A trio of new wines from one of Nelson’s oldest winery made their way into my tasting glass this week. Here are my reviews on Seifried Estate’s latest bunch, all incredibly affordable drops which retail for less than $20. The winemaking is by Anna Seifried, whose siblings run the winery and whose parents founded it – Hermann and Agnes Seifried. It’s a rare New Zealand winery, which remains in family hands with a second generation at the helm.

18.5/20
2020 Seifried Sauvignon Blanc Nelson $18
This wine is made with grapes grown on two vineyards in Nelson, both 1.5 kilometres from the coast, which provides the cooling influence of its sea breeze. This is good for vine health and the resulting wine made from those grapes. The two vineyards, Rabbit Island and Queen Victoria, are both estate owned, which provides the winery with a greater degree of quality control than if they bought grapes from contract growers. This comes through in this fresh new wine release, which is drinking well now with its outgoing personality of forward tropical fruit flavours, nicely balanced by refreshing acidity. It was fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks to preserve its bright fruit character.

17.5/20
2020 Seifried Old Coach Road Gewurztraminer Nelson $14
Seifried Estate has a long held reputation for making great Gewurztraminers and this wine ticks the box again, gaining a silver medal from me; no mean feat for a cool, affordable $14.

An unirrigated vineyard planted on a gently sloping north facing clay site is home to the grapes that went into making this medium dry Gewurztraminer, which contains 14 grams per litre of residual sugar, which lifts its powerful aromas of rose, lychees and Turkish Delight, all classic scents of the distinctive Gewurztraminer grape. The grapes in this wine were given a period of skin contact prior to pressing to lift the floral flavour notes in the wine, which was then cool fermentated in stainless steel. The 12.5% ABV is relatively modest for Gewurztraminer and makes this wine taste refreshing as well as full of personality. 

17.5/20
2019 Seifried Pinot Noir Nelson $18
It’s a high bronze medal from me for this spicy, fruit driven Pinot Noir made from grapes grown on two vineyards in Nelson at the tip of the South Island. The Seifried Brightwater Vineyard and and the Rabbit Island Vineyard are home to the Pinot grapes that went into this wine, which was harvested at 23.9 brix in March 2019. All grapes were destemmed and macerated briefly prior to fermentation, during which they were plunged twice daily and the finished wine was then aged in a combination of new and one to two year old French oak barriques for less than a year. The wine was bottled in late 2019. It’s a smooth, ripe, spicy Pinot Noir, which makes for approachable, refreshing drinking now or over the next two to three years.

• All three wines are suitable for vegans and vegetarians to enjoy because no animal products were used in making them.