Rose Creek Martinborough Pinot Noir 2007

I was very interested to taste this wine as I am massive fan of the Martinborough region of New Zealand. Along with Nelson they are two of my favourite New Zealand Wine regions – Martinborough doesn’t get all of the hype or attention that Marlborough gets but it produces some fantastic Pinots and Sauvignon blancs. I had my doubts on the discounting of this wine as I previously reviewed the Rose Creek Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc – Click here and it retailed for €8.99. So the fact that this has had €8 off it was a little suspect to me.

A cherry red coloured wine with light to medium colour intensity.  Nothing amazing colour wise. On the nose there was an initial hit of sugary frosties cola sweets along with cherries, raspberry and a little woodiness. There is a distinct jamminess to the raspberries – but for me it is the sugary frosties and cherry sherbet flavours that dominant. Not the most interesting of noses on a wine.

On the palate the sugary sweet candy styled cherries and an weird sort of candyfloss characteristic come through for me. Balance wise the wine is serviceable at best with a finish that has a sour juicy component that was not hugely enjoyable to be honest. The wine tasted a little synthetic to me almost that it had been constructed in a lab where people sat down and discussed what flavours they were looking for and simply shook it all up and et voila.

This wine was a huge disappointment to me and at €9.99 I don’t believe it represents a good value buy never mind at €17.99. If you are looking for a good solid New World Pinot Noir for under €10 buy the Cono Suir from Chile which is widely available. If you really are after a New Zealand Pinot you will have to spend a couple more euros – but check out my reviews on some of the best value New Zealand wines in the Irish Marketplace today based on the Quality/Price Ratio.

For my palate the 82 points given to this wine are a little generous as with the disappointing fruit, slightly off balance and poor bitter finish this wine simply did not deliver for me. However as I said previously scores are a very subjective and merely suggest how the wines sits on my palate.

Robertfranciswine – 74 Points

Available from – Lidl Stores Nationwide

Price Bracket – Currently on special for €9.99, down from €17.99

More Reviews from my Lidl Wine Series tomorrow.