02-Feb-2017
The Mission ‘Reserve’ range in the black-labelled bottles are essentially the premium wines of the company. Their affordability and wide placement in the different marketing channels belie their quality, which has risen steadily over the years, to such an extent they are regular gold medal winners on the show circuit. A little harder to find and a little more individual, if not idiosyncratic are the famed ‘Jewelstone’ wines. These sit at the top of the Mission hierarchy, bested only by the rare and expensive, limited production ‘Huchet’ super premium bottlings. Here. I review the ‘Reserve’ 2016 Chardonnay and 2014 Merlot, plus 2014 ‘Jewelstone’ ‘Antoine’ Bordeaux-styled wine named after Mission’s pioneering winemaker Father Antoine Garin, who made wine in the 1840s. www.missionestate.co.nz
