IWM July 2009

We tasted and put together this latest issue of the IWM and then looked at our diaries to see when we'd be able to meet up again.  (A very disrupted period has meant that we haven't met as often as we anticipated over this Winter).  Free dates are at a premium because Wine Show season is nearly upon us and one or the other of us seems to be involved in the NZ International Wine Show, Liquorland Top 100 and Hawke's Bay Wine Awards. Judging is good fun ( it needs to be otherwise why donate days of unpaid work ?) but however rigorous and scrupulous the process of tasting and scoring 100s of wines, it shouldn't be forgotten that most wine is not drunk this way.  Amazing as it may seem, wine is drunk as an accompaniment to food.  But unfortunately we struggled to drink some of the wines we tasted this month.

Without playing the female hand, could it be that the industry is dominated by male winemakers, of whom a not inconsiderable number seem to favour brawn and power over finesse and delicacy?  Reading through the release notes that accompany the wines we taste, words such as dense, powerful, impenetrable, solid, strapping and muscular pop up with amazing regularity.  It would be nice to see more mention of subtle, restrained and elegant too perhaps.

We enjoyed this month's tasting which provoked lots of heated debate, some toothsome wines, a few surprises and plenty of opinion.

 

The very first impression of Craggy Range's 2007 Les Beaux Cailloux Chardonnay is one of extreme youth.  The aromas are pure, primary and pristine: white nectarine, red apple and some spring blossom too. The robust packaging (the bottle alone weighs one kilogramme) brought with it the expectation of a similarly heavyweight wine.  So we were pleasantly surprised by the lightness of touch that has gone into making this Chardonnay; it was much more graceful and subtle than one would have expected. Creamy, silky fruit flavours, the oak is seamlessly integrated and the whole palate lifted by succulent acidity.  Tremendous length.  Needs at least two more years but surely capable of developing beautifully over the next 6-8?  Tried again later over dinner, sweet fruit began to unfold and more mealy, nutty notes emerged while the wine retained its graceful subtlety.  A lovely wine. 

Sophia is the merlot-dominant of two Bordeaux-varietal blends produced by Craggy Range (the other being the Cabernet-dominant The Quarry), and the 2007 Craggy Range Sophia comprises 81% merlot, 10% cabernet franc with a smattering of cabernet sauvignon and malbec making up the balance. This is uber-merlot, richly perfumed, almost succulent wine with masses of dark plummy berry fruit and well-integrated spicy oak. Good though it is, we also found it had a puzzling sort of soullessness to it – technically it ticks all the boxes but it also seemed a little lacking in personality; character not being an unfair expectation at this quality level and price point. Despite that, it is drinking well even at this youthful stage and it is easy to see most people finding this an attractive wine.

2007 Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol has had some fulsomely positive reviews.  This wine certainly is impressive; tremendously opulent, with a generous silky lush texture.  But a northern Rhone lookalike as some have suggested ? Hardly the fruit profile one would expect, the flamboyant character seemingly more in common with the plump fruit-focused wines from McLaren Vale.  Certainly the black pepper component is muted, overwhelmed by dark berry fruit. Overwhelming is actually the word we kept coming back to with this wine. And while it is perhaps it is understandable that critics and consumers want some sort of reference point, given the status and price of this wine, not to mention its perceived standing within the local industry, why not say the wine is a good NZ example rather than reference back to the Rhone (particularly when it seems to have little in common with the wines of the region).  That aside, the other feature of this wine we both noticed was the almost Pavlovian response it evoked – after each taste, we compulsively reached for a sip of water. At first this was quite amusing, but given that what was causing the need for a rinse out after each mouthful was a distinct lack of refreshingness to the wine, rather a concern. The revelation of the wine’s label thus brought much animated discussion, particularly when we read the wine’s (rather ambitious) cellaring potential of 20 years plus.  Hmmmn. 

When the price and reputation are high as that of le Sol, it is only fair to expect a forthright and thorough critical examination. There is no doubt the wine is of very high quality; the fruit is truly ripe, the wine is carefully and skillfully made, but alas we didn’t actually want to drink it. Not when tasting (surely always an indication of a potentially great wine, when one is reluctant to spit?) and not later that night with dinner either. It was just too, too much of everything. Given we are apparently swimming against the tide with our opinion, we debated this wine thoroughly and at length, but in the end found it slightly wanting. 

Rippon Vineyard          www.rippon.co.nz

2008 Jeunesse Riesling	Central Otago	24.50	16.5
2008 Riesling	Central Otago	32.50	18.0
2007 Jeunesse Pinot Noir	Central Otago	38.50	18.0
2007 Pinot Noir	Central Otago	54.50	19.0

 

One smell of the 2006 Pegasus Bay Virtuoso Chardonnay, with its intense, almost sulphidic nose, almost gives away the producer. Incredibly pungent, bran biscuit, struck match, nutmeg oak. A really ripe fruit character: greengage, crisp apple and grapefruit.  (Later on, when we read the technical sheet, and greengage was mentioned, we were struck by spooky co-incidence.)  At first it seems perhaps not a wine you could drink much of such is its buxom nature, but as it settles down and unfolds in the glass, it shows a softer side with real balance and richness (more Dolly Parton than Jordan). This wine has spent a year in barrel, another year on lees in tank and then another year in bottle before release.  This offers wine drinkers the ability to purchase a wine that is already showing a good deal of complexity and richness. Though well cellared surely this wine could go even further.

You just have to love Pegasus Bay's unique take on Pinot Noir.  If these two pinots were made human, they would definitely be part of the WWF circus, ready to wrestle each other to the rope. That said, they do show lots of pinot noir character: masses of wild raspberry, strawberry and dark plum fruit, silky texture and finely poised acidity. The 2006 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir is dense and powerfully perfumed, rich yet surprisingly delicate at heart. Lengthy and delicious. The 2006 Pegasus Bay Prima Donna Pinot Noir has a funky nose, almost a touch reductive at first, though this goes with aeration.  Spicy and richly flavoured with a delicious silky texture and finely grained tannins. More elegant on the palate than the hubba hubba nose would have led us to expect. Careful integration of components has given a wine of fine balance and lovely complexity. Very lengthy. This wine just got better and better in the glass and later that evening also proved itself an excellent match with rare beef.

A richly textured wine, the 2007 Pegasus Bay Noble Semillon Finale is a pretty convincing Sauternes look-alike. (Note to selves: must stop criticising others for referencing back to classic regions but then do same).  Pure clear botrytis characters: dried apricot, orange peel, honey and a lick of vanilla, presumably from barrel maturation. Sweet and luscious but with lovely racy acidity keeping the palate fresh. 

Pegasus Bay continues to produce out inherently likeable yet quite idiosyncratic wines.  It is heartening to see winery following their own style, making wines with great and distinctive character and carrying it all off with such aplomb.

 

 
 

 

It would be difficult to taste the 2008 Muddy Water Red Table Wine Deliverance Pinotage Syrah, unmasked, without the echoes of banjos in one's mind.  The wine's label suggests syrah is the predominant variety but the website suggests otherwise - either way, syrah takes a dominant role in the fruit character with white pepper and spice showing clearly through on the nose and palate. Muddy Water has taken an eminently sensible approach to fruit that wasn't deemed good enough to grace the main MW label, and has produced a fruit-focused, cheerful red that is appropriately priced. Plus a great name. 

 

 
 

 

The 2007 Saint Clair Viognier East Coast is a blend of Gisborne and Marlborough fruit and has a strongly varietal nose: jasmine, baked apple and white flower.  The palate has ripe pear, fresh straw and a hint of gingerbread.  An attractive and well priced wine.  However we were slightly curious by the technical notes which state that this wine is "ideal to enjoy now or cellar for up to two years from vintage date" - we only just received the sample. For once a winery's cellaring advice seems to have been on the conservative side!

Saint Clair are continuing their trademark single vineyard bottlings (truly, vintage time in their cellar must be a logistical exercise on par with space shuttle launches) with these two offerings from Marlborough - the Bull Block being Omaka fruit and the Lone Gum from the lower Wairau.  Certainly, the two pinots are quite different. The 2007 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Bull Block Pinot Noir has a lifted cherry and plum aroma with a real edge of those red foil-wrapped cherry liqueur chocolates you find at your granny's place at Christmas. Moderately intense with some dark fruits, spicy slighty herbal notes and a plum fruit finish.  The 2007 Saint Clair Pioneer Block 17 Lone Gum Pinot Noir is darker and denser with a black liquorice and poached rhubarb edge. Both wines have quite tingly acidity and are sound examples fo the variety and region, but do lack a certain continuity of fruit on the palate. The 2007 Saint Clair Pioneer Block Merlot Block 17 Bay Block comes from fruit sourced from Hawke's Bay, quite a departure for this most Marlborough of wineries.  The nose is glossy and plump, with lashings of sweet new oak. There is a silky textural quality to the palate, no drying tannins here, instead a fleshy, densely fruited palate.  The best of both worlds for lovers of Marlborough and merlot.  Following the theme is the 2007 Saint Clair Pioneer Block Syrah Block 17 Bay Block, also from Hawke's Bay. This is rather delicious indeed, miles away from the Northern Rhone-style syrahs - plump and juicy, lashings of ripe fruit and well-integrated oak, good varietal character with medium body, red and black fruits and peppery spice - it suggests a style that could become Hawke's Bay's own hallmark in time to come.

 

 

 
 

The 2007 Hunter’s Kaho Roa Sauvignon Blanc denotes their oak-aged style which has now been made at Hunter's since 1983.  Certainly, the pedigree and quality of this wine suggest they got on to a winning formula early on.  All that experience has made for a delicious, complex wine, free from the rasping, over oakyness that is so prevalent amongst many NZ oaked sauvignon blancs.  The nose has pineapple, red capsicum and black jelly babies and the palate is dry, with really nice citrussy acidity running through. Would have scored more highly but just pulled up a little short.  Kaho Roa evidently means 'barrel aged' in Maori, perhaps suggesting they may just have been hiding their wines under a kete when Europeans first arrived?  

Pure riesling is so delicious and the nose of the 2008 Hunter's Riesling is all about lime sherbet, talcum powder and white peach.  The palate is a little bit chalky and possibly a touch austere but has decent length suggesting that the wine may soften with some time in bottle.  If broaching now, suggest pairing it with a suitable food match.  The 2008 Hunter's Chardonnay is priced at $19.50 which is pretty sharp for an eminently drinkable appealing wine. The nose is ripe with banana, fresh cream and peaches. The palate however is less intense though still agreeably light and bright.

 

 

The nose of the 2007 Winegrowers of Ara Resolute Pinot Noir Very perfumed, 'strawberry jam on toast' almost, with a cranberry and wild raspberry edge. Quite different in style from the previous releases: lighter, more delicate and with a freshness to the flavours. The wine is a bit hollow mid-palate (young vines?) and really needs more concentration to off-set the quite keen acidity. It is still too expensive for a wine of its quality, but is an improvement on previous efforts.

                                                        

                                                               

 

Steve Davies was responsible for some stunning wines when he was at Carrick and it is interesting to taste what was presumably his last vintage before heading for pastures new.  Sweet spice, cinnamon and nutmeg on the nose, the 2007 Carrick Chardonnay has smoky, melted butter and ripe peach fruit too. The palate is interesting: ripe fruit held in place by pretty bracing acidity. If ever there was a region that could master very lightly oaked, dare we say Chablis-style chardonnay then Central surely is it? But whilst winemakers continue to overwhelm bright, vivid fruit with too noticeable oak, it just makes the region's fruit seem pale and the acidity prominent to the point of almost masochism at times. It would be encouranging to see the bravery of making wines to suit one's region and climate rather than consumers's perceived ideals.  

Treading a more familiar path is the deeply coloured 2007 Carrick Pinot Noir, showing Otago's textbook wild herb and dark plum nose, a savoury, almost mushroomy edge and a thread of acidity holding all in place.  Well made if not particularly exiting, this won't disappoint but could see stiff competition from cheaper competitors.

 

 
 

The 2008 Dolbel Estate Rosé is made from free-run merlot and offers bright appealling summer pudding fruit flavours with a lift of candy floss to the nose.  A simple straightforward dryish rosé, priced well.  The  2008 Dolbel Estate Merlot Cabernet is a textbook Hawke's Bay red: plummy berry fruit, a touch of tannin and a little bit of oak wrapping up the palate.  Falls away on the finish and to justify its $27.50 price tag really needs more intensity and concentration - this would be attractive buying at $20.00ish.

 

 

 

Akarua Winery’s Bannockburn vines were planted in 1996 and the winery has since steadily built a reputation for quality pinot noir. The 2007 Akarua Gullies Pinot Noir is the second tier of the two pinot labels and has a lovely lifted aroma of dark plum and forest floor and a juicy, sweetly fruited palate.  Not much in the way of length but an attractive easy-drinking pinot to be enjoyed in the next couple of years.  The more serious 2007 Akarua Cadence Pinot Noir is a bigger wine, dense and bold.  Similar structure to the Gullies, just riper and with more intensity. The flavours of dark cherry, blackberry and light spice are balanced by well-integrated tannins.  Though it opened up well in the glass, Cadence’s suggested cellaring for up to 10 years may be just a tad on the optimistic side. Akarua appointed Matt Connell as winemaker from the 2009 vintage, who made his reputation producing award-winning pinots for Olssen’s of Bannockburn. It will be interesting to see what imprint his style leaves on Akarua’s wines.

 

 

 
 

 

                                                    

 

Having tasted last year’s vintage of this wine, we were interested to see how the label was progressing.  Falling somewhere between the light fresh pinot-style and those that have huge extraction, the premium 2007 Jackson Estate Gum Emperor Pinot Noir has lots of dark plummy, cherry and raspberry fruit, together with the classic Marlborough lift of dried cranberry. The palate is cloaked with quite marked new oak, contributing a spicy, cinnamon and nutmeg edge. This is a smart wine and carefully made (and priced accordingly) but with each successive vintage, as the fruit concentration increases, it would be nice to see just a little less oak. 

 

 

 

It is interesting to ponder the expectations one has at times.  When the label of the 2005 Matariki Quintology was revealed, we both agreed that we would have been expecting a big, bold red. What it was instead was a fairly restrained and rather leafy wine. We debated at some length whether this leafiness strayed just a little too close to greenness, but with time in the glass, other more attractive characters emerged: mushroom, forest floor and an earthy plumminess. The palate has a fleshy upfront new world edge but with lots of stalky, sappy fruit as a counterpoint.  The name refers to the five varieties making up the blend – four classic Bordeaux varietals plus a dash of syrah. At $50 this is a super premium release but perhaps just lacks a little in length and concentration hoped for at this level.  Nice to see a current release wine with a little bottle age, though one wonders if their accountant feels the same given that a quick peruse of the website shows the 2004 and 2002 vintages also available…

 

 

 

If only this bottle had arrived before the debut of the tafelspitz it could have been served alongside the Bel Canto and we'd have made an evening of it.   It is always enjoyable to receive wines such as this as they serve as a reminder of the fascinating array of grapes that are planted about the country.  Zweigelt is a cross developed in 1922 (by Dr. Fritz Zweigelt, natch) and is now that Austria's most planted red grape. Despite this slightly obscure origin, there are in fact two wineries producing Zweigelt in New Zealand, though it should come as no great surprise that one’s proprietor is Austrian and the other Swiss.  Hans Herzog is the latter, coming from a family that has been making wine since the 1600s and he has an eclectic array of grapes planted in Marlborough, including montepulciano and nebbiolo (and makes an Amarone-style merlot). Austrian Zweigelt zppears in two main guises: vivid fruit focussed and immediate or oak aged and more 'serious'.  Herzog has gone for the former; the nose of the 2008 Hans Herzog Zweigelt is a mass of plum, mulberry and blackberry, not encumbered by too much oak. A sappy, fresh character to the palate, this red comes across as a cheerful wine for short-term drinking, but with enough weight and texture to provide interest and the ability to accompany food.

 

 

 

The exact varietal makeup of 2007 Stone Paddock Scarlet is 37% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Cabernet Franc and 12% Malbec - classic Bordeaux varieties.  Deep dark ruby, the nose is moderately complex and offers berry fruit, some savoury almost forest floor notes and an attractive sappy/cedar hint. Hooray! A Hawke's Bay red that hasn't been extracted within an inch of its life, the palate is silky and gentle.  A very appealing subtle wine that isn't particularly complex but has plenty of charm and nice length.  Worth looking out for as is priced well, though to our minds, the packaging makes it look cheaper and rather less-quality oriented than it actually is.     

 

 

 

 

Waiheke Island is an interesting region.  In many ways it is redolent of Central Otago, in that it receives plenty of press and attention, has predominantly boutique producers charging high prices, but also has a disproportionately high number of disappointing wines (especially when one takes into account the not inconsiderable prices). There is no denying that there are some true crackers from each of the regions, but we are often left wondering if the idyllic landscapes of each attract more than their fair share of people drawn as much by the lifestyle as by the desire (and ability) to make really good wine.  Which leads us to the mixed bag of samples we received from Obsidian, which included two wines from their Weeping Sands label, which is stated as designed for earlier drinking.  

Again, a varied array of varieties made for interesting tasting. The 2008 Obsidian Chardonnay has a lightly fragrant nose, some white peach and floral though with a touch of tinned peas too. The palate is sweetly fruited with a creamy texture, not immensely exciting but a solid enough effort.

The 2008 Weeping Sands Montepulciano certainly has the Italianate tannin/acid structure found the best wines of Central Italy but is a juicy cheerful New World interpretation. Densely fruited with plenty of ripe cherries, black plums and a smattering of dried herbs, and a savoury twist of this wine has good balance and structure to the palate, suggesting it will cope with a couple of years in the bottle. Likely a good conversation piece with your next rare beef fillet too. The 2007 Obsidian ‘The Obsidian’ is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec, though percentages are not specified. Very noticeable capsicum on the nose, not eucalyptus, but thoroughly herbaceous cabernet fruit.  There is also quite a bit of oak showing (12 months in French oak stated in technical notes) and the overall impression is of a wine that is a little too overworked for the fruit and hasn’t quite come together. The 2008 Weeping Sands Syrah has an attractive nose, not in the typical markedly black pepper way often seen here but more general spice and herbs overlaying red and black fruits. Supple and ripe on the palate with well-judged oak, this was an enjoyable wine and bolstered the view that syrah is a variety well suited to the island. 

On this showing, the second tier Weeping Sands label provided the more attractive wines. Even allowing for their intention as a more forthcoming and ready for drinking now than the main label, they also seemed better balanced and more characterful, and given the price differential, the better bet overall.