Decant 75 to 90 Minutes

WELCOME TO EDITION 802 of GRAPEVINE

Decant 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours

Today, we are offering 10 sets of 3 bottles of multi-award winning Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2005 from Central Otago.

The New Zealand red is on screwcap.

You would be wrong to think New Zealand and Australia are the first two countries to use screwcap as a closure for a bottle of wine.

Switzerland was first.

The Stelvin screwcap (there were others before) was developed in the late 1960s by a French company called Le Bouchage Mecanique.

In 1972, Swiss winery Hammel became the first in the world to use the screwcap on their Chasselas which was particularly prone to cork taint.

Wine, though, is way behind whisky.

Almost a hundred years ago, in 1926, Scotland’s White Horse Distillers sealed their whisky with a screwcap.

Hammel of Switzerland was first to use the Stelvin screwcap

White Horse Distillers sealed their whisky with screwcap back in 1926

Whether wine or whisky, the screwcap is used principally to eradicate cork taint.

Preventing oxidation is another.

As a result, wine sealed with a screwcap tend to be reductive. And need decanting for the fruit to emerge and to shine.

I served Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2005 twice last year.

The last time – three months ago – was over lunch to friends Stephane Soret and Eric Li of the Raffles Singapore.

By then, I knew the wine had to be decanted because the Central Otago Pinot was clearly reductive on the nose as soon as I unscrewed the bottle.

To savour the blackcurranty fruit and hint of autumn leaves that are part of this delicious red, decant for more than an hour: 75 to 90 minutes.

Wishing you A Very Good Week Ahead.

You may also want to read … BALD HILLS PINOT NOIR 2005 SET

Check Also

Pickpocketed!

WELCOME TO EDITION 842 of GRAPEVINE Last year ended on a whimper for me.  Just …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.