Drinks of the Month

Cambridge Road Dovetail Martinborough 2011

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 21 2014 at 08:33

It’s easy to think you know what to expect with New Zealand wine - immensely drinkable, intense fruit flavours - but this range from Cambridge Road in Martinborough really blew me away

There’s also a pinot noir which you’d expect from Martinborough and a syrah which you perhaps wouldn’t but I was particularly taken with this ‘field blend’, a description that applies to vineyards where a number of grape varieties are grown together - in this case very low-yielding pinot noir and syrah.

In fact it tastes quite cabernet franc-ish to me with its beguiling crunchy wild raspberry and mulberry fruit but it has that characteristic syrah hit of white pepper and the purity and vitality that comes with biodynamic viticulture. It’s unfined and unfiltered and made with minimal sulphur.

I would drink it lightly chilled with simply grilled lamb though it would also pair well with veal or seared fish like tuna and with grilled asparagus as in this asparagus, potato and herb salad

The most exciting wine I’ve tasted from New Zealand for a long time - not cheap, granted, at £34 a bottle (from Les Caves de Pyrène) but world class.

The Smiling Grape Company has the 2010 which I haven’t tasted for £38.69 currently.

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