Despite the inclement weather at Labour Day weekend, Alexandra turned on a warm, sunny day for its annual Alexandra basin new-release wine tasting. It was held at Feraud's Garden near Clyde, where the country's oldest winery building still stands. It was built by Jean Desire Feraud, a Frenchman who arrived during the 1860s gold rushes, and was the first person to plant vines and make wine in Central Otago. Most of today's vineyards in the Alexandra basin are small and family-owned, and often are overlooked among the higher-profile wines from bigger companies in the Cromwell basin, so the growers have got together to promote themselves. The region even has a wine map, well worth using if you're visiting. The day before the new-release tasting, the growers brought some 85 older wines from the region - the oldest was 1997 Dry Gully pinot noir - for wine writers Bob Campbell, Yvonne Lorkin, Cameron Douglas and me to taste. It was tough tasting and making notes on so many wines in three hours or so, but it gave us an overview of the evolution of a regional style and the way the wines age. Despite the variation of vineyard sites from the high Hillview Rd area to the warmer Earnscleugh sites, a characteristic Alexandra style seems to be emerging. What stood out for me among the pinot noirs was sweet, succulent fruit in younger wines which develops more sweetness and richness with age. They also retain a lovely freshness for four or