Winestate Magazine

Editor & Publisher Peter Simic Managing Editor Lara Simic NZ Editor Michael Cooper Administration Lyn Hannam Graphic Designer Naomi Fry Marketing & Sales Debra Silver Tasting Coordinator Printing DAI Rubicon Winestate Web Site WINESTATE New Zealand A

WOW, WHAT A YEAR THAT WAS! Ground hog day! The gift that kept on giving! These platitudes just keep on repeating themselves. I looked at last year’s editorial and it could almost be repeated word for word. But there’s more. This year we added frosts

BORDEAUX’S unique trading system, called ‘la place’, is becoming something of a magnet for non-Bordeaux high profile producers wanting to tap into the global sales and distribution network that la place offers. You’d be forgiven for thinking that la

RECOGNISING regional expression is one of the holy grails in the enjoyments of wine and an aspiration for wine producing countries. Being able to open a bottle and clearly smell and taste the keynotes of a particular region adds value and is a cognit

EXPERTS are predicting that Australians will continue to holiday at home more even though international travel has opened up again. Not to mention the joy of hitting the open road after months of lockdown in Sydney and Melbourne. My first trip out of

Structurally classy wines with great lees complexity, acid balance and mouthfeel. The top pointed wine was a standout with additional intensity and complexity. A most interesting lineup of varietal fruit wines and others with significant winemaking i

ONE of the giants of the wine industry, Pernod Ricard New Zealand, headquartered in Auckland, employs about 500 people in production and marketing. “Our winemaking teams are able to leverage the expertise of colleagues across the globe, as well as th

THE names Church Road and Chris Scott are indivisible to many wine lovers, and it’s easy to see why – Scott has worked at the historic Hawke’s Bay winery since 1998. During his 16 years as head of the winemaking team, he has scooped Winestate’s New Z

WHEN your company has been named the best wine company in Australia for the fourth time, in fact for the past three years in a row, it not only throws out a considerable challenge to the rest of the wine industry – it also makes you wonder what they’

WHEN you’re the fifth generation of a family that arrived in the Barossa in 1846 and has its own premium vineyard where you earned pocket money as a kid picking grapes, you’d think becoming a winemaker and running with that family heritage would be t

WINEMAKER: Peter Stanlake and Jessica Worrall COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Pale straw in colour, fresh and vibrant bouquet with a soft cheesecloth backdrop, tight citrus fruit on the palate with a creamy mousse mouthfeel. CONSUMER CONTACT DETAILS: Phon

WINEMAKER: Beth Forrest COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Hints of lemon, lime, tangerine and peach but always with its defining grapefruit pith and white pepper herbaceous hit. CONSUMER CONTACT DETAILS: Phone: +64 3 5729 084 Email: info@forrest.co.nz Web:

WINEMAKER: Steve Wiblin COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Vivid green straw, the fragrance is of lifted citrus and apple blossoms. A long, long palate with zingy acid finish. CONSUMER CONTACT DETAILS: Phone: 0418 845 120 Email: steve@erineyes.com.au Web: www

WINEMAKER: Josh Scott, Bruce Abbott COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: The 2021 Kekerengu wine shows ripe tropical fruit, a flinty palate and finishes with a crisp sea-salted herbaceousness. Unfiltered and unfined, some beneficial sediment may remain. CONSUMER

WINEMAKER: Lewis White COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Light in colour, with skins removed early. A fresher style of gris, with only hints of honey in the background of a minerally lime, lychee, and nashi pear. Long finish of White peach, lime zest and hone

WINEMAKER: Andrew Spinaze COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Glowing green with a touch of yellow. Soft and creamy with slight honey citrus. The wine is soft with good acid and great length. CONSUMER CONTACT DETAILS: Phone: +61 2 4448 7131 Email: coolangatta@s

WINEMAKER: Rebekah Richardson COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Palest strawberry in hue. Inviting aromatics of rosewater, fresh strawberries and pink grapefruit dominate the profile of this lovely little creature. That strawberries and cream and bright pink

WINEMAKER: Sam Brand COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Dense Magenta with a cherry red hue. Perfumed bouquet of blackberry, blue fruits with charred chocolate oak, overlayed with forest berries and floral notes. The palate is luscious with plum and black frui

WINEMAKER: Anika Willner COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Dark cherry aromatics with savoury cocoa undertones, underpinned with delicate notes of dried herbs. Structured tannins extend the length of the palate, signifying great ageability for this wine. An e

WINEMAKER: Artwine COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: A medium bodied wine on the lighter side that is big on flavour. Rich dark and punchy red fruits and plum with hints of herbs and cinnamon. Medium tannins and acidity – with delicious length on the back pa

WINEMAKER: Bruce Gregory & Michael Marcus COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: The 2018 Majella Merlot has a dark damson colour with a ruby hue. Red fruit aromas, a hint of mint eucalyptus on the nose. The palate is complex with a nice intensity, shows earthy nu

WINEMAKER: Steve Kurtz COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Rich, deep red with bright magenta hues. Intense, lifted aromas of blackcurrant, cassis and black mulberry with complexing notes of warm black pepper spice, wild herbs, violet and fennel seed. Plush, fl

WINEMAKER: Kevin McKay and Todd Payne COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Deep red with purple hue. Intense and complex aromas of pepper, savoury spice, meaty gravox and incense, which is all wrapped up in cedary-toasty oak. There are fruit characters of mulber

WINEMAKER: Julie Mortlock COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: A tapestry of nectarines and peaches, mandarin zest, drizzled with a little spiced honey and vanilla scents. Rich, complex yet refined with a beautiful balance of sweetness and acidity aftertaste com

WINEMAKER: Danny Toaldo and Moreno Chiappin COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Dense colour with vibrant purple hues. Nericon Durif offers a complex and deeply layered structure of cassis, blueberries, anise and pepper spice. The rich tannins evolve onto the p

WINEMAKER: Michael Cope-Williams COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Dark cherry/ruby red with bright purple hues. Concentrated blackberry, cherry and ripe raspberry aromas. Complex flavours of ripe plums, dates, figs, sweet spices with nuances of coffee and da

WINEMAKER: Jeff Sinnott COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: A long & slow fermentation allowed the wine to develop classic botrytis aromas of citrus peel, apricots, marmalade, and exotic tropical fruit. This leads to persistant flavours of candied citrus peel,

184 TASTED 110 AWARDED 11 TASTED 7 AWARDED A solid class with a couple of real standouts and a good group of quaffers. “Good to see the proseccos made in a dry style,” commented one judge. Lou Miranda Estate Fierce III King Valley Prosecco NV ****1/2

AS Tasmania emerged out of Covid-19 misery in late 2021, wine producers were able to toast a successful vintage earlier in the year. The 2021 Tasmanian wine grape vintage enjoyed a much sought-after combination of good yields and exceptional quality

AFTER the drought, bushfires and smoke taint of 2020, the one thing that was guaranteed was that vintage 2021 had to be an improvement for NSW. And it was, but to varying degrees. In broad terms, NSW produced strong quality, but yields were significa

MAY you live in interesting times… the (likely apocryphal) Chinese saying seems all too appropriate these days, having learnt the hard way how much more relaxing it was to live in uninteresting times. That said, even covid clouds can come with silver

WINEMAKER: James Macdonald COLOUR, BOUQUET, PALATE: Bright, light lemon/green, it is mouth filling with fresh acidity. Intense, stone fruit nose with a touch of matchstick edginess. The palate is ripe, showing peach and apricot fruit notes. This is a