The Auswine Forum

Tasting Note No.16

A very impressive Merlot from a difficult Hawkes Bay vintage. Fruit hand picked from more than 20 Merlot parcels. Malo-lactic fermentation took place in French oak (65%new). This wine made in a Hi-Tech winery, is an absolutely focused professional job aiming at Pomerol. The Merlot spent 19 months in French oak.

Colour is BLACK, I haven't seen a Merlot with such dark colour for a while. On the nose, there is lot's of blackberry, red berries, plum and toasty oak. The palate is excellent, a full bodied, winemaker controlled red with superb balance and focus. Really nice to drink, smooth toasty oak complimenting the rich fruit. Alcohol is at 14%vol, this is a concentrated and lovely wine, drinking well already until 2008. Cost AU $35 and it is very good. Steve Smith MW has a very clear idea about what a Merlot should taste like.
Not reviewed here, the 2003 Old Renwick Sauvignon Blanc is a standard, pretty unexciting wine, the 2003 Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc however is markedly better with more exciting characters at AU $30.

1998 MONTANA ESTATES Fairhall Estate Marlborough Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

I first noticed the 1996 vintage of this lovely wine. The 1997 wasn't a strong follow up but with this Fairhall release Montana is back on track. A blend of 88% Cabernet and 12% Merlot it was aged in French oak (60% new). Winemaker Nigel Fraser done a very good job.
Colour vibrant cherry red with a dark centre. Lifted nose of black cherries and spice. Excellent palate packed with velvety fruit flavours of cherries and cassis with some tobacco that gives the wine a slight Médoc character. Well judged high quality oak, a very good long finish make this ripe and full bodied red a bargain at AU $23. Drink now until 2006.
Not reviewed here, the 2002 Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc is fragrant and sweet with a soft finish. Much better than the previous vintage. The 2002 Ormond Estate Chardonnay has lot's of buttery silkiness with vanilla oak that is quite lovely. The Patutahi Estate Gewürztraminer however is pretty average but it still has some good rich and ripe fruit. They are all at the same price of AU $23.

2002 CLEARVIEW Reserve Chardonnay

My first encounter with this Hawkes Bay producer and what a good one! The reserve wines are only made in good vintages, all grapes hand picked. Fermented in new French (95%) oak and (5%) American oak, this is one delicious drop! The winemaker is Tim Turvey.
Colour bright clear with golden hues. Amazing amounts of butterscotch on the nose with white peach and vanilla. The palate is full bodied with rich and ripe fruit, it's sunshine in the bottle. A very tasty and complex wine that is a delight to drink now to 2006. A very old memory popped into my mind while tasting this, the experience reminded me of the 1986 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay, also a golden wine moment in my life. This wine cost AU $50 and I believe it just worth it. I've also tasted the much simpler 2000 Beach-head Chardonnay, a mature and tasty wine with a shorter finish. Cost AU $30.

Tasted:November 2003.

Attila,

Have you moved to NZ?!

Adam
Don't discourage Attila we are courting Australia to become another province of New Zealand and benefit from the lower wine pricing that Australia has compared to NZ. Keep the good work up Attila and at the rate you are going you will have reviewed at least a 1/4 of kiwi vino by xmas. Who knows i might take the hat round Waipara winemakers in an effort to get you over for the festival in March

Cheers
Geoffrey

Geoffrey,

As an ex-christchurch and ex-melbourne man myself, I actually find the pricing to be more expensive in Australia than NZ, I think their tax is higher??

Cheers, Adam

Adam,

Things have changed in the last couple of years in certain areas with Aussie wine in Kiwi. The higher price bracket is still the same if not cheaper than Aust. but with the cheaper bracket under $20 the pricing across the ditch is a bit sharper. The big change is in the Fortified where a new tax has been put on in the last 6 mths which has increased the price ( from memory 10-20%). This tax was applied so as to stop young persons ( I'm not sure if that includes myself at 47 years of age ) from consuming cheap high alcohol drinks ie. fruit flavoured drink, but unfortunately fortifieds got caught in the net. Duty Free purchasing of fortified is now very attractive, just got a mate who has just headed off to the footy in Sydney to pick me up 2 bottles of Cockburn's Res. Port 1LT. for nz$28.95 each duty free, good price to what i would pay at the vino shop down the road. What real has hurt is what this tax has done to the price of Tokays and Muscats which have been a standard comfort in my life for some years. We might have to start smuggling it in to NZ like old european days of yore.

Cheers

Geoffrey

Geoffrey wrote:Adam,

Things have changed in the last couple of years in certain areas with Aussie wine in Kiwi. The higher price bracket is still the same if not cheaper than Aust. but with the cheaper bracket under $20 the pricing across the ditch is a bit sharper. The big change is in the Fortified where a new tax has been put on in the last 6 mths which has increased the price ( from memory 10-20%). This tax was applied so as to stop young persons ( I'm not sure if that includes myself at 47 years of age ) from consuming cheap high alcohol drinks ie. fruit flavoured drink, but unfortunately fortifieds got caught in the net. Duty Free purchasing of fortified is now very attractive, just got a mate who has just headed off to the footy in Sydney to pick me up 2 bottles of Cockburn's Res. Port 1LT. for nz$28.95 each duty free, good price to what i would pay at the vino shop down the road. What real has hurt is what this tax has done to the price of Tokays and Muscats which have been a standard comfort in my life for some years. We might have to start smuggling it in to NZ like old european days of yore.

Cheers

Geoffrey

I know of a surplus North Korean diesel powered submarine that would be just perfect for the job

Adam

You get the old Tub and i'll navigate
Yo Ho Ho and a tub of Muscat

Old Salty
Geoffrey