New Zealand New Releases, Spring 2007

There’s always excitement generated by the new wine releases from New Zealand – a new vintage brings not only new wines but new producers too. While some of the top wineries were absent, this allowed some of the new, the less well-known and the upcoming wineries to market their wares.

The show featured great examples of all the major NZ grape varieties and styles at all price points. These ranged from good value sparkling wines to the signature Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs. In addition there were aromatic whites - Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and Riesling - plus Chardonnay, Rosé, Syrah and Bordeaux Blends. All these really do show off New Zealand’s diversity of wine styles to good effect.

Of over 170 wines on display, here are thumbnail impressions of nearly 70 of them, with UK recommended retail prices are shown. These notes come with my usual caveats about show tasting – big, bold and immediate wines generally show well but this can be at the expense of more subtle and complex wines. As first impressions are those that last, many wines were re-tasted in an attempt at objectivity. In addition, these wines are mostly very young and have had a long journey! They will repay keeping, even if allowed only a few months to settle down in the case of the early drinking styles.

There will be plenty of opportunity to try these wines and plenty more besides at the NZ Regional consumer tasting events to be held in Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds during June 2007.

 

Sparkling

Lindauer Special Select Sparkling, Marlborough NV £8.99

Very pale onion skin, rich biscuit (shortbread), suspect Pinot Noir dominant, mouth filling, drying finish. Very good and sharply priced too.

Deutz Marlborough Cuvée Sparkling, Marlborough NV £11.99

Supercharged stuff. Pale straw. Good toasty fruit, smooth mousse, nuts, yeast, lots of character and life with a good length. More Please. This will give Pelorus a real run for its money.

Mount Riley Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2006 £12.99

A Sauvignon Blanc sparkler! Super silver-green colour, classic Sauvie nose - gooseberry and passion fruit pungency. Lots of fresh acidity but also lots of alcohol and simple fruit. Interesting rather than enjoyable and ultimately tiring to drink. Novelty value.

Lindauer Rosé Sparkling, Marlborough NV £7.99

Light salmon pink, fresh raspberry and strawberry flavours with some yeasty notes poking through. Very attractive bubbles and tremendous value.

Riesling 2006

Sileni Cellar Selection, Hawke’s Bay 2006 £7.99

Steely fruit, some lemon-lime character, just off dry but high acidity and only 10.5% alcohol. Finishes a bit short.

Babich Riesling, Marlborough, 2006 £7.49

Good Riesling typicity, slightly subdued nose, good palate, plenty of lemon-lime fruit, drier style, 12%, a little viscous but excellent value.

Neudorf Vineyards “Brightwater” Riesling, Nelson 2006, £11.99

Neudorf’s entry level Riesling steals the limelight here – good lemon fruit intensity, very steely, with a long satisfying length. Tightly wound, this one is well worth ageing. 12%

Aurum Wines Riesling, Central Otago 2006 £9.99

From the shore of Lake Dunstan, bone dry and 13.5% alcohol, good length and balance. Real intensity of flavour - very limey, hints of apples. Excellent wine. Price is indicative – Aurum are looking for UK representation and should get it on this showing.

Torr Estate Riesling, Central Otago 2006, £12.00

Pisa Range region of Central Otago with Dean Shaw as winemaker. Hint of residual sugar, still dry but the effect is a more rounded mouth feel. Good and fresh but lacks an edge. Also looking for UK distribution.

Pinot Gris 2006

Staete Landt Estate Grown Pinot Gris, Marlborough 2006, £13.50

Lot’s of care here – fully dry style, peach nose, stone fruit palate, good rounded texture and nice length where nuts and a hint of creaminess appear – very restrained use of oak. Excellent.

Seresin Estate Pinot Gris, Marlborough 2006, Biodynamic, £16.30

Pale, leggy (this is 14.5%), white flowers on the nose, a soft palate with good fruit intensity. Fully dry style, very little oak. Needs another year or so to really unwind but no doubting the quality.

Neudorf Vineyards “Brightwater” Pinot Gris, Nelson 2006, £13.99

Pears and quince with this subtle wine. Super aromatic, big mouth filling palate and good acidity, the 14.5% alcohol is well masked. Silken mouth feel and great quality – pick of this selection.

Gibbston Highgate Estate “Dreammaker” Pinot Gris, Central Otago 2006, £14.99

Pear nose, very clean. On palate pears then stone fruit with a hint of spice on the finish. Good but not outstanding.

Nevis Bluff Pinot Gris, Central Otago 2006, £15.00

Alsace style but lacks fruit and intensity – where’s the texture?

Waitiri Creek Pinot Gris, Central Otago 2006, POA

Bruising. White flower nose, big attack on palate, some pear then peach fruit. Good but unsubtle.

Gewurztraminer 2006/2005

Seresin Estate Gewurztraminer, Marlborough 2006 Biodynamic, £14.50

Pale silver, initially restrained nose but light red roses and rose oil present. Nothing heavy or cloying. Opens up quickly and becomes very aromatic. Good balance, enough acidity, oiliness is there but low level. This is deceptively light (14% alcohol) and surprisingly delicate. Spice effects coming through on a long length. Excellent.

Montana “Patutahi” Gewurztraminer, Gisborne, 2005, £10.99

Big and bold lychee and Turkish delight. Very ripe fruit and musky perfume, off dry and ultimately a little tiring to drink. Instantly appealing, especially at a tasting but lacks subtlety.

Vinoptima Gewurztraminer, Gisborne 2005, £20.00

Medium dry style, big oily weight in the mouth. Very ripe fruit with the usual Gewurztraminer suspects on display – roses, lychee and then a very moreish ginger spice finish. Worth ageing. Expensive – up at Dry River price point, which is the Kiwi Gewürztraminer benchmark.

Sauvignon/Sémillon 2006

Pegasus Bay Sauvignon/Sémillon, Waipara 2006. £11.50

Sauvignon Blanc dominant, cats pee with Semillons waxiness. What’s good? Minerality. Whats not? Little integration of the varieties at this stage, they’re like two puppies in a sack. Will it meld together over time? Given Pegasus Bay’s reputation I’d hope so, but right now “characterful” at best.

Sauvignon Blanc 2006

Nobilo “Five Fathoms” Sauvignon Blanc, East Coast 2006, £5.99

Sauvie varietal character, big pungency, cats pee, green pepper and peapod. Piercing acidity. No fun.

Sileni “Satyr” Sauvignon Blanc, Hawke’s Bay 2006, £8.99

Classic Sauvie nose, more passion fruit. Feels a little dilute on the palate – bit of a letdown after the nose.

Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough, 2006, £8.86

Superb wine, really good intense flavours, mown grass, asparagus, passion fruit and gooseberry complexity. Deliciously crisp. Smashing value too.

Neudorf Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, Nelson 2006, £11.99

Relatively deep green, a little leggy. Lovely asparagus and grass nose. Plenty of crisp rich fruit and yet a rounded mouth feel. Lots of pleasure.

Babich “Winemakers Reserve” Sauvignon Blanc 2006, £8.99

Very ripe leesy fruit. Good intensity and crispness, lime and gooseberry. Great value.

Sacred Hill “Wine Thief” Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2006, £9.99

Big and powerful, über-sauvie style, very Marlborough. Bone dry, big alcohol to go with the tropical fruit flavours. Very good if you like that sweaty armpit style.

Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2006, £12.85

The antithesis in style. Pale silver green with a subtle Loire-ish nose. Palate has such texture and balance of acidity and fruit, really long. A much more Old World style that finds it hard to shine in comparison with more full-on examples. Terrific wine, worth ageing.

Saint Clair “Pioneer Block Three” Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2006, £11.99

Very herbaceous, nettles on the nose and palate. Very rich, dry style but not as dry as some - residual sugar? Good texture, recommended.

Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Cloudy Bay “Te Koko”, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2004, £18.49

The latest 2005 was withdrawn and replaced with the 2004, so this wine has had an extra year to knit together. Nose still has huge oak, masquerading as very sweet vanilla and toast. Oak overpowers the fruit; perhaps the barrel work is overdone and needs turning down a notch. A favourite oaked Sauvignon but too heavy handed with the oak in this vintage. Disappointing. Would like to compare with the 2005.

Seresin “Marama” Sauvignon Blanc, Biodynamic, Marlborough 2005, £16.08

Big powerful wine, 14.5% alcohol and pungent intensity. Plenty going on here, all the usual suspects are lined up – grass, asparagus, a very herbaceous wine and a jolly big mouthful. This has also had oak treatment, which adds a nutty quality and this time the amount of oak is well judged, giving a leesy texture and complexity without masking the fruit. Very good, with more harmony than the Te Koko.

Chardonnay 2005

Staete Landt Estate Grown Chardonnay, Marlborough 2005, £12.75

Pale yellow, mealy nose. Weighty and powerful, creamy, very young and tight, oak a little dominant right now, has the fruit weight to come around. Good.

Cloudy Bay Chardonnay, Marlborough 2005, £15.99

Figgy, apple and citrus, some minerality, high toast oak dominates at this stage but should settle down given time. Good if a little lacking in finesse. Rather expensive.

Seresin Estate Reserve Chardonnay, Marlborough 2005, Biodynamic, £16.55

Pale gold, leggy and weighty, figs and subtle toast nose. Chalky minerality, good intensity and mealy texture with a butterscotch finish. Needs more time to unfurl but finesse is there. One to keep.

Rosé

Stoneleigh Rosé, Marlborough 2006, £6.99

Good bright colour, full-bodied, cherry Pinot Noir fruit on nose and palate, good zingy acidity, very good, well-balanced 13% alcohol and well priced too. Pick of the bunch here.

Babich Rosé, East Coast 2006, £7.49

Pale and delicate appearance. Red fruits. Let down by dilute and rather confected palate, falls short.

Esk Valley Black Label Rosé, Hawke’s Bay 2006, £7.99

Bright vivid pink, hint of a blue rim. Leggy too, high 14% alcohol. Attractive strawberry nose. Soft palate, some tannin. Overall, soft, easy and potent drinking. Merlot and Malbec blend.

Vidal Wines Rosé Hawke’s Bay 2006, £7.99

Another big Rosé, assume similar grapes to Esk Valley above, i.e. Merlot and Malbec. This example has a pleasant nose, big alcohol and a rather dull palate marked with residual sugar in an off-dry style.

Gem Rosé, Hawke’s Bay & Wairarapa 2006, £12.00

Much lighter, only 12.5% alcohol, which comes as a relief in a Rosé. One third Hawke’s Bay Merlot blended with two thirds Wairarapa Pinot Noir. Attractive pale colour. Palate really quite vinous, more obvious fresh acidity. Good wine but overpriced.

Kim Crawford “Pansy” Rosé, Marlborough 2005, £8.49

Suspect plenty of Pinot Noir here judging by the good violet nose, the best feature. Palate is a let down, cherryish, no vivacity, lolly, finishes short.

Pinot Noir 2006

Tussock Pinot Noir, Nelson 2006 £11.99

From Upper Moutere currently looking for UK distribution. Pale violet/cherry in colour, very nice smoky nose overlays cherry fruit. Palate a letdown after the nose, but this is very young and adolescent yet. Smoky oak reprised with spices on finish. Relatively light balance, plenty of acidity, not much tannin – young vines? Good.

Sherwood Estate Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2006, £8.49.

Dull, very simple raspberry flavour, no complexity and no Pinot silky mouth feel. Fruit Juice, way overpriced.

Delta Vineyard Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2006, £9.95

Straightforward fruit flavours, more cherry than raspberry. Nicer texture and medium finish.

Clos Henri Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2006, £16.40

Deep cherry colour, violet rim. Nose has cherry fruit and subdued oak. Gutsier, Good silken mouth feel. Lots of structure means this has some way to go but no doubting the potential here. Good length. Keep at least 2 years or so.

Ata Rangi “Crimson” Pinot Noir, Martinborough 2006, £15.00

Meets high expectations. Deep crimson colour, a true Pinot nose with lift and perfume then super red berry fruit. Smooth silken texture and “pinosity”. Ata Rangi’s entry-level Pinot knocks the spots of many at higher prices. Great value, already drinking well, will improve over the next couple of years.

Carrick “Unravelled” Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2006, £13.50

Carrick’s entry-level Pinot, deep ruby violet flecked. Very subtle oak, youthfully astringent, tannins evident, long spicy length, an excellent wine that needs another year or two to shine. Recommended.

Roaring Meg Pinot Noir Central Otago, 2006, £14.99

Mount Difficulty’s entry-level Pinot. Good rounded palate follows a smoky nose. Plenty of structure here, but should come around with time, say another year or two at least.

Waitiri Creek Drummer Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2006, POA.

Gibbston Valley fruit. Big nose, all violets, a great start. Good cherry/berry fruit but a little one-dimensional on the palate and lacks that essential mouth feel. Good.

Pinot Noir 2005

Escarpment Pinot Noir, Martinborough, 2005, £14.99

Dense crimson colour, complex nose – smoky, savoury cherry and red berry. Big dark cherry palate, well balanced, softly textured and already drinking well. Excellent wine and good value too.

Escarpment Kupe Pinot Noir, Martinborough 2005, £19.99

Premium Pinot. This is much tighter at present, built for bottle ageing, probably needs another 2-3 years to fill out. That big succulent dark cherry fruit with extra structure. Worth the price premium if you’re prepared to keep it.

Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, Martinborough 2005, £28.00

This plays in a league of its own, excellent Pinot that remains the one to beat. Deep crimson, cherry and raspberry perfume all mixed up with milk chocolate and bonfire smoke. Superb mouth feel with a subtle interplay of fruit and savoury notes. Nothing harsh, all silk sheets, grace, power and elegance. Hard to resist now but keep back 3-5 years. Worth every penny.

Neudorf Vineyards Tom’s Block Pinot Noir, Nelson 2005, £14.99

Neudorf’s entry level Pinot, torrefaction on the nose, a lighter style Pinot but the all-important silky texture is there. Very harmonious excellent wine.

Neudorf Vineyards Moutere Pinot Noir, Nelson 2005, £25.99

A big step up in price but the quality fully justifies the premium. Very lifted nose, exuberant and luxurious fruit, pillowed texture, long spicy finish and torrefaction. A superb wine; keep a couple of years at least.

Forrest Estate Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, £9.99

Just how lovely is this for the money? A pretty Pinot – raspberry, cherry, savoury aromas, anise and a silken palate. Lots of passion and a triumph. A bargain.

Omaka Springs Falveys Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, £11.99

Mushroomy nose, savoury forest floor and dilute raspberry flavour followed by volatile acidity. Not nice, assumed faulty despite the screwcap.

Staete Landt Estate Grown Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, £14.50

Deep colour and a hedonistic perfume. Palate has real interest and life, juicy fruit and well controlled oak. Some chocolate and coffee on the finish. Tannins still a little drying, needs a year or so. Very good.

Saint Clair Omaka Reserve Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, £14.79

Violet colour, leggy with alcohol and extract. Rich and succulent yet overblown and strangely uninvolving.

Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, £16.99

Smoky and savoury nose, the cherry fruit lacks depth. A clear case of the Emperor’s new clothes.

Seresin Estate “Raupo Creek” Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2005, Biodynamic, £21.80

This has the Pinot wow! factor, good lifted perfume, good balance, and subtle flavours. An easy recommendation even at this price.

Domaine Jaquiery Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2005, £19.00

Wanaka fruit. Strangely lacking in mouth feel and intensity despite denseness and alcohol. Disappointing given the obvious premium quality intentions.

Aurum Wines Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2005, £19.99

Lowburn fruit from near Cromwell. Purple hued colour but seemingly less alcohol. Good enjoyable easy drinking but expensive in that context.

Pinot Noir 2004/2003

Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Pinot Noir, Marlborough, 2004, £21.99

Raspberryish/cherry colour. Subtlty and charm here. Complex and seductive. Achieves a weightless balance. One of Marlborough’s top Pinots, a very Old World style, give it 3 or 4 years to peak.

Fromm Vineyard Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2004, £23.99

This should have been one of the wines of the show. However the 5 bottles tried were all faulty and lifeless – assume a cork batch problem. An argument for screwcap?

Fromm “La Strada” Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2003, £15.99

Fromm’s entry-level Pinot with an extra year of bottle age pushes the Clayvin hard. Goes for elegance and poise rather than power. Delicious, ready now.

Bordeaux Blends

Alpha Domus Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, Hawke’s Bay 2004, £10.00

Vibrant colour, big pencils and cedar nose from a splash of Cabernet Franc. Red berry, plum and savoury notes. Excellent wine, drink now or keep. Heartily recommended.

Alpha Domus AD “The Navigator” Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, Hawke’s Bay 2004, £12.50

Succulent stuff. Cedar and tobacco, grainy tannins ideally need another year or so to soften but fine drinking now if you have rare roast beef on hand. Plum and cassis fruit, great depth and length. Terrific.

Alpha Domus AD “The Aviator” Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Hawke’s Bay 2002, £25.00

The Alpha Domus flagship is very left bank Bordeaux but with extra riper and succulent blackcurrant fruit. Very structured, austere and drying tannins right now, needs another couple of years. Drink The Navigator while you wait. Great quality.

Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

Ata Rangi “Célèbre”, Martinborough 2005, £19.00

A favourite wine delivers the goods as usual. Cranberries, pencils and cracked black pepper. Juicy acidity, youthful tannins a little edgy yet, really needs another year. Good balance and 13% alcohol. Gorgeous and exciting.

Syrah 2005

Sacred Hill “Wine Thief” Syrah, Hawke’s Bay 2005, £10.99

Purplish hued, inviting savoury Rhôney nose. Violets on a juicy palate and a slight milk chocolate finish. Big boned. Gimblett Gravels.

Southbank Estate Syrah, Hawke’s Bay, 2005 £11.99

Altogether a finer expression. Lower alcohol –12.5%. Nose is earthy with white pepper notes. Very soft already, blackberry fruit. Not a blockbuster, a more gentle style for youthful drinking.

Artisan Syrah, Auckland 2005, £20.00

Fantail Island vineyard at Oratia, West of Auckland. Nose has plenty of intensity. Blueberry-ish fruit, hints of black pepper, violets and liquorice with a milk chocolate finish. Assume only small quantities made, nevertheless seems expensive.

Some Conclusions

At this showing, Ata Rangi (Martinborough), and Neudorf (Nelson) still lead the way with their world-class wines.

Great wines from Alpha Domus (Hawke’s Bay), Staete Landt, Clos Henri and Seresin (Marlborough), Escarpment (Martinborough) and Carrick (Central Otago).

And Cloudy Bay? Well, their iconic Sauvignon Blanc and Pelorus sparklers were not on show and these are their best wines. Their other varietal wines are disappointing given the prices asked.

Those in search of bargains need look no further than Forrest Estate (Pinot Noir), Babich and Palliser Estate (Sauvignon Blanc), plus the sparkling wines from Lindauer and Deutz.