Send to a friend

Print

del.icio.us this

Digg this

What’s Hot 2008: New Zealand wines

TRINITY HILL – HAWKES BAY
2007 Gimblett Gravels Noble Viognier, NZ$25 (375ml)
Winemaker John Hancock believes he is beginning to get a handle on this difficult grape, and has many gold medals to support that belief. Trinity Hill is best known for its signature wine, Homage Syrah, which is co-fermented with about 5 per cent viognier to add extra perfume and a slippery texture. “The reason a lot of Australian wineries add viognier wine to syrah rather than co-ferment the two varieties is that viognier typically ripens much earlier than syrah,” Hancock says. “We get around that by letting [the viognier] hang long after it would normally be harvested. We can ripen it to 17 Beaumé without botrytis. It tastes amazing ... with an array of ginger and exotic spice flavours.”

COMPOSITE – MARLBOROUGH
2007 Composite Sauvignon Blanc, NZ$22
A new label from a new wine producer that will have a big impact on New Zealand’s quality wine scene. Dr Damian Martin knows a bit about good vineyard sites and smart viticulture. He gained his doctorate at Bordeaux University before returning to New Zealand. While working for Corbans, he identified a 1600-hectare block of land at the cooler end of the Marlborough region in the Waihopai Valley that he believed would make outstanding wine. Martin’s excitement was based on the uniformity of the ancient soil with a high clay content, allowing vines to grow without irrigation. This Composite Sauvignon Blanc has a purity of flavour and mineral salt influence that is both different and exciting. The flavours are vibrant with green capsicum and lemongrass characters. Only sauvignon blanc and pinot noir have been planted.

CRAGGY RANGE – CENTRAL OTAGO
2006 Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir, NZ$60
Three wines made from the same 10-hectare vineyard provide an exciting chance to look for both winemaker and site influence. No whole bunches were used in the fermentation, which was initiated with indigenous yeasts and took place in open-top French oak cuves. The wine was matured for nine months in French oak barriques on the yeast lees. It was not fined but did receive a light filtration before bottling. Technically, alcohol is 14.3 per cent, acidity is 5.4 g/l and the pH is 3.68.
In colour and flavour intensity, this pinot noir occupies the middle ground between the other Calvert Vineyard wines (see below), though it is softer in structure. Flavours suggest wild flowers, dark cherry and plum with some wild thyme character. The oak is evident and appropriate. I like it very much and expect to like it even more in a few years.

FELTON ROAD – CENTRAL OTAGO
2006 Calvert Pinot Noir, NZ$77
Felton Road is the uncrowned king of Central Otago pinot noir. It initiated the three-way winemaking experiment by allowing Craggy Range to have 40 per cent and Pyramid Valley 10 per cent of the grape harvest in 2006. Winemaker Blair Walter had the advantage of having made pinot noir from the Bannockburn district of Central Otago since 1997. The wine was fermented with a high percentage of whole bunches and allowed a lengthy 19-20 days on the skins to help build firmer tannins and extract greater flavour. Indigenous yeasts were used to ferment the wine, which was aged for 11 months in French oak barriques – 30 per cent of which were new. Alcohol is lower than the others, at 13.5 per cent. The wine is supremely elegant with deliciously pure fruit flavours. It has an appealing linear flavour and a lengthy finish. This was my favourite wine of the trio, but the ranking may change with time.

PYRAMID VALLEY – CENTRAL OTAGO
2006 Growers Collection Calvert Vineyard, NZ$45
Mike Weersing was regarded by many as one of New Zealand’s hottest winemakers before he’d made one wine of his own. In 2000, he bought land in Pyramid Valley, about 20 minutes west of Waipara, in limestone-rich soils that he believed were the perfect medium for his biodynamically grown vines. Weersing’s share of the Calvert crop was 100 per cent de-stemmed and transferred to tank by gravity. The grapes were given a cold soak for five to seven days before a warm fermentation using indigenous yeasts. The wine stayed on the skins for a lengthy 27-28 days after fermentation. It was matured for 15 months in French oak barriques using 33 per cent new barrels. Alcohol is 14.2 per cent and pH is 3.65. The wine is denser, more tannic and oakier than the others. It is also more complex and richer, with a range of appealing red and black cherry flavours, a strong floral/violet influence and some appealing savoury, earthy characters which defy analysis. All three wines share similar fruit, floral and spice characters, though each has additional flavours. The structure and oak influence varies considerably.

KIM CRAWFORD – CENTRAL OTAGO
2006 SP Rise-and-Shine Creek Pinot Noir, NZ$32
Kim Crawford developed his Small Parcel (SP) label to allow him to exploit opportunities for making limited-edition wines from small batches of high-quality grapes, although his more cynical competitors might believe it’s a cunning plot to increase the winery’s tally of gold medals and trophies. This latest addition to the range has certainly won its share of awards, including trophy for best pinot noir at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards. The grapes were grown in the Clearvue vineyard on the northern end of Bendigo – once the centre of the Otago gold rush and now the site of one of the region’s most exciting wine districts. This dense, silky, spicy red amplifies the normally dense dark cherry and wild thyme characters that make Central Otago pinot noir so distinctive.

KUMEU RIVER – KUMEU
2006 Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay, A$65/NZ$43
Kumeu River’s reputation as one of New Zealand’s top chardonnay makers has been well established for many years. Until recently, it had produced a trio of chardonnay labels, with Maté’s Vineyard as the flagship and Village Chardonnay bringing up the rear. The Estate label chardonnay is a close second to Maté’s in both price and quality.
From the 2006 vintage, Kumeu River has introduced two more single-vineyard labels (Hunting Hill and Coddington), both priced midway between the Maté’s and Estate labels. The Hunting Hill Vineyard was replanted in 2000, and the vines are already producing a wine with a depth of flavour that belies their youth. Like all of Kumeu’s premium chardonnay labels, the wine is barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts and allowed to undergo full malolactic fermentation. It’s a fine, tight chardonnay with ripe citrus fruit and mineral salt flavours.

COOPERS CREEK – GISBORNE
2006 Coopers Creek The Little Rascal Arneis, NZ$21.85
This wine makes the cut because it is New Zealand’s first arneis, an Italian grape variety that has a promising future in New Zealand. Arneis means “the little rascal”, a reference to the difficulties involved in growing and making it. The inaugural wine benefitted from near perfect vintage conditions in Gisborne in 2007. The grapes were harvested very ripe at 25 Brix after being hand-picked in two parcels – each fermented separately but then blended together before bottling. Despite the grapes’ rascally reputation, they proved easy to ripen and were fermented without any problem. It’s a rather light, fresh wine with plenty of weight and texture due at least in part to its high alcohol of 14.5 per cent. Flavours suggest citrus/grapefruit and feijoa.

WAITAKI VALLEY WINES – WAITAKI VALLEY
2006 Invitational Chardonnay, NZ$50
This qualifies for my list of exciting new labels on two counts: it’s the first chardonnay from a new region, and it’s very good.
First, a word or two about Waitaki. It’s on the Waitaki River near the east coast of the South Island, inland from Oamaru. Waitaki Valley is just south of the border between Canterbury and Otago, so technically it’s in Otago. This cool region has produced a few good, but not great, examples of pinot noir and a cracking pinot gris. Forrest Estate made this wine from grapes purchased from a local grower and not from its own Waitaki vineyard. Only about 25 cases were made under the Invitation label, and there are plans to continue producing small parcels of wine under this brand as opportunity allows.
The wine was fermented for 15 months in old barriques and given plenty of yeast lees contact. The result is a powerful, fruit-driven chardonnay that is remarkably Chablis-like. It has strong citrus, mineral and bran biscuit flavours. A great wine that’s truly collectable.

SAINT CLAIR – MARLBOROUGH
2007 Pioneer Block Big John Riesling, A$35/NZ$22.95
Saint Clair is one of Marlborough’s leading producers of top-quality sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. This new label is typical of a new wave of low-alcohol, moderately sweet rieslings made in the German spätlese style. They balance the wine’s sweetness with knife-edged acidity, offering a first impression of luscious sweetness before saying farewell with a crisply dry-ish finish. The clash of sweetness and acidity creates a wonderful tension or energy in the wine. Flavours suggest citrus/lime, mandarin skin and ripe apricot. It’s from a single vineyard situated in the lower Brancott Valley of Marlborough. Vine age is nine years, reasonably mature for Marlborough riesling. Big John refers to 2-metre-tall vineyard owner John Walsh. 

WORDS BOB CAMPBELL MW PHOTOGRAPHY ROB SHAW

This article appeared in the April/May 2008 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.