Michael Cooper
Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines 2012

 

The Gewürztraminers from this tiny Hawke’s Bay winery are striking and among the finest in the country. This ‘Old Vine’ wine, introduced from the 2004 vintage, is made entirely from grapes hand-picked from the original Mere Road plantings in 1983. The 2009 (5*), handled entirely in tanks, makes a powerful statement. An authoritative wine with a voluminous, spicy, gingery, slightly honeyed fragrance, it is weighty and complex, with superbly rich, peachy and spicy flavours, fresh and lasting. The 2010 vintage (4.5*) is viewed as a slightly ‘lighter’ style, so priced lower than the usual $45. Still very youthful, it is full-bodied and gently sweet (10 grams/litre of residual sugar), with concentrated, ripe stone-fruit and spice flavours, finely balanced, rounded and rich.