2009 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, Martinborough NZ
THIS
is a wine for lovers of the Tao Te Ching.
The label says it has "an alluring sense of place".
Well I have never been to Martinborough, but a thought struck me as I drank the whole bottle on my own at a place called Tomahawk on Tasmania's far North East: a forgotten American sealing harbour declared a town in the 1850s, around the time of the Maori Wars.
Sense of place? The evening was balmy and from my deck there were clear views of the Furneaux Islands across the notorious Banks Strait on a night when it looked like glass. I drank the bottle in one go.
Light yet heavy. Heavy yet light. Substance without structure. Why do we exist when the universe itself is so improbable?
Smooth. Punchy. Full. Empty. A sense of place? Martinborough– Tomahawk? Methinks they hesitated. A place that is no place. Nowhere.
Everywhere.
Essential Tao.
A sense of soul.
Essential Pinot.
This is no mere wine. This is a spiritual experience.
The (converted) pinot philosopher
aka Lindsay Kelly, graphic designer, January 2011
_________________________________