Terrace Heights Estate ‘THE’ Pinot Gris 2011 Marlborough

I’ve a love of wine from from Marlborough, the region that everyone loves to hate. I especially love their Pinot Noir. It seems that right now there’s not a grape variety that doesn’t do well in Marlborough.

Marlborough, or New Zealand in general, has suffered trying to make, and define, a Pinot Gris style that suits, although their understanding of the grape gets better each vintage. Terrace Heights Estate (THE) have been making Pinot Gris for the past decade, with plantings of their first vineyard dating backing to the early 1990s.

The Terrace Heights Estate vineyard is situated on the lower terrace of the Wairau plains just west of Renwick. THE only make 4 wines, with most of the production, similar to most other Marlborough wineries, being Sauvignon Blanc, small amounts of Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, and even smaller amounts of Viognier.

THE Pinot Gris 2011 is an opulent wine. Luscious, ripe, and rich white fleshed fruit abound. The palate is broad, too many it’s just the type of wine they would like served, but it lacks so finesse and structure. The acid level is low and the sweetness of the alcohol too dominant for this luscious wine.

On the plus side it’s a wine that will be ideal for Summer BBQs, hopefully there’ll be plenty of them this Summer. Matched with BBQ’d shellfish and white fleshed fish. This wine will cellar for the next couple of years.

83 Points
4 Stars
RRP $20

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Written by Jayson Bryant

Jayson’s roots in wine began when his father literally dragged him round France and injected his passion into him. From the age of 8 his family took month long holidays in France travelling through all regions and sampling their wine.
UnScrewed has reinvented the concept of wine tasting in New Zealand and along the way found a new and willing audience. In addition to encouraging straightforward wine tasting, Jayson educates viewers about the effects of regional factors (soil, sun, wind) on wine flavours, and how to buy wine.

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