03-Jan-2019
When I saw George Fistonich and his Villa Maria winemaking team visiting Martinborough in the late 1980s, I had an inkling that Pinot Noir was going to be the company’s next focus, having successfully worked with the Bordeaux red varietals in Hawke’s Bay. With the 1990 vintage, Villa Maria released its first ‘Reserve’ Pinot Noir, from Marlborough fruit, and they hit the ground running, the wine winning a number of major awards. Villa Maria’s progress with Pinot Noir has continued unabated, and there are now a number of single vineyard wines, representing different sub-regions of Marlborough and expressing their terroirs. The ‘Seddon’ vineyard is on the sheltered southern bank of the Awatere River, over two terraces, and is regarded as a warm site. The ‘Southern Clays’ vineyard has fruit from the ‘Rutherford’ vineyard in the clay-influenced Southern Valleys. ‘The Attorney’ is an organic vineyard in the Southern Valleys, a north-facing block that regularly produces small berries with thick skins. And the ‘Taylors Pass’ vineyard is situated on the north bank of the Awatere River with silty loam soils over gravels. Here, I review the 2013 Villa Maria ‘Single Vineyard – Seddon’ Pinot Noir, showing subtle benefits of bottle-age. www.villamaria.co.nz
