Recent NZ Trip
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:49 pm
I thought these recent impressions of a trip to NZ in December 2011 might be of interest to a few people on this board. I posted this earlier on a small regional wine board.
Just a few mainly wine-related impressions from a recent trip to New Zealand. First wine stop was the Waipara region, just north of Christchurch. The presence of limestone in many vineyards is interesting. Only visited two wineries, as we were just passing through. Pegasus Bay has lovely grounds, and their wines were outstanding as well. Greystone was the other visit, and their aromatic whites were very nice, especially the Greystone Reisling 2010, which was a world class, off dry riesling. Wonderful stuff, and well priced (late 20s I think).
Marlborough was the next wine stop, after swimming with seals in Kaikoura and hiking around the peninsula. We rented bikes and cycled around the wineries around Renwick. It’s the second times I’ve biked here, as many good wineries are within about a 4-5 kilometer range. Again, we were most impressed by many rieslings here (a theme that will be repeated). The Forrest Rieslings were particularly tasty, as were Framingham wines. Seresin had a great range, as did Cloudy Bay, whose sparkling wines were very nice, and the Te Koko (barrel fermented sauvingnon blanc) interesting as always. Staete Landt also had an interest partially oaked SB. The cellar doors were a bit hit and miss here, with many good wineries only pouring a small number of wines (e.g., Saint Clair, Fromm), but that’s what happens sometimes with no or few tasting room fees. No doubt appointments might have helped, but we weren’t interested in that on this trip. I didn’t visit, but drank a few bottles of the Deutz sparkling wine – the basic NV cuvee – and it was a wonderful sparkling wine that was an incredible bargain (usually on sale for $20 NZD (about $16 CDN). There are some nice sparkling wines being made in NZ.
Speaking of which, Central Otago was the next wine stop, and Quartz Reef made excellent sparkling wines, and one of the strongest pinots from 2010 that we tasted. Wooing Tree also had some nice pinots, as did Peregrin and Mt Difficulty. Felton Road only had four wines for tasting, which was unfortunate, but they were all very solid at least (I love their Rieslings). Again, it was the Rieslings in this region that I thought were the best wines, even more so than the pinots. There are nice pinots here, but very few outstanding ones. The basic Rockburn was very good, but the best pinot we had was the ’12 Barrels’ reserve wine from them (2008, I think). This was a world class pinot, and the $85 price tag was the only thing that stopped me grabbing a bottle (though I’m still torn).
After lots of hiking around the West Coast of the South island, we headed up to the North Island for a quick visit. Martinborough is still my favourite pinot region in NZ, and we tasted some very nice wines there. Nice cellar door visits were had at Ata Rangi, Schubert, Te Kairanga, Palliser and Martinborough Vineyard. Again, we rented bikes and cycled around to all the wineries. Oh, a meal at Logan Brown in Wellington was outstanding, our best of the trip, and we really enjoyed the Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay (which is available here in BC) with our meal.
Hawkes Bay was the last region visited. My favourite region in NZ by far, as I love the Bordeaux blends from this area. Te Mata wasn’t pouring anything too interesting, other than the Elston chardonnay, which is always a fine drink, but Craggy Range had a better selection of well made wines. Unison is always my favourite cellar door in this region, as it is very down to earth, and their wines are always outstanding from top to bottom. The 2007 Unison Selection was a real winner, one of the wines of the trip. Alpha Domus can be hit and miss, I think, but their top wine, the 2007 Aviator, was another outstanding Bordeaux blend. Trinity Hill wines are always very well done, as are Church Road. The latter’s reserve wines are often on sale in NZ supermarkets, and offer outstanding value. Esk Valley happened to have their 2006 Reserve Merlot//Marbec/Cabernet open, and it’s always a great wine. Their ‘basic’ red blend is usually outstanding QRP too. Had very nice tapas at Delisiosa's in Havelock North.
In terms of general impressions, the quality of NZ wines continues to increase and impress. The one wine I can’t get excited about is Pinot Gris, which it seems everybody is growing and seems to be the media darling right now. Too simple and often very confected. But their Rieslings don’t seem to get the attention they deserve, especially the off dry and sweet examples (many dry styles were a little too austere). The pinots are perhaps a little too praised as well, but maybe that’s just me. Overall, their wines put BC and ON (in Canada) to shame, which is sad. And the value these wines offer can be excellent, especially when you add in the approximately 20% exchange rate. Travel costs in NZ continue to rise, and that’s a bit of a shame, but it’s still one of the most beautiful places on earth, filled with absolutely wonderful people (and wines). Every wine fanatic should go there at least once, there is such an interesting variety of wine regions and wines grown there, from chardonnay to riesling, pinot to merlot, syrah and cabernet!
Just a few mainly wine-related impressions from a recent trip to New Zealand. First wine stop was the Waipara region, just north of Christchurch. The presence of limestone in many vineyards is interesting. Only visited two wineries, as we were just passing through. Pegasus Bay has lovely grounds, and their wines were outstanding as well. Greystone was the other visit, and their aromatic whites were very nice, especially the Greystone Reisling 2010, which was a world class, off dry riesling. Wonderful stuff, and well priced (late 20s I think).
Marlborough was the next wine stop, after swimming with seals in Kaikoura and hiking around the peninsula. We rented bikes and cycled around the wineries around Renwick. It’s the second times I’ve biked here, as many good wineries are within about a 4-5 kilometer range. Again, we were most impressed by many rieslings here (a theme that will be repeated). The Forrest Rieslings were particularly tasty, as were Framingham wines. Seresin had a great range, as did Cloudy Bay, whose sparkling wines were very nice, and the Te Koko (barrel fermented sauvingnon blanc) interesting as always. Staete Landt also had an interest partially oaked SB. The cellar doors were a bit hit and miss here, with many good wineries only pouring a small number of wines (e.g., Saint Clair, Fromm), but that’s what happens sometimes with no or few tasting room fees. No doubt appointments might have helped, but we weren’t interested in that on this trip. I didn’t visit, but drank a few bottles of the Deutz sparkling wine – the basic NV cuvee – and it was a wonderful sparkling wine that was an incredible bargain (usually on sale for $20 NZD (about $16 CDN). There are some nice sparkling wines being made in NZ.
Speaking of which, Central Otago was the next wine stop, and Quartz Reef made excellent sparkling wines, and one of the strongest pinots from 2010 that we tasted. Wooing Tree also had some nice pinots, as did Peregrin and Mt Difficulty. Felton Road only had four wines for tasting, which was unfortunate, but they were all very solid at least (I love their Rieslings). Again, it was the Rieslings in this region that I thought were the best wines, even more so than the pinots. There are nice pinots here, but very few outstanding ones. The basic Rockburn was very good, but the best pinot we had was the ’12 Barrels’ reserve wine from them (2008, I think). This was a world class pinot, and the $85 price tag was the only thing that stopped me grabbing a bottle (though I’m still torn).
After lots of hiking around the West Coast of the South island, we headed up to the North Island for a quick visit. Martinborough is still my favourite pinot region in NZ, and we tasted some very nice wines there. Nice cellar door visits were had at Ata Rangi, Schubert, Te Kairanga, Palliser and Martinborough Vineyard. Again, we rented bikes and cycled around to all the wineries. Oh, a meal at Logan Brown in Wellington was outstanding, our best of the trip, and we really enjoyed the Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay (which is available here in BC) with our meal.
Hawkes Bay was the last region visited. My favourite region in NZ by far, as I love the Bordeaux blends from this area. Te Mata wasn’t pouring anything too interesting, other than the Elston chardonnay, which is always a fine drink, but Craggy Range had a better selection of well made wines. Unison is always my favourite cellar door in this region, as it is very down to earth, and their wines are always outstanding from top to bottom. The 2007 Unison Selection was a real winner, one of the wines of the trip. Alpha Domus can be hit and miss, I think, but their top wine, the 2007 Aviator, was another outstanding Bordeaux blend. Trinity Hill wines are always very well done, as are Church Road. The latter’s reserve wines are often on sale in NZ supermarkets, and offer outstanding value. Esk Valley happened to have their 2006 Reserve Merlot//Marbec/Cabernet open, and it’s always a great wine. Their ‘basic’ red blend is usually outstanding QRP too. Had very nice tapas at Delisiosa's in Havelock North.
In terms of general impressions, the quality of NZ wines continues to increase and impress. The one wine I can’t get excited about is Pinot Gris, which it seems everybody is growing and seems to be the media darling right now. Too simple and often very confected. But their Rieslings don’t seem to get the attention they deserve, especially the off dry and sweet examples (many dry styles were a little too austere). The pinots are perhaps a little too praised as well, but maybe that’s just me. Overall, their wines put BC and ON (in Canada) to shame, which is sad. And the value these wines offer can be excellent, especially when you add in the approximately 20% exchange rate. Travel costs in NZ continue to rise, and that’s a bit of a shame, but it’s still one of the most beautiful places on earth, filled with absolutely wonderful people (and wines). Every wine fanatic should go there at least once, there is such an interesting variety of wine regions and wines grown there, from chardonnay to riesling, pinot to merlot, syrah and cabernet!
