NEWS

Accolades
Mount Michael Pinot Noir 2003 4½ Stars - Michael Cooper
Bessie's Block Pinot Noir 2004 4½ Stars - Cuisine
Bessie's Block Pinot Noir 2005...
» Gold medal - Bragato wine awards
» 5 Stars - Cuisine
» Top-10 - Cuisine
» Best Buy - Cuisine
» Gold medal - Air New Zealand wine awards
Bessie's Block Chardonnay 2005 Silver medal - Air New Zealand wine awards

Simon Gault
The following item appeared in Simon Gault's Column April 16, 2006 - Sunday Star Times Liftout - Sunday View, accompanying a recipe for roast pork with hazelnut sauce...

"Wine Match: Mt Michael "Bessie's Block" Pinot Noir, Cromwell NZ, $34.50. Soft, smooth gentle pinot with abundance of lively fruit and balanced tannins. Hints of cherry and vanilla give way to a soft, peppery, chocolate nose. Suited to subtle flavours of the pork and the earthy hazelnuts. Can be served a little chilled but at its best at room temperature. Settle back with this mid-autumn pork dish and sample some of Cromwell's finest."

Michael Cooper Wine Guide 2006
"2004 Mount Michael CHARDONNAY (4 Stars) - This is a consistently successful wine, one of the region's finest Chardonnays. Fermented and lees-aged (with weekly lees-stirring) in French oak barriques (30% new), with partial malolactic fermentation, the 2003 vintage is an elegant wine, citrusy & crisp, with subtle oak, good intensity and a finely balanced lingering finish."

"2004 Mount Michael Bessie's Block PINOT NOIR (4 Stars) - The 2004 vintage is an elegant Central Otago wine with sweet fruit delights, finely balanced plum, cherry and spice flavours and quality oak (French, 50% new) It's a full-bodied, very charming wine, with aging potential."