Riesling from New Zealand – Marlborough 18.5/20
Bright straw-yellow with some lemon hues, the nose is bright with ripe, vibrant, lime fruit and flinty reductive aromas interwoven, forming good concentration and intensity, revealing honey notes. Dry to taste, this is elegantly proportioned with good body and a core of fresh lime-like fruit flavours, the flinty, minerally elements more subtle. The mouthfeel is racy and acidic, providing liveliness and linearity, and the wine finishes more restrained and very long. This is fresh and bright, with stylish funkiness. 20-30% fermented in old wood to 13.0% alc. and around 6 g/L rs. 18.5/20 Feb 2013
Made from 30 y.o. vines, fruit WBP, spontaneous ferment with 25% in old oak to 13.0% alc. and 6 g/L rs, aged on lees 10 months. Complex with soft reductive notes, quite well integrated with florals and minerals, but with good acidity underlying. Possessing liveliness, but a fine textured thread is present, soft mouthfeel and a dry richness. This has weight and some breadth, certainly not classical New Zealand, but still very identifiably Riesling. 18.5-/20 Feb 2013
Brilliant straw-yellow colour with lemon-green hues, pale on rim. The nose is very powerful, with robust lime, floral and peach fruit aromas along with complex flinty, smoke notes, all expressed with liveliness. Dry to taste, complex layers of detailed nuances of limes, florals and stonefruits unfold to reveal smoke and flint. The flavours are enlivened by crisp, racy and slippery acidity underlined by a fine textural line. The weight and presence is driven and shows great energy, providing a degree of elegance and real vitality. Concentrated citrus and flint flavours feature on a long, fine finish which possesses a little phenolic drying grip. This is a complex and detailed Riesling with great weight allied to raciness. Match with seafood over the next 5-6 years. Estate grown fruit from the oldest vines, hand-picked and WBP, wild yeast fermented to 13.0% alc. and 6 g/L rs, the wine given 9 months lees contact with partial maturation in seasoned oak barrels. 18.5+/20 Jul 2012 RRP $39.95
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Viognier from New Zealand – Marlborough 18-/20
Bright, even straw-yellow colour with slight green-gold hues, pale on rim. The bouquet is very fine, fresh and elegant with pure apricot and citrus zest aromas infused with herbs and flinty nuances, the nose possessing excellent depth and intensity. Dry to taste, very fine, intense and pure flavours of citrus zest, apricots and tropical fruits are enlivened by racy, slippery acidity. This has an unctuous oiliness along with a little alcoholic heat and power, all contributing to an excellent core. Complexing notes of flinty lees emerge in the glass and are carried through to a long, delicately nuanced finish. This is an elegant Viognier with some raciness and unctuousness and building power. Serve with Asian seafood and poultry dishes over the next 3-4 years. Estate grown fruit, hand-picked and WBP, indigenous yeast fermented to 14.5% alc. and 6 g/L rs, with 30% in barrel, the wine aged on lees approx. 9 months. 18.0-/20 Jul 2012 RRP $34.95
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Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand – Marlborough17.5/20
Bright, even straw-yellow colour with green-gold hues, lighter on edge. This has good presence on bouquet, the aromas somewhat restrained, showing gooseberry fruit, and spicy herbs and secondary green bean elemens intermixed with some earthy, flinty lees work. The nose is dense and well-integrated. Dry and full-bodied, reserved, but complex flavours of nectarines, gooseberries, herbs and flinty notes are interwoven, forming a core with good depth and drive through the length of the palate. The flavours build to fill the palate, providing a full, rounded mouthfeel, and carry through to a moderately sustained finish. This is a complex, weighty Sauvignon Blanc with reserved flavours, but real presence. Match with herb-marinated seafood, pasta and poultry dishes over the next 2-3 years. Estate grown fruit, hand-picked and WBP, 65% barrel fermented with wild yeasts to 14.5% alc., the wine given 9 months lees contact. 17.5/20 Jul 2012 RRP $34.95
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Pinot Gris from New Zealand – Marlborough18/20
Estate grown fruit hand-picked and WBP, 30% indigenous yeast fermented in seasoned oak and stainless-steel barrels to 14.5% alc. and 9 g/L rs, the wine given batonnage, undergoing partial MLF. Bright pale, straw-yellow colour with lemon-green hues, concentrated aromas of stonefruits, pears and steely minerals build with depth and intensity on the nose. Off-dry to taste, this has softly rich and lush white stonefruit and subtly spiced pear flavours enlivened by bright acidity. The palate is powerful and has good body, being driven by the alcohol, some heat showing, but adding to the smooth, rounded textures. The wine comes together with good balancing sweetness and fruitiness on the finish, with lingering flavours of juicy pears. Subtle in flavour, this Pinot Gris is full in body with luscious richness and power. Match with Asian cuisine over the next 4-5 years. 18.0/20 Jul 2012 RRP $24.95
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Gewurztraminer from New Zealand – Marlborough17.5/20
Brilliant straw-yellow colour with some lemon hues, pale on rim. Elegantly proportioned on bouquet, this has well-concentrated, firm aromas of rose-petals and Turkish Delight that reveal notes of flinty lees work which add interest. Medium-dry to taste, flavours of rose-petals, ginger spice, honey and minerals flow gently through a weighty, concentrated palate. The mouthfeel is rounded and soft, and the acidity is low, adding to the fruit lusciousness, with a little heat apparent. The flavours have drive, and lead to a moderately long, layered finish of gentle floral and spice notes intermixed with flint and minerals. This is a soft, luscious Gewurztraminer with complexing lees work. Serve with Middle Eastern fare over the next 3-4 years. Estate grown fruit hand-picked and WBP, 80% wild yeast fermented in seasoned oak to 13.5% alc. and 13 g/L rs, the wine given 5 months lees contact. 17.5/20 Jul 2012 RRP $27.95
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Montepulciano from New Zealand – Marlborough16.5+/20
Hand-picked fruit from the ‘Kaituna' vineyard, destemmed and given a cold soak, and fermented to 13.0% alc., the wine aged in 30% new French oak barriques for 18 months. Dark, deep, ruby-red colour with youthful purple hues. Very fresh, intensely penetrating aromas herbs and dark cherry fruits combine with dark raspberry and minerally notes on the nose. Medium-full-bodied, up-front, bright and juicy fruit flavours of dark raspberries infused with herbs and stalky elements show strongly on impact, but become more restrained through the palate length. There is good vinous mouthfeel with fine, grainy tannin structure and soft acidity in support, the extraction building and becoming more prominent. The wine finishes with individual herb and dark red fruit flavours along with some crisp acidity, and firm tannins. A medium-bodied Montepulciano with distinctive herb and dark berry flavours and a firmness to the mouthfeel. Serve with pizza and barbecued foods over the next 3-4+ years. 16.5+/20 Jul 2012 RRP $34.95
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