01-Sep-2016
The ‘Awatere River’ wine brand of Louis Vavasour pays tribute to his family’s roots in the district stretching back to 1887. Louis’ parents were the pioneer grapegrowers, planting vines in the Dashwood area in 1986. The Awatere River label highlights the region’s fruit, but Louis does incorporate fruit from outside the Awatere in his bottlings. The wines are classically Awatere in style with focussed fruit. Here, I review the 2016 Rosé and Pinot Gris, the fruit for the former wine from the Ward district 20 km south of Seddon, and the 2015 Chardonnay. The wines appear show a house style of very fine textures and soft mouthfeel. This is a credit to Louis and his winemaker Andrew Parley. www.arwc.co.nz
