Tasting the delights of the Saint Clair Estate Winery

Rory and I had a luxury weekend up in Picton and on the trip up we decided to start the pampering early with a stop off for a wine tasting session at Saint Clair Winery in Blenheim, Marlborough.

I have always been a big wine lover. Randomly though since having a snowboarding accident and getting really bad concussion 3 years ago, I can’t really handle drinking white wine anymore. It gives me hot flushes and I go bright red – something to do with the sulphites in them apparently. So I’ve had to suck it up and find a new appreciation for Reds – which up to this point I was never a fan of. I have to say that a lot of reds I’m still not, but I do love a good Pinot Noir and was keen to give it a try. They had 5 wines for us to taste. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Syrah and a Pinot Noir. I was a little apprehensive about the whites given my now reaction to them, but because they were the higher quality ones on the tasting, I had no problem at all. Even more surprisingly my favourite was the riesling – a wine I usually run away from as it’s far too sweet and sickly for me. The one we tried though was from their Pioneer Block Range and was from block number 9 called Big John. The block is named Big John after it’s 6ft 10in vineyard owner, John Walsh, affectionately known in viticulture circles as Big John. The wine was smooth, and slightly sweet but not sickly at all like I find a lot of Rieslings. It was my favourite by far, even over the Pinot Noir, which was good, but had a bit too much of a kick for me. So off Rory and I trundled with our lovely bottle of Saint Clair Pioneer Block 9 Riesling.

I have copied the tasting notes from the Saint Clair website if you are interested:

Aroma:

Intense aromas of lime and grapefruit leap from the glass with subtle hints of mandarin and apricot.

Palate:

An elegant wine bursting with flavours of citrus and green apples with a delicate honeysuckle note. Made in a Spatlese style the natural residual sugar is balanced by firm acidity creating an off dry impression.