A month overseas without my laptop has meant the lion's share of work fell on Emma's shoulders this month. An off-the-cuff remark about commenting on the Liquorland Top 100 was taken seriously and you can read her in-depth analysis of the judging.
Recent headlines in the wine press have been dominated by comments on NZ wine shows and the integrity of the judging systems in place. An interesting angle from the editor of Hawke's Bay Today, who wrote that ‘no judge should have a link to any competitor, irrespective of what was being judged, be it pigeons, ballroom dancing' or presumably wine. This would certainly decimate NZ wine judging panels who rely on winemakers. However as another scribe commented, "winemakers were the only true choice for judges as they had the highly developed palates".
An interesting point of view and one (not surprisingly) that neither of us share. It seems that winemakers are content to trust our non-winemaker palates as a veritable avalanche of new wines has arrived on the doorstep of the IWM to be reviewed for the next issue.
If you have any comments please email info@thewineschool.co.nz
Clearview Estate (www.clearviewestate.co.nz)
| 2006 Pinot Noir des Trois | Multi regional | $40.00 | 16.0 |
Crawford Farm ( www.kimcrawfordwines.co.nz)
| 2006 Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Pinot Gris Chardonnay 2006 Unoaked Chardonnay 2006 Pinot Noir 2006 Merlot | Marlborough Multi regional Gisborne Waipara/Nelson Hawke's Bay | $22.00 $22.00 $22.00 $22.00 $22.00 | 17.0 16.5 15.0 15.0 15.5 |
Waipara Hills (www.waiparahills.com)
| 2007 Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Riesling 2006 Unoaked Chardonnay 2006 Pinot Noir | Marlborough Waipara Marlborough Central Otago | $19.00 $19.00 $19.00 $19.00 | 16.5 15.0 16.0 16.0 |
| 2005 Chardonnay 2005 Five Hills Merlot Cabernet | Waiheke Island Waiheke Island | $33.00 $33.00 | 17.0 17.5 |
Bilancia (www.bilancia.co.nz)
| 2005 La Collina Syrah | Hawke's Bay | $80.00 | 18.0 |
Sacred Hill (www.sacredhill.com)
| 2005 Deerstalker Syrah 2006 Gimblett Gravels Syrah | Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay | $63.00 $21.00 | 18.0 17.0 |
Gunn Estate (www.gunnestate.co.nz)
| 2005 Silestria Syrah | Hawke's Bay | $28.00 | 17.5 |
Beresford Estate (www.beresfordwines.com.au)
| 2006 Highwood Merlot 2005 Highwood Shiraz 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon | South Australia South Australia McLaren Vale | $18.00 $18.00 $25.00 | 15.0 15.5 16.5 |
From the Cellar . . .
| 2004 Dry River Lovat Vineyard Syrah | Martinborough | 18.5 |
| 2002 Schubert Cabernet Merlot | Wairarapa | 16.5 |
(www.schubert.co.nz)
We had guests arriving for dinner and (as usual) I was woefully behind schedule. At the last minute I hauled a couple of bottles out of the cellar, one of which I thought was a Schubert Syrah. Instead I had taken the 2002 Schubert Cabernet Merlot. Too late to change it, I decanted the wine and let it stand for for 30 minutes. The wine had taken on a brick red hue and the nose was quite lovely; developed aromas that combined leafy aged notes with blackcurrant and a touch of fresh red berry. The palate was gentle and silky, perhaps finishing just a little short, but with the delicious mature quality that can only be found in cellared wine. The wine is right at its peak now, and I certainly don't think it will develop further. The vast majority of wine that I taste is newly released, brimming with potential and expectation. It was good to taste an older wine and be reminded that a few years in the cellar can pay handsome dividends. (JS)
The 2007 Liquorland Top 100 Wine Competition
Emma Jenkins
This year's Liquorland Top 100 was held in Wellington, with judging taking place at Westpac Stadium. Belinda Jackson runs the show and it would be fair to say that she deserves special mention for putting together such a well-run affair - everything ran like clockwork, with no visible fuss or stress, the judges were very well looked after with superb accommodation and excellent meals (special mention to Rex Morgan of Citron and also the muchappreciated cooked breakfast provided at the Stadium each morning). The stewards, lead by Shona White, also did a wonderful job, and again there was no fuss, stress or mistakes. The show received over 1,300 hundred entries, divided into twenty classes, predominantly from New Zealand and Australia but also a smattering from France, Chile, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain and South Africa. The team of twenty-one judges were lead by Mike de Garis, who always likes a good excuse to come back to New Zealand, and included international judges, Nick Stock (Australian wine journalist/judge), the magnificently-attired Chester Osborn (chief winemaker of McLaren Vale's d'Arenburg Winery) and Adrian Atkinson of Pernod Ricard from England. The experience and strong personalities amongst the judges lead to some very vigorous discussion of the wines and no doubt contributed to the high quality seen in the final trophy selections.
Of the classes I judged, there were the expected highs, lows and downright dodgy wines, thankfully fewer of the latter than in previous shows, so the poor souls with such wines are either learning as they go or have given up the ritual humiliation of entering wine shows (although special mention must go to the , anonymous of course, winery who submitted a rosé so spectacularly foul that not only did it receive very nearly the lowest score in the show, but also stopped our panel in its tracks in wonderment of what on earth this winery is going to do with however many thousands of litres of this dull, brown, truly undrinkable abomination they possess. Coming soon to a shelf near you, no doubt!). The Rosé class was a disappointing one overall. Despite there being a fantastic Trophy wine in the 2007 Esk Valley Black Label Rosé, the class was populated by dull, insipid wines, often with far too much sugar trying to hide a lack of fruit and intensity, and giving one the overall impression of wines made as an afterthought or to cash in on the popularity of the category, rather than as true examples of the style. There has been some improvement over the years in this class, but it is still very much buyer-beware when choosing a Rosé off the shelf with no prior knowledge of it.
Our panel's Bottle-Fermented Sparkling White class resulted in the Trophy wine (the very smart Deutz Marlborough Cuvee Blanc de Blancs 2003) and a few other standouts but again proved to be a solid rather than spectacular or even interesting class. The most noticeable point was that the vintage wines fared better overall than the non-vintage - it seems we may still have a fair way to go before Champagne starts looking over its shoulder.
The New Zealand Dry Riesling class was a more interesting beast, with some very good wines in evidence, showing real fruit quality and intensity. There were very few poor wines, those that missed out just lacked distinction and intensity, and the overall impression was of a variety and style with true potential in this country. And what's more, at the prices they usually sell at, offering real value to the consumer. It is a mystery why Riesling continues to languish in sales, particularly given the corresponding popularity of Pinot Gris, when any mass judging of that variety throws up an endless selection of dull, offbalance insipid wines, with only the odd highlight. The mystery of trends and popularity is all I can put it down to. Our panel also judged the Dry Riesling of ‘Other Origin' which as expected was dominated by Australian wines (just the one Alsace and one Chilean entry) but unexpectedly and sadly this was an overall disappointing class, a couple of Silvers, but lots of dull, reductive and pretty insipid numbers. Probably more indicative of what was entered as opposed to the quality of this style overseas, but again, a lesson in being careful when buying as what was entered fairly representative of what is commonly seen on the shelves of most retail outlets around the country.
The flights of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc our panel judged (with this being such a large class, it was split between all four judging panels) showed heartening signs of some very good wines from the 2007 vintage, and even more heartening was the number of wines from the 2006 vintage still holding up well. What was also clearly evident was a division in style emerging in the variety. Leaving aside the rather bland (and one hopes high volume, low price rather than the other way round) wines, amongst the Silver and Gold medal wines, there was a clear leaning towards either an almost over-the-top pungent, fruit-driven, quite sweet (in some cases fruit intensity, in others clearly residual sugar) and quite sweaty armpit style - Marlborough on steroids; or in the other camp a more restrained, drier, mineral style of wine, more textural and elegant in a way. The good thing is that both styles were recognized by judges; it will be interesting to see which way consumers swing, given that this is the white grape, for better or worse, on which New Zealand's reputation appears to rest.
Chardonnay was divided into two classes, with just the one lonely French wine in the Other Origin category, and the other flights mixed New Zealand and Australian wines. All the weird and wonderful winemaking influences seen in this variety were on offer throughout the class. This made for hard work for the judges, making sure the lighter, unoaked and more fruit-driven styles were not lost amongst the buttery, oaky monsters but from the lineup of Golds at the finish and eventual Trophy and Champion Wine of the Show winner (the good value and very, very smart Oakridge Yarra Valley 2006, which sadly may be the last of its kind as the vineyard the fruit is sourced from is about to be sold, so get in quick) it would be fair to say we did a pretty good job of weeding out the well made from the bad. It was a strong varietal class, with many excellent wines, and there seemed to be a real shift away from winemakers overwhelming good fruit with too many bells and whistles, instead letting texture and intensity shine through. While Marlborough and Hawke's Bay represented most of the medalists, this is no doubt in part due to their size/volume dominance as much as anything and there was a pleasing number of wines from smaller regions such as Nelson and even Northland showing in the Silvers and Golds. Just two Australians in the final Top100, although one of course was the overall winner of the class and Show, so no hard feelings there.
New Zealand's great red hope, Pinot Noir, as usual show the entire spectrum of quality, from the sublime through to the ridiculous, although thankfully few were downright faulty or undrinkable. There were however many wines who were bland and thin, with little character or intensity to redeem them. This is an area in which New Zealand needs to tread carefully, as many of these wines are still priced rather high, and we run the risk of devaluing our reputation as a producer of quality Pinot Noir. The other area of note to come out in this class is much like Sauvignon Blanc, a clear division in style is emerging for the variety - judges across all panels noting the tendency of many wines to be more similar in style and body to Merlot and Syrah, particularly when it comes to colour, extraction and oak handling, and a lack of elegance and fragrance more usually associated with Pinot Noir, . These wines are often good quality, with lovely balance, intensity and length, but can be difficult to categorize as obviously Pinot Noir, which is a whole argument in itself. Probably not one worth going into here, but an interesting future debate for the industry. Overall though, the top wines shone through and the eventual Trophy winning Stoneleigh Rapaura Series even offers great vale for money; a rare beast in New Zealand Pinot Noir.
Next up was Merlot and Merlot-dominant blends where, as with Chardonnay, New Zealand and Australian wines were tasted side by side and there were some wonderful examples for both countries. Sadly, excessive Brettanomyces was evident in many wines and while we allowed reasonable tolerance for this, given its propensity to become exacerbated with time in the bottle, most of these wines scored no award as it is not fair to gamble on them. It was pleasing to see (again, as with Chardonnay) that many winemakers were in possession of great fruit and were prepared to let this shine through, and not overwhelm with oak. While there were a fair number of wines that were just simple and cordial-like in nature, there were also a number of beautifully-made, potentially age-worthy wines that showcased Merlot's plummy, slightly spicy and rounded, generous natur. The Trophy-winning Vidal Estate Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 was an absolute cracker.
Our panel had a brief but entertaining detour through Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and blends (NZ, Australia and other origins), which produced a Silver (Masi Passo Doble Tupungato 2005, a Malbec Corvina blend from Argentina), a smattering of Bronzes and a fair bit of grimacing. Then it was straight into Cabernet Sauvignon and blends, again with New Zealand and Australia mixed. A great class, with some wonderful wines showing the best of Cabernet with its potential for complexity and wonderful structure. As with Merlot, there were Brettanomyces issues, but overall it was very pleasing to see the evidence of good winemaking practice throughout the class, across the quality levels. While the vast majority of entries in this class were from Australia, there was very satisfying ripeness of fruit in many of the New Zealand examples, proving that with the right site selection and vineyard management it is perfectly possible to ripen Cabernet here and what's more produce good varietal expression with it. However, in the end all the Golds and Silvers ended up being Australian wines, so perhaps we are not quite there yet!
The final red class was Syrah/Shiraz, but this time, perhaps reflecting the desire to mark this variety as the next big thing for New Zealand, the wines were split into New Zealand (25 entries), Australia (133 entries) and a rather unrepresentative for this noble variety ‘Other Origin' class of six wines.
Our panel did not judge the New Zealand wines but the results suggest a pleasing though mixed showing, with two Golds, three Silvers and seven Bronzes. Hawke's Bay dominated the wines' regional origin, with all wines bar two and all medal winners all bar one (the Bronze medal-awarded Passage Rock Syrah 2006 from Waiheke Island) originating there. Of the Australians, medal winners came from all over, though South Australia was most represented, suggesting judges and consumers alike can't get enough sweet, ripe fruit and spicy chocolate in their wines. No bad thing if the Golds in this Show are anything to go by, with the above certainly not mutually exclusive with elegance, harmony and balance. Of our panel's wines, there were satisfyingly few faulty wines (two or three cases of brett, a couple of examples of volatile acidity, which turned out to both be from the same producer but that was it) - not bad for thirty-odd wines, and always a relief when tasting, and of course, drinking wine. Good varietal character was also a hallmark of this class; while styles varied according to region and producer, they were all pretty readily identifiable as Shiraz, with black and white pepper abounding, spicy red and black fruits and were mostly medium bodied with supple tannins. Tasting these wines, it is clear why this variety, in particular from this country, is so popular with wine drinkers - lots of fruit, easy to drink, doesn't have Cabernet's somewhat tougher tannin structure, is more interesting than Merlot (especially in Australia) and has more oomph than Pinot Noir while still offering some of its spice and perfume.
Our panel did not judge the fortified class but I got a sneak tasting of Jane's lineup when she had finished. What an underrated, under-purchased group of wines ! There were some absolute stunners in there, and never has a flight of wines offered so much temptation to drink, rather than judge. It was evidently a close-run thing choosing the eventual Golds and Trophy wine, and the quality levels throughout the different styles are a credit to the producers, who have to struggle with a mostly indifferent marketplace. Itcontinues to astound me that there isn't more interest in fortified wines; they offer some of the best value around, particualrly when one looks at the quality and very often the age of the wines. They are just so damned delicious to drink. It is a pity that wine shows and subsequent retailers, while giving them Golds, etc, don't take the opportunity to more seriously promote these wines for regular consumption, rather than just allow them to limp along as niche status at best. It is almost a chicken-and-egg situation - these wines will never be commercially successful until someone does actually get in there and push them to the fore, promoting them as valid a class as Sauvignon Blanc or Syrah...
So, another wine show under the bridge and whilst one lot of wineries will be celebrating and advertising their success, another will no doubt be licking its wounds and muttering about judges' palates. Overall, from a judge's perspective, it was really satisfying to see the calibre of wines at this year's Top 100, and I would be more than happy to drink any of the medal winners, in particular the Golds and Trophies, but also quite a few of the No Award wines who were unlucky to miss out on a medal. There is a lot of discussion about the merits and usefulness of wine shows, but with so many wines vying for attention on the shelves these days, the general wine drinker probably does need some guidance in the direction of what to look out for, and certainly for a new label, it can provide priceless exposure and entry into the marketplace not easily otherwise gained. The wines can only be judged as they show on the day to the judges of the day, hence the variation seen in results for the same wine, and of course many wineries do not enter shows. But consumers and producers can be confident that with a panel of experienced wine-loving palates making the calls, the wines that do get the gongs are sure to be worth their salt and deserving of their medals. Many thanks to Liquorland and Belinda Jackson and her crew for providing such an efficiently run and pleasurable environment in which to do the job.