Virtual Wine Wednesday - New Zealand

Wine Wednesday, your regular “at home” virtual wine tasting continues with a country that features large in the UK market – New Zealand.

Although we tend to associate New Zealand with intensely flavoured Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough and of course we feature one of those.  There is however much more to New Zealand than this; Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and even a Bordeaux blend all feature in our tour “down under”.

We start on Wednesday 12th October with a lovely Chardonnay from Nelson. 

The nose is deep rather than overt, with aromas of tangelo, apricot and subtle savoury bakery notes. There is a depth of mellow fruit on the front palate with excellent balance and integration of elements.  Typically, citrus fruits are in evidence complimented by melon and yellow-fleshed fruits. A little new oak spice and creamy, barrel-ferment-derived richness compliments the ripe fruit flavours and adds a hint of phenolic/textural interest.

Our next wine is from Hawke’s Bay, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec.

A typical cool climate Cabernet blend - Cabernet Sauvignon providing lavender aromatics with drive and intensity on the palate, Merlot providing red fruit aromas and roundness and structure and Malbec with a hint of spice.

• Greenhough Road Block Chardonnay, Nelson, South Island, 2018 – Retail Price £18.50
• Pask Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Merlot Malbec, Hawke's Bay, North Island, 2019 – Retail Price £15.50

Our next session is on Wednesday 26th October with a visit to Central Otago for a Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir.

Our Pinot Gris features some wine fermented in French oak barriques.  Spiced pear and ripe peach dominate the bouquet, together with hints of melon and vanilla. The sweet taste of pears and peaches comes through on the palate. This medium bodied dry wine has a creamy texture and balanced acidity.

Our Pinot Noir is a superb wine, aged for 12 months in French oak barriques.  With dark purple hues this wine is wonderfully complex. Aromas of dark cherry and spice, with hints of violet, are offset by the flavours of richly dark plums and cherry. With good fruit concentration and supportive oak tannins, this wine has a lovely long persistence on the finish.

• Domain Road Pinot Gris, Central Otago, New Zealand 2020 – Retail Price £18.00
• Domain Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2019 – Retail Price £24.00

We conclude on Wednesday 9th November in Marlborough (where else?) with a Sauvignon Blanc and an outstanding Pinot Noir.

The Sauvignon Blanc is a little unusual, 11% of the final wine was fermented in oak and acacia puncheons and barrels. A small (c. 5%) component was fermented on skins. Around 35% of the blend was aged on full ferment lees for six months, the remainder on light lees. Smoky aromatics, with flint, bitter lemon citrus, grapefruit and tropical hints. The palate is rich, slightly chewy, with good mouthfeel, texture and harmony. Flavours of yellow citrus, currant, papaya and sweet herbs carry through the finish. 

Our final Pinot Noir is a real pedigree; hand-picked, natural yeast fermentation using mostly destemmed bunches (some whole bunch), aged in French oak (30% new) for 11 months with individual clones maturing separately before blending/bottling.

Imagine a black forest cake, chock-full of juicy cherries and Black Doris plums; served up with a generous dollop of blueberry compote, laced with nutmeg and cloves. This is a deeply coloured Pinot, exuding lush, ripe fruit – highly fragrant with a cedar-like spiciness and hints of hot-smoked nuts. The palate is dense and generous with rich fruit, fine tannins and a delicious spicy finish.

• Framingham Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, Wairau Valley, New Zealand, 2021 – Retail Price £17.99
• Greywacke Marlborough Pinot Noir, New Zealand, 2019 – Retail Price £36.00

As usual, the wines can be ordered directly from our wine merchant partner, in this case Frazier’s Wine of Solihull for the discounted, delivered price of £112.00 (see link below).

Order your wines here.