Earths End Pinot Noir - Bets Value Buy at $37

There`s  a group of people who I hang out with quite regularly – and as with most ex-pat communities, one gets to know them quite well – be it what they like to eat or  if the missus is happy with her current group of ladies-who-latte; and  mainly  if you are like me, you  get  a feel  for what sort of wine they prefer to drink.

When the same very average $45 wine appeared at three dinners in a row, from different guests within the group , the game was up.  There seems to be certain wines which people bring  as a compulsory  dinner party present – only for the same  bottle to be passed along like a hot potato amongst the circuit of mates faster than you can say “supermarket swill ”...

The solution is just a click away today with a $40 Pinot Noir which you can bring to almost any gathering with confidence and  without it costing  a bomb - as it hits the spot  perfectly.

Mount Edward winery in Gibbston – set amongst the mountains and lakes of the southern alps of New Zealand, is a widely respected winery producing some of the finest Pinot in the region. Certainly these wines are not made under easy circumstances, with most of the vineyard on 30 degree slopes. It seems that in order to harvest the grapes effectively, one would need to be equally adept at abseiling to do the job justice....

The wine  commands a price befitting this prestige and you will come away with very little change out of S$80 for their Pinot.  The Earths End is the second label from Mount Edward.

Winery founder Alan Brady holds the distinction of being the first person to plant vines in Gibbston as well as being the very first to take Central Otago wine to the world in 1987. He established Mount Edward on 1997 and has developed it to a deserving place amongst New Zealand`s premium list of Pinot producers.

It has all the classic stuff that you are looking for in a winery, with the prevailing consensus being that it is full of chewy dark berries and spicy oak. The prevailing memory for me was a kind of elegance that defies the price point by about $20 at least.