Sarah Chang and two New Zealand Pinots

Last night I saw Sarah Chang perform Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No 1 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It was without doubt the most amazing concerto performance I have ever seen by any performer on any instrument. Jaws dropped into laps across the hall at the sight of Ms Chang whipping out the cadenza at the end of the third movement with more speed, force, texture and energy than I thought humanly possible, let alone ever expected to witness live. The poor girl sitting next to me actually covered her eyes and mouth at one point, presumably out of fear that the soloist was going to explode, or at least accidentally release her bow into the eye of an unsuspecting audience member. (She wasn’t too far off – Chang had broken so many of the hairs on her bow in her thrashing of the cadenza that in the brief orchestral tutti at the beginning of the fourth movement she jettisoned her bow altogether and commandeered that of the first violinist to complete the concerto!)

Anyway, it was a jolly good thing that I had had a few settling glasses of wine to anaesthetise me beforehand – I’m just not sure I could have withstood such exposure totally sober.

Tilley’s ‘Interesting Wine of the Week’ award goes to the 2006 Plozner Venezia Giulia Sauvignon Blanc from Italy. Gooseberries and mangoes on the nose. Limey palate, with hints of apricot and an agreeable oiliness finishing with racy acidity. Refreshing and interesting. And it comes in a bottle with a glass closure. Genius or gimmick? You be the judge.

Then a pair of New Zealand pinot noirs. 2005 Thornbury Central Otago Pinot Noir is translucent even red-purple in colour. Closed nose, slightly cedary and stalky. Red-fruit palate, very fresh and linear, but well balanced. At £9 odd it is remarkable value, especially as I had tasted it blind and thought it from Burgundy. 2005 Cable Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir is mid red. The nose is a mix of pepper, capsicum, cherries, stalks, caramel and hint of cherry sherbet. Palate shows strawberry and barn yard characters. On balance, I like it a little more than the Thornbury, but at about £14 it is less good value. My colleagues thought the Thornbury outshone the Cable Bay on both quality and price, but there really isn’t much between them.