s cellar door is a must and also a name to remember. Most famed for their methode traditionelle, the bubble stuff has a somewhat cult like following who demand it at every appropriate occasion and on every reputable wine list. It’s great for sure, but I’ve always had a soft spot for their Pinots. Lucky enough to sample a 2001 magnum of theirs the Pinot was honestly pretty phenomenal. Maybe I had underestimated the age worthiness thus blatantly enthusiastic about the result but god damn that baby was smooth.
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Quartz Reef Bendigo Estate Pinot Noir 2012
The Austrian Rudi Bauer knows how to combine traditional practices with new, innovative techniques. Result? A wine of beauty and grace with subtlety and finely tuned smooth tannins. Just when you thought it was all light, perfumed aromatic herbs, a wave of power kicks in that seems to last forever. Succulent and perfect with venison or duck.