To produce the best white wine in Marlborough, and have it enjoyed all over the World
I’m very excited about what is happening with New Zealand white wine at the moment. The Marlborough terroir help make the wines internationally unique. In fact I haven’t been this excited since Cloudy Bay released the first vintage of ‘Te Koko’. I’m particularly excited because it seems to me that the bigger wine companies are once again leading the way. This is incredibly important in smaller production areas like New Zealand where financial resources are limited. The bigger players have the financial will to invest in proper research and development which the whole regional industry will inevitably benefit from. They also can keep average quality high via financially challenging techniques such as crop thinning. The current release big brand Montana Sauvignon Blanc 2009 has been winning Gold Medal awards in many competitions for instance.
I recently tasted several parts in the style of the blend for the new Montana ‘Icon’ Sauvignon Blanc which will be released in 2011 at about £20 RRP. The key goal here is to make Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that will age. The Montana team have many sites to choose their wine from and have also started using both Wild Fermented and Cuve Fermented blending components. The result is Sauvignon Blanc that is rich in weight and texture plus far more complex in flavour whilst retaining that tell tale ripe acidity and clean green aromatics. http://www.montanawines.com/uk/index.php?reload=1 .
Another great step change for the international consumer is that much of the progress has been made outside of Sauvignon Blanc.
The Ned Pinot Grigio 2010: Lite rose gold in colour with soft apple on the nose. The palate is very fruit forward with tropical fruit salad particularly melons and guava. Some pepper and chilli notes blend with white currant plus beautifully ripe orange acidity. ‘Sessionable!’ A very unique style. Released in late 2010. http://www.thened.co.nz/
Wither Hills ‘Rarangi’ Riesling 2009: Medium aromatic intensity with honey dew. Lots of ripe citrus structure of lemon, lime, and mandarin. 13% with good weight and texture. The finish is very cleansing with fresh pea pod on the length. A real bench mark for Marlborough Riesling going forward. Just released now and my favourite of the wines highlighted here. http://www.witherhills.co.nz/
I recommend that you also look out for these ‘yet to be released wines’.
To find out more of what is going on with New Zealand wines then check here: http://www.nzwine.com/intro/
For more on Te Koko (you should know this wine): http://www.cloudybay.co.nz/Microsites/TeKoko
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