Claire Rogers All about wine www.sunlive.co.nz

Think warm toasty dinning room, good friends, good food and a bottle of this fab Saint Clair 2010 Merlot. I can't think of a better way to beat the winter blues.

I really enjoyed this delicious Merlot, not the typical varietal produced in Marlborough. Saint Clair sources fruit for this wine from a number of specifically chosen, naturally low cropping warm vineyards, mainly from the Rapaura areas of the Wairau Plains. Think flavours of ripe blackberries and Black Doris plum along with a nice hint of spice. Smooth tannin structure with well-balanced acidity and savoury oak. Serve with a whole roasted rump, studded with garlic and smothered in whole seed mustard.
(RRP $21.50), 14 per cent alcohol.
The Saint Clair 2009 Pioneer Bull Block Pinot Noir – named after the stud of Jersey bulls that previously grazed a paddock on the site – the fruit for this wine was sourced from a single vineyard in the heart of the Omaka Valley. The vineyard is usually harvested later in the season, allowing a longer ripening period which increases the intensity of the flavours. A luscious wine with ripe flavours of black cherries with a fine tannin structure, great for drinking now or can be left to develop for at least another five years. Serve with a veal osso buco; use nice meaty veal shanks, throw into your crock pot before work and look forward to coming home to heavenly aromas of a nice warming meal and whip open a bottle of this fine Pinot Noir. (RRP $33.50) 14 per cent alcohol. Enjoy.

The Weekend Sun has a bottle of Saint Clair Marlborough Merlot and a bottle of Saint Clair Pinot Noir for lucky readers who can tell us what alcohol percentage these wines are.
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