Te Awanga Strawberry Blonde Rosé and Quarter Acre Sauvignon Blanc 2015

FEATURED WINES IN THIS REVIEW

• Te Awanga Estate ‘Strawberry Blonde’ Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2015
  Rose from New Zealand - Hawke's Bay

  Review Date : 10-May-2016

  ☆☆☆☆☆

  Bright, candy-floss pink with some depth and some youthful purple hues, lighter on the rim. The nose is very fresh, bright and intensely aromatic with strawberry, raspberry, cranberry and pomegranate fruit, all harmoniously entwined, yielding a red floral lift with attractive confectionary elements. Dry to taste and medium-bodied, the palate features a soft and succulent core of red berry fruits lifted by red florals and confectionary elements. The flavours are elegantly presented with refreshing, underlying acidity, flowing easily along a fine-textured phenolic line. This has mouthwatering quenchability, leading to an aromatic, long lingering, sweet-fruited finish. This is a gently sweet and succulent, mouthwatering, aromatic rosé with flavours of red berry fruits, and nuances of floral and confectionary. Serve as an aperitif, with tapas and dim sum over the next 2 years. Merlot fruit from the ‘Te Awanga’ estate, vines 10-17 y.o., with some Syrah, some of the fruit from outside Te Awanga, pressed immediately on arrival at the winery with no saignee, given 3 hours skin contact and cool-fermented in tank to 12.5% alc. and 2.0 g/L RS, the wine aged on lees. The second blend. (The first blend is 13.0% alc.) 18.0/20 May 2016 RRP $24.99 Merlot fruit from the ‘Te Awanga’ estate, vines 10-17 y.o., pressed immediately on arrival at the winery with no saignee, given 3 hours skin contact and cool-fermented in tank to 13.0% alc. and 2.0 g/L RS, the wine aged on lees. Bright, candyfloss pink with some depth, lighter on the rim. The nose is elegantly presented with a gentle volume of soft strawberry fruit, refreshing saline notes, pomegranates and red florals. The nose has an underlying steely freshness. Very dry to taste and medium-bodied, the palate is soft and full with subtle and light, but up-front flavours of savoury strawberries, pomegranates and cranberries, along with saline nuances and red floral lift. The flavours form an elegant core carried by a light, dry, phenolic line that enhances the thirst-quenching acidity. The wine leads to a light, dry finish of pomegranate and florals. This is an elegant, dry rosé with a light core of strawberries and pomegranate and a delicate, thirst-quenching finish. Serve as an aperitif and with canapes over the next 2 years. 17.5-/20 Dec 2015 RRP $24.99
• Quarter Acre Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2015
  Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand - Hawke's Bay

  Review Date : 13-Dec-2015

  ☆☆☆☆☆

  Bright straw-yellow colour with light golden hues at the heart, lighter edged. This has a full, gently voluminous and harmoniously concentrated nose of rich greengage and green stonefruit aromas along with subtle gooseberry fruit, and fresh herbs entwined with spicy and nutty oak detail. Dry to tate and medium-full bodied, the palate is soft and densely packed with fruit flavours of greengages, nectarines, spicy herbs and subtle, nutty oak, along with gooseberry and leaf elements and some smoke. The flavours are beautifully and harmoniously interwoven, providing weight, presence and fine mouthfeel. The acidity emerges to lend a thirst-quenching line, and combined with the fine phenolic grip carries to a long, dry, herb-nuanced, spicy finish. This is a complex, harmoniously melded, oak-influenced Sauvignon Blanc with spice and greengage notes and excellent vinosity. Match with herb-marinated white meat dishes over the next 3+ years. Hand-picked fruit from Maraekakho, fully barrel-fermented ‘hot’ by indigenous yeasts on full solids in seasoned puncheons and barriques to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 6 months on gross lees. 18.0-/20 Dec 2015 RRP $26.99