Unfussy Wine Enthusiasts | Wine Reviews & Articles

So, we were pretty slack about getting this done considering we are over three weeks into 2013.  However, here we are with an overview of the top ten wines of 2012.  These may or may not be the top ten scores in order per se, but they are the top ten best and most memorable tasting experiences of the year.  Not to be morose, but 2012 was yet again another personally horrendous year with the loss of Chris' Mom in September being worst part.  We had lots of ups and downs but the wine did flow through it all and we really did try some great wines last year.  We were able to rate a LOT of wines and give most more than a passing grade.  2012 was the first year that our little blog garnered enough attention to be offered wine samples from some wine brands and we thank them for that.  We hope our opinions on your wines were fair and that you felt like it was worthwhile to have us taste them.  At the end of the year, we also came into possession of a ...

This wine was provided to us and it is the red companion to the Sauvignon Blanc we tried about a month ago.  Check out our review of that wine here . This wine was opened about 15 minutes before we drank it and immediately it had very little in common with most of the Kiwi Pinot Noirs we have seen of late.  It is not the light and grassy smelling version we are used to drinking.  This wine is dark and smells big and beautiful.  We have seen Pinots like this from California and maybe France but not from NZ....not like this. Bottom line, the look of this wine is much, much darker than the usual Pinot Noir from New Zealand.  This wine from Central Otago, is cherry red with a slight amount of transparency but is not light in colour.  Super unique compared to the norm and super interesting. The nose is fantastic on this wine.  Exemplary.  Reserved in some ways but very much a fruity and robust smell with blackberry and plum but with a fragran...

We were recently provided with two New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs; the 2011 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (KC) from Marlborough ($23 locally) and the 2010 The People's Sauvignon Blanc (TP) also from the Marlborough region ($19 locally). We decided to do a comparison tasting with some typically Kiwi foods.  Fresh Oysters, Asian Broiled Salmon, and Pan Sauteed Lamb with a Green Salad and a Dijon Vinaigrette.  Two wines, the same grape, different vintages but the same region.  We wanted to see how these two stacked up against one another.  Rather than our typical rating (which we will provide in a shortened version) we wanted to focus on attributes and food pairing. First off the wines are so very different when it comes to food pairings it is amazing. So, we will break it down by pairing.  Let's start with the fresh Oysters (with lemon and hot sauce): KC - this wine has a lot of tropical fruit notes that really compliments and cuts through the brinines...