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  • eclipse new zealand s. blanc

    Its been a week since starting this kit. Hope i end up with the elusive new zealand taste. My kenridge attempts have failed.

  • #2
    I'm very interested to hear how you get on. I first made the Selection NZSB in September '09 and was completely blown away. I decided at that time to always have one of these on the schedule, but sadly the last 3 have been so similar to the straight SB I've not bothered since my last 'investment' in January. So there is a new brand, a new box, a new set of easy-on-ear words. Have they got back and found the original quality I thought put them into the £20/bt class - or are they repackaging? Incidentally, I leave it a year in the bottle before drinking and that seems to me to make a huge difference. So it may be a while before you can tell us.
    Now bottling 20DJs of 2013 red and making room to rack 5 carboys of 2014 red to the DJs where they can wait for another winter.
    Thank goodness for eBay! (local cache of DJs)

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    • #3
      Which sb kits did you try? The kenridge classic and showcase were horrible! No sb taste at all. I even emailed kenridge and they told me to try winexpert!

      The eclipse juice smelled very green and tropical- i hope this is it!

      Watch this space-

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      • #4
        Interesting you say very green & tropical, it's so difficult to convey taste in words, isn't it?

        1993 I was lucky enough to start getting familiar with Cloudy Bay NZ SB. It was 'discovered' a few years later and is now over £20/bt, but I don't remember it being astringent, highly acid and sour. Maybe I've forgotten. But the NZSB I can afford at £5-7 has these qualities.

        "green and tropical", I can guess the tropical means depth of flavour with floral and fruit essences, but how green is green? If you are looking for really crisp, acidic, grapefruit style then neither of the selection kits do that. They are soft and voluptuous, almost off-dry (but not). More like the Cloudy Bay I remember - not like the Chablis I remember (sharp, steely, flinty and green). But imho neither the Chablis nor the Marlborough SB you can buy now in my price range are a shadow of the pre-hype era.

        So if you are looking to emulate the present batch of supermarket £5-7 NZ SB you will be disappointed by the selection kits, I think they are more like the original.
        Now bottling 20DJs of 2013 red and making room to rack 5 carboys of 2014 red to the DJs where they can wait for another winter.
        Thank goodness for eBay! (local cache of DJs)

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        • #5
          I too will be interested to find out how this one turns out. The current NZ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc "taste" is one of my favourites and I have tried to find a kit that comes close.

          The Kenridge kit I made was bloody awful, barely worth calling Sav Blanc and even the pre Eclipse Selection NZ Marlborough tasted more European Sav Blanc than Antipodean. I didn't start drinking both kits until they were 12 months old and they are now just over 2 years old and neither are improving anymore. Don't get me wrong, the selection estate NZ Marlborough is a lovely Sav Blanc but it doesn't quite replicate the Marlborough taste for me.

          I hope to hear good reports on the new Eclipse kit, I do hope it comes good for you.

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          • #6
            Just racked the other day. Had an issue with floating yeasties which cleared up with a filter.

            This is it! Excellent and exactly what I would expect from a bottle of NZ SB! Toulouse was right, it doesn't compare with the 5-7 quid range. It's similar to the more expensive 'estate' S. blanc that you find in the 10GBP + range. I'm so happy because the Kenridge kits were so bad that it put me off kit whites.

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            • #7
              Well, good for you. Now - about the storage time. I do think 9 months in the bottle is a good plan, I pop the first one at 6 and may lose self-control after that, but the improvement from month 3 to month 6 is large. The good news is that it's shorter than reds. Of course there's no Big Brother watching, so if you like what you've got - don't let me stop you. But leave one for 9 months and I think you'll be convinced.
              Now bottling 20DJs of 2013 red and making room to rack 5 carboys of 2014 red to the DJs where they can wait for another winter.
              Thank goodness for eBay! (local cache of DJs)

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              • #8
                Bulk aging, so wont bottle for half a year. But very drinkable at this stage.

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                • #9
                  What other sb do you advise on? Do the selection and kenridge french have the grass/ steely notes?

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