Someone famous once said we never get a second chance to make a first impression.
If first impressions count for you as much as they do for me, then the new Lost Garden wines are likely to make a strong impact but will it be a positive one? For me, it is an instantly positive one, thanks to the visual appeal of the bottles but what’s inside is always more important so this week I put these wines to the taste test and they came up smelling if not exactly like roses, then definitely like clean, floral, fresh and tasty wines made in an approachable style across the board. This means they drink well now and are not intended nor really ideally suited to further aging, although the winemaking (and choice of closures, all screwcaps, thankfully) will preserve them for at least the next two to four years.
The range is made for early drinking, which means they tend to be on the lighter side with fruity flavours and smooth attributes, flavours designed to appeal to those who want an affordable wine to take home and drink tonight or as a weekend treat. They are made by Trinity Hill in Hawke’s Bay and priced in the next level range of $29.95 each. I tasted three of the range and here are my notes on them.
17.5/20
2019 Lost Garden Hawke’s Bay Rosé $29.95, 12% ABV
Light pink rosé is on trend and its colour comes from minimal skin contact during winemaking, in this case using Syrah and Pinot Noir grapes grown in Hawke’s Bay; New Zealand’s second biggest wine region.
It’s a light bodied pink wine with fresh flavours of red fruit, such as cranberries and strawberries. Its fresh zesty finish adds balance to the fruit flavours and this wine is dry with 2.5 grams of residual sugar per litre (firmly in the dry style). This wine is tasty, refreshing and very good quality.
16.5/20
2019 Lost Garden Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir $29.95, 13.5% ABV
Hawke’s Bay has arguably the most diverse range of climate types in New Zealand when it comes to grape growing, which means it can ripen a wide range of grape varieties, including the cool climate loving Pinot Noir. This new Lost Garden Pinot Noir is dry, light bodied and pale in colour with fresh vibrant red berry aromas and flavours of red fruit. It’s a wine to drink now rather than to cellar but will hold for two to three years as a lively, refreshing expression of all that’s great and good about the thin skinned Pinot Noir grape.
17.5/20
2018 Lost Garden Hawke’s Bay Syrah $29.95, 12.5% ABV
Syrah is the second most planted red grape in Hawke’s Bay and is slowly but steadily increasing in vineyard area due to its incredibly promising taste potential. This one is dry with a medium ruby colour, spicy aromas of cloves and fresh black pepper. Its flavours suggest a region well suited to Syrah with its ripe black plum notes, smooth tannins and medium finish. This is a wine to drink in its youth and enjoy for its refreshing lighter take on the Syrah theme from Hawke’s Bay.
17.5/20
2019 Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay White Label Syrah $, 13.5% ABV
Talk about stepping things up a notch or three; this medium ruby hued Hawke’s Bay Syrah has… aromas of freshly crushed cloves, black pepper, spice and all things nice; it’s a medium to full bodied red with firm grainy tannins and medium plus length of flavour. Aging at the winery, pre bottling, includes eight months in stainless steel and a shorter time period in seasoned (older) French oak, which accentuates the smooth texture and adds light notes of spice for appeal and complexity.
17.5/20
2018 Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay White Label Pinot Noir $22.95, 13% ABV
Now I like wine, which shows how refreshing Pinot Noir can taste when it’s light bodied and dry. It also shines a spotlight on the great potential of Hawke’s Bay to produce good to very good quality Pinot Noir that highlights this sensitive grape variety’s most elegant, silky side – its bright fresh red fruit flavours of red berries and red plums intermingled with spicy flavours of nutmeg, cinnamon and notes of cedar, all of which add complexity to this light bodied, intensely flavoursome dry red.
17.5/20
2017 Trinity Hill The Trinity White Label Red Blend $22.95, 12.5% ABV
This Cabernet Franc dominant red blend has great density and structure with ripe red and black fruit flavours, notes of olives and savoury spice. It’s dry, full bodied, richly flavoursome and complex, drinking well now and clearly a good contender for the cellar, thanks to its impressive structured style.
18.5/20
2019 Trinity Hill Merlot Hawke’s Bay White Label Merlot $22.95, 13.5% ABV
Merlot is one of the top four most popular grapes in Hawke’s Bay, both with vineyard plantings to reflect this and in terms of wines that red drinkers look to the Bay to produce. This wine doesn’t disappoint. It rewards with deep ripe red plum flavours in a plush, soft, smooth bodied with impressive structural backbone from the 10% of Cabernet Franc and 5% of Cabernet Sauvignon, which do not need to be declared on the label (85% of the wine is Merlot and this is in line with label regulations). These two grapes add backbone and richness, while allowing Merlot to take the driver’s seat in flavour profile. This wine will hold for a couple of years but it’s a damned delicious drink right now…
The grapes in this wine come from the Gimblett Stones, Tin Shed and Gimblett Gravels vineyards.
