From the latest Decanter, via Regional Wines, & as selected by Bob Campbell.
Criteria presumably included 'currently available in the UK' (but Bell Hill '06 Chard??), & something around getting a reasonable representation of regions & varieties.
Appreciate how difficult these exercises are, but here's a few observations re omissions for starters:
- no room for Stonyridge Larose or Te Whau Point
- only 2 rieslings (& therefore NZ's best) are Mt Difficulty Target Gully & Greystone Late Harvest. Fromm? Framingham? Pegasus Bay?
- no HB chardonannay
Cheers
Peter
Marlborough
Dog Point ‘Section 94’ Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007
Villa Maria ‘SV- Seddon’ Pinot Gris 2007
Hawke’s Bay
Te Mata Estate ‘Coleraine’ 2008
Esk Valley ‘Winemaker’s’ Merlot/Malbec/Cabernet 2007
Craggy Range ‘Le Sol’ Syrah 2007
Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah 2007
Auckland/Northland
Kumeu River ‘Mates Vineyard’ Chardonnay 2008
Gisborne
Vinoptima Gewurztraminer 2006
Waipara/Canterbury
Pegasus Bay Waipara Pinot Noir 2007
Bell Hill North Canterbury Chardonnay 2006
Greystone Waipara Late-Harvest Riesling 2009
Central Otago
Misha’s Vineyard ‘Verismo’ Pinot Noir 2008
Mt Difficulty ‘Target Gully’ Riesling 2008
Felton Road ‘Cornish Point’ Pinot Noir 2008
Nelson
Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay 2008
Martinborough
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2008
Dry River Gewurztraminer 2009
Escarpment ‘Kupe’ Pinot Noir 2008
Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007
Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
Certainly interesting criteria when you consider Canterbury has as many of NZ's top wines as Marlborough. And if you asked most people what were Marlborough's top three wines I doubt if many would even mention Cloudy Bay, let alone their Chardonnay.
Also interesting that probably only one or two of those wines have ever been entered into a wineshow. Which either makes you question the worth of wineshows, or makes you question the advantage that labels with well established reputations have.
Also interesting that probably only one or two of those wines have ever been entered into a wineshow. Which either makes you question the worth of wineshows, or makes you question the advantage that labels with well established reputations have.
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
I think the criteria must be "it was made in NZ". Bell Hill Chardonnay must be one of the most difficult wines to obtain in NZ??!!??
Its not an incompetent list. However for me...
KR Mates, absolutely! Dunno how CB Chardonnay is in the top 3 chardonnays, personally I would go Riflemans as number 3 this year or even Kumeu river Hunting Hill. Wasn't taken by Elston this year, in fact for the first time in 10 years I havent bought it. I havent tried the new clearview res
Not sure I would put peg bay pinot there. Its excellent for the style but really to me the top top pinots gotta be real pinot not 'dry red' style. 08 Julicher? MBV 07 was very good, fair enough, a welcome return to form. I prefer the more elegant Escarpment wines over the Kupe. Its just a bit chunky to me. Love the Te Rehua. I might drop another Felton Road in there if the latest vintages taste anything like the last experience ive had.
Target gully riesling??? (it is good but for me lacks just a little elegance and precision to be totally top rank. there are better imo incl fromm spatlese, felton road block 1, gibbston le fou? villa fletcher vineyard, one of john forrest's?...there are many you could consider ).
GW. Vinotipima I would put behind dry river, stonecroft and johaneshoff - i dont reckon the 06 is that amazing
Sauvignon. Dont think any 2008 sauvignons deserve to be in the list although dog point was good. but top 20 wines of any sort in nz??? Ive tried some good gear from less known/new wineries but top 20?? nope
His syrah's I totally agree with. Homage is all class and Le Sol is a perfectly constructed 'big' syrah. Id also be tempted to consider 08 Stonyridge Pilgrim even above the 08 Larose. It is truely outstanding wine packed with x factor.
Bordeaux wines. I think Coleraine has the edge and number one last 12 months. It is just so brooding, tight and classical. There are other wines that may in time compete but difficult to tell. I dunno if you could auto select them in a top 20 eg. Te Whau, Puriri Hills, Stonyridge. Esk Reserve?? It is good but top 20. Given the 07 vintage did it really step up? and anyway it has that horrible new label so should be excluded on that basis alone! Again I have to pleed I have missed many I usually taste especially from hawkes bay
Sweet wines. John Forrest Collection Noble is hard to go past for me.
Havent tried the Bell Hill, Misha's or Greystone. Will be interesting to see if they are flash in the pan outfits or not.
Its not an incompetent list. However for me...
KR Mates, absolutely! Dunno how CB Chardonnay is in the top 3 chardonnays, personally I would go Riflemans as number 3 this year or even Kumeu river Hunting Hill. Wasn't taken by Elston this year, in fact for the first time in 10 years I havent bought it. I havent tried the new clearview res
Not sure I would put peg bay pinot there. Its excellent for the style but really to me the top top pinots gotta be real pinot not 'dry red' style. 08 Julicher? MBV 07 was very good, fair enough, a welcome return to form. I prefer the more elegant Escarpment wines over the Kupe. Its just a bit chunky to me. Love the Te Rehua. I might drop another Felton Road in there if the latest vintages taste anything like the last experience ive had.
Target gully riesling??? (it is good but for me lacks just a little elegance and precision to be totally top rank. there are better imo incl fromm spatlese, felton road block 1, gibbston le fou? villa fletcher vineyard, one of john forrest's?...there are many you could consider ).
GW. Vinotipima I would put behind dry river, stonecroft and johaneshoff - i dont reckon the 06 is that amazing
Sauvignon. Dont think any 2008 sauvignons deserve to be in the list although dog point was good. but top 20 wines of any sort in nz??? Ive tried some good gear from less known/new wineries but top 20?? nope
His syrah's I totally agree with. Homage is all class and Le Sol is a perfectly constructed 'big' syrah. Id also be tempted to consider 08 Stonyridge Pilgrim even above the 08 Larose. It is truely outstanding wine packed with x factor.
Bordeaux wines. I think Coleraine has the edge and number one last 12 months. It is just so brooding, tight and classical. There are other wines that may in time compete but difficult to tell. I dunno if you could auto select them in a top 20 eg. Te Whau, Puriri Hills, Stonyridge. Esk Reserve?? It is good but top 20. Given the 07 vintage did it really step up? and anyway it has that horrible new label so should be excluded on that basis alone! Again I have to pleed I have missed many I usually taste especially from hawkes bay
Sweet wines. John Forrest Collection Noble is hard to go past for me.
Havent tried the Bell Hill, Misha's or Greystone. Will be interesting to see if they are flash in the pan outfits or not.
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
Certainly a bit of an odd list, but these things tend to be like that. Not sure how Bob's palate compares to mine (other than his being a MW of course), but I've tried a fair of those, and he's picked a few winners that's for sure. I actually love the Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2007, think it's a damn good wine, and we've been trying a ton of Chardonnay recently from NZ, France and Oz, it's certainly in my top 3 of the under $40 bracket.
But Bell Hill?, yeah thanks Bob, I'll pick up a few down the road eh? What was their allocation to their small mailing list this year? 1 each? or was it 2? Probably nice wine though!
He rated the Craggy Range Calvert 08 Pinot recently at 98 points, but it's not in there?? Maybe because it's CO fruit in a HB brand?
Target Gully a decent riesling and I haven't tried very many, but Felton Road's were sharp, as were John Forrest (the JF 04 Chardonnay was awesome as well).
Don't do SB or PG so can't comment there.
Ah well, people like lists don't they. And we have to love Bob for giving NZ wine a good strong voice. Esp now that Craig's gone!!
Cheers
Tim
But Bell Hill?, yeah thanks Bob, I'll pick up a few down the road eh? What was their allocation to their small mailing list this year? 1 each? or was it 2? Probably nice wine though!
He rated the Craggy Range Calvert 08 Pinot recently at 98 points, but it's not in there?? Maybe because it's CO fruit in a HB brand?
Target Gully a decent riesling and I haven't tried very many, but Felton Road's were sharp, as were John Forrest (the JF 04 Chardonnay was awesome as well).
Don't do SB or PG so can't comment there.
Ah well, people like lists don't they. And we have to love Bob for giving NZ wine a good strong voice. Esp now that Craig's gone!!
Cheers
Tim
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
How'd they find 20?
/me runs...
/me runs...
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
Craig(NZ) wrote:I think the criteria must be "it was made in NZ". Bell Hill Chardonnay must be one of the most difficult wines to obtain in NZ??!!??
I've never seen or tasted any Bell Hill wines but I've sure read lots about how great they are.
Re: Decanter's top 20 NZ wines
sue
i have only ever seen bell hill for sale retail in australia surprisingly although an auckland retailer did advertise it once and as a result the distributor was dumped and they now control it all themselves. i did get my hands on a couple of pinots as a rare opportunity afforded itself and i became a sucker to the hype and curiousity. plan to bring one along to our cults and classics offline if it ever happens in the future
i have only ever seen bell hill for sale retail in australia surprisingly although an auckland retailer did advertise it once and as a result the distributor was dumped and they now control it all themselves. i did get my hands on a couple of pinots as a rare opportunity afforded itself and i became a sucker to the hype and curiousity. plan to bring one along to our cults and classics offline if it ever happens in the future