I had the pleasure of attending New Zealand in a Glass this year. Held at Dockside in Darling Harbour, I was fortunate enough to attend the trade tasting which was held from 12-5pm. There are goods things about trade tastings and bad. The good is, they generally give you more time, it tends to be less crowded and most people there are a bit more serious about trying the wine rather than showing up after work to get a little drunk. The downside is the slight marketing and questions you get from some of the distributors but it is not too bad and it's a very minor thing. Overall they're much better.
I have been looking forward to attending this event for over a month, more so than the Royal Sydney Wine Show....I've mentioned several times that I think New Zealand is making a lot of exciting stuff and, for the most part, have surpassed Australia wine wise. I don't think they yet get the attention they deserve internationally...but a lot of good stuff coming out of here.
General impressions: A few too many typical NZ Sauvignon Blancs...I don't dislike NZ Sav Blanc...I think they have a nice nose, good acidity and go well with food. They are generally an easy pleaser...I think some wine geeks tend to rip on them unfairly...but the fact is, they tend to be a bit simple and not that interesting once you've had a few...but do I think they're bad? No..Do I think they deserve to get looked down on? Certainly not....As with many Pinot Gris/Grigio...they're just hard to get excited about but I have no issues with drinking them..
HOWEVER, there were quite a few places that were trying different things with their Sav Blanc...A bit of oak...time on lees...It was noticeable that these places were trying to distinguish themselves from the typical NZ Sav Blanc...Trying to make it more refined....Some places would say it was more like a Sancerre...I don't really think it was but that isn't a bad thing. I do think a lot of the extra things they were doing to the Sav Blanc was making them quite a bit more interesting and gave them a lot more depth. The downside to all of this is they were on the expensive side and I'm not sure they compete well at that price point but they are definitely worth giving a shot...
Rieslings. Someone said that NZ doesn't know what style they want to do their Rieslings in so they don't have an identity..I don't really think they need to do that...but I will say, from a Dry Riesling perspective, they do fall a bit short of Australia...on the flipside, they have quite a few interesting Rieslings that have a little bit of residual sugar...there are actually quite a few and they do them well...I'm not sure they have the minerality of many German Rieslings but tend of have really nice fruit.
Chards. A lot of good Chardonnay coming out of NZ and there were a couple of really good ones here at the tasting....but then again, in the last few years Australia has come out with a lot of good Chards too...
Reds. Pinot, Syrah, Bordeaux Blends, etc. They've been great in NZ for awhile. Central Otago is picking up steam internationally....I've been seeing some in Australia for fairly cheap too...which is fantastic. Syrah, Cab Sav, Cab Franc and Merlot are all also picking up some steam but definitely not getting the coverage they should. Part of it is they don't make enough, part of it is they just don't have the reputation. There were quite a few really great reds at the show. A number of ok ones but most of them were pretty good.
By my count, I tried over 150 wines while at the show and while I will attempt to cover a wider range of wines at the show in a bit of detail, I think for now I'm going to stick to covering the highlights and slowly work towards that.
Here is a list of the Wineries that were at the show:
Akarua
ARA Wines
Archangel
Auntsfield Estate
Babich
Bespoke (Which represents Ceres, Charcoal Gully and Folding Hill)
Borthwick
Bouldevines
Bridge Pa
Brightwater Gravels
Catalina Sounds
Totara Wines
Chard Farm Winery
Domain Road Winery
Elephant Hill
Map Maker
Fancrest Estate
Gibbston Valley Wines
Giesen Wines
Grasshopper Rock
Greystone Wines
Huia Vinyards
Hunter's Wines
Invivo
Konrad
Lawson's Dry Hills Wines
Man O'War
Martinborough Estate
Mt. Difficulty
Matahiwi Estate
Matua Valley
Maude Wines
Mission Estate
Moana Park
Mount Riley
Northburn
Ostler
Oyster Bay
Pasquale
Pernod Ricard
Saint Clair
Seifriend Estates
Sileni Estates
Spring Creek Estate
Spy Valley Wines
Staete Landt Vineyard
Wooing Tree
Steve Bird Winery
Surveyor Thomson
te Pa
Terrance Edge
Trinity Hill
Trout Valley
Tupari Wines
Two Paddocks
Villa Maria Estate
Vinoptima
West Brook
Whitehaven
Wither Hills
Lindauer
Yealands
I tried to hit as many of these as possible. In some cases I wasn't able to cover both reds and whites and in some cases, I wasn't able to cover anything from them. It really is a matter of where they were in the showroom plus time constraints..
Highlights:
Auntsfield Estate.
Auntsfield 2009 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. Fermented in French Oaks and put on Lees for 10 months, this was a wine that had much more finesse than what you'll normally see from a NZ Sav Blanc...Still had great acidity but far more complex and a LOT more depth. Tropical Fruit, spice, a bit of nuttiness. Some minerality. Good finish. At $39, it is a bit of a stretch but a very good wine nonetheless.
Auntsfield 2009 Estate Chardonnay. The winemaker told me only a single barrel had gone through Malo and was mixed in with the rest of the barrels...The result was a wine with good acidity, fruit and freshness that has become popular lately..but you're still getting a little bit of creaminess.. Great depth..very nice finish. Not sure how long this will go but it tastes great now. A really excellent buy at 29 AUD (If that is what it sells at). I've even seen this in the US for $19 which makes it a STEAL.
Auntsfield 2009 Estate Pinot Noir. Another great wine from here. Really nice nose of cherry, some florals, a bit of minerality as well. Good acidity on the palate, nice bright red fruit, cherries...nice fine tannins. Another one I'm not sure how long it'll go but it tastes great now. It is also a great buy at the price. I know this goes for $25 USD which is a total steal.
Auntsfields 2007 Heritage Pinot Noir. Apparently these are barrel selections but it is a completely different wine from the normal Estate Pinot. This one is still very tight. Good acidity, brutal tannins. Still a good amount of oak showing. Great fruit, great length, tremendous complexity. This one is obviously built to be cellared. At $80+ this might prove to be a fantastic wine way down the line but hard to say..
Babich Wines
Babich Winemakers Reserve 2010 Pinot Noir. A well made, crowd pleasing Pinot. Good Acidity to balance out the cherry and raspberry flavors. Maybe a bit of Cherry Cola as well. Definitely a more drink it now type of Pinot Noir and a reasonable buy at 30-35.
Babich The Patriarch 2009. A Bordeaux Blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet France and 25% Malbec. Deep brooding nose of dark fruit, spice and chocolate. You immediately know this wine will probably best at its best after at least 5+ years. Decent Acidity, to balance out the Blackberries, pepper and chocolate. Tannins are pretty big yet tasty and not so harsh where they're ripping your teeth out. Drinkable now but I'd imagine it would be pretty tiring...Goes for about 50-60 AUD which keeps it out of the great value category but it is fairly priced and probably a good buy compared to many Australian Cab blends at the same level.
Bridge Pa. This is the first I've heard of them but they were probably one of the big surprises of the show for me...
Bridge Pa Zillah Merlot 2006. A very nice merlot. Very nice nose of dark fruits, a bit of spice, some florals...Good deep palate, it makes me think blend but apparently it isn't which makes it even more impressive. Nice finish..a good start. RRP 42 AUD.
Bridge Pa 2008 Reserve Syrah. I'm not really sure why this call these their reserve because they have another line called Louis that is their premium line...They do have a regular Syrah line but it doesn't look like one has been made for awhile...Not sure.. In any case, starts off with a very nice nose, blueberries, chocolate...Good Acidity which I like from my reds. Relatively big fruit but not a fruit bomb and the acidity really balances it out...Nice tasty tannins...Very nice length..Very nice. Not sure how this one will age but it is drinking very nicely now. Still relatively primary but that doesn't mean it doesn't have good complexity...really nice. RRP 44AUD
Bridge Pa 2006 Louis Syrah. This is their premium line. This one was actually a bit of a letdown after the 2008 Reserve. It is a very good wine. Nice nose, nice dark fruits on the palate, but for some reason it isn't hitting everything just right. Let me make it clear, it is still a very good wine..enough for me to mention it....but maybe my expectations were too high. RRP62 AUD
Bridge Pa 2007 Louis Syrah. Whatever expectations the 2006 didn't hit, the 2007 did. Really fantastic nose, getting a lot of dark fruits, a bit of pepper, spices, a little mocha...really nice nose...Good acidity, really balanced dark fruits..blackberries, plum, spice, pepper...Definitely not in your face...Has a bit of Old World in this New World wine...Really liking this one a lot. At $62 RRP, not a tremendous value but I'd easily put this against anything in Australia at that price point...Looking forward to trying this again at some point to see if it was me or the wine.
They are currently looking for a new distributor in Australia since their current one is going through some financial troubles..and I believe they're looking for distribution in the US as well.
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