Having judged over 350 wines over two days at the EIT Campus in Hawke’s Bay, Judges at the Hawke's Bay A&P Mercedes-Benz Wine Awards are well placed to deliver a view on the quality of the last few Vintages from Hawkes Bay. 

With 33 Gold, 58 Silver and 121 Bronze medals awarded at the 2011 show, the message is clear. Hawke’s Bay is making wines of character and international quality. Senior judges - Steve Flamsteed Winemaker from Giant Steps Winery in Australia, one of New Zealand's leading wine commentators, Joelle Thomson, Wine Program Director from Fine Wine Delivery Company Matt Deller and leading New Zealand winemakers Cath Oates, Warren Gibson and Ant MacKenzie - are in a perfect position to judge just how good these last few years have been, and the consensus is extremely good. 

Flamsteed says: “ As well as meeting quality criteria, the most important thing to me about these regional shows is that the wines demonstrate and sense of place, a ‘Hawke’s Bay-ness’ that is unique. The wines judged over the last two days, especially the Chardonnay and Syrah for me, have shown this in spades” 

Chairman of Judges Rod McDonald says: ”There’s no question that the usual varietal strengths of Hawke’s Bay shone through especially from the 2009 and 2010 harvests, with a high number of gold’s awarded in the Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet and Merlot blends classes. 

"Other styles that the judges rewarded with gold medals this year included Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Viognier and sweet wines all endorsed by the panels. Such a diversity of varieities is a real and unique strength of Hawke’s Bay Winegrowing.” 

Today at the Exhibitor Tasting the judges were available to provide feedback on all the entries, as well as discuss wine styles and explain more about the desirable attributes of the award-winning wines”. Wineries who attended found the tasting a great benefit to benchmark their entries against medal winners and vice versa”, says Rod. 

Full results and Trophies will be celebrated at a glittering black tie gala event on Tuesday 18 October at Waikoko Gardens in Hastings. For tickets, phone 0508 946 329.

Monday 4 July 2011 

This tasting was the first retrospective line up showing all of his pinot noirs; all from the same 3.5 hectare block in Gibbston Valley; from 2003 to 2010. 

2010 Matua Valley Single Vineyard Bannockburn Otago Pinot Noir - this is a dense, dark wine with a hefty amount of oak influence, but enough body to handle it, with aplomb. After three days of being open, it was still tasting outstanding; boding well for its ability to age for several years in a cool dark place.

Its deliciousness comes from being off-dry, offering the wine instant appeal where it most counts in every first sip - on the front tongue, where sweetness hits with a perfect balance of lusciousness and restrained 'gimme more' flavours.... it is only just off-dry and after my tasting sample, the half case I ordered to stash away has happily been enjoyed by willing friends and I. Better go back and order some more from winemaker Kirk Bray, who makes this outstanding young, German-inspired Riesling from his eight hectare vineyard on Georges Road in North Canterbury.www.georgesroadwines.co.nz

(And just to clarify things, no, there's nothing I stand to gain - except hopefully to be able to buy and therefore drink their wines, if only someone will bring them into NZ!).

“These are wines focused on purity and balance. We can do whatever we like in this range; wild ferments, low to no sulphur, we’ve actually got a place where we can bottle our experiments if we think we’ve got something valid.”

 

   

Saturday 17 April 2010... 2008 Craggy Range Te Kahu

Martinborough may be best known for pinot noir but it's whites like this full bodied chardonnay that prove this well known wine region in the North Island, New Zealand, has more than one string to its wine bow. Its attractive spicy oak aromas are the door opener to this wine.   

Saturday 3 April 2010

And back to Wooing Tree in Central Otago, here are my thoughts on two other variations on the pinot noir theme.

It was my white wine pick of the day, poured for me, as shown above, by winemaker Virgil Kerr; winemaker at 3 Mondays - a new wine processing facility on Daikin's Road, Wairarapa, owned and run by Joseph Ryan, Virgil Kerr and Dave Patterson. The new 3 Mondays venture will make wine for others as well as the Joseph Ryan range. 

Matahiwi Estate, www.matahiwi.co.nz

2009 Chalmers Negroamaro Rosato 

2009 Lawson’s Dry Hills The Pioneer Gewurztraminer $32 

Thursday 19 November 

If there’s one thing you never expect to hear a Central Otago winemaker say, it’s that they had a big vintage but that's exactly what 2008 was...

   

This two year old southern Tuscan white wine tasted great early this week.

Ok I'm not actually drinking these three wines right now. Winemaker Gordon Russell's labels have had a major makeover. It's the contents of the bottles I'm most interested in and tasted earlier this month.

2007 Clos de Ste Anne Les Arbres Viognier $55