A Blind Tasting in Château-d’Oex
Updated: 6 days ago
EOS Pinot Noir 2022. Estate photograph.
At a private gathering in Château-d’Oex, in the Swiss Alps, our family took part in a blind tasting with collectors, wine professionals and friends. The evening brought together a group of Pinot Noirs largely drawn from Burgundy, with one bottle from our own vineyard in New Zealand’s Waitaki Valley: EOS.
The line-up included Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échézeaux, Clos de Tart, Clos des Lambrays, La Grande Rue and Domaine Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin. Identities remained concealed while the wines were discussed and assessed. Around the table, attention settled on the differences between the glasses: perfume, texture, the shape of the tannins and the way each wine developed with air.
When the bottles were revealed
In the group’s assessment, EOS was among the highest-rated wines of the evening, alongside Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Échézeaux. For our family, seeing the Waitaki represented in that company was deeply encouraging.
This is our account of a private tasting. Its significance belongs to that particular group of bottles, tasters and circumstances. Vintage, maturity, condition and service all affect how a wine shows, and a single evening is one point in a vineyard’s much longer history.
What stayed with us was the interest EOS attracted before anyone knew where it came from. The wine had entered the discussion on the strength of its character in the glass. The reveal then opened a conversation about the Waitaki, its limestone hillsides and the possibility of growing Pinot Noir in such a cool part of New Zealand.
Looking beyond the first impression
A comparative tasting becomes more revealing when the first impression is given time to settle. The most immediately aromatic glass may draw attention first; another may take longer to show its detail. It is useful to return to the wines in a different order, looking at how the fruit carries through the palate, how the tannins feel and what remains after swallowing. Intensity, weight and length are separate things to consider.
Returning to the vineyard
EOS is a selection within Clos Ostler, our family-owned monopole near Duntroon. Centred on Pinot Noir clones 667 and 777, it is composed for perfume, power, structure and the ability to develop in bottle. Those aims remain the same whether the wine is opened at home or included in a comparative tasting.
Burgundy has long been a source of pleasure and learning for our family. Sharing a table with its wines offered a valuable occasion to listen, compare and return to our own vineyard with fresh questions. Our work continues here, following each season and learning how best to express this particular limestone hillside.
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