New Zealand winemakers are well known for their lively expressive Sauvignon Blanc wines and Chardonnays too made in different styles (fresh & fruity, rich and toasty, somewhere in between...). So it makes sense that other 'aromatic' white varieties are coming to the fore in cool climate New Zealand wine country including Riesling, Pinot Gris (Grigio) and Gewurztraminer. Let's not get too excited though: they're still small fry in the vineyard scheme of things, as these three grapes combined amount to about the same area of Chardonnay overall - a bit over 3000 hectares - and are dwarfed by 20,000 ha of ubiquitous Sauvignon blanc. Maybe this is why the wines are quite expensive - you'll struggle to find one under £10 in the UK and €12 in Ireland - but the best are definitely worth a go (think Thai, Chinese or Indian food) and aren't completely in price cloud-cuckoo land when compared to similar quality from Alsace, Germany or Australia.Among many fascinating stats in the New Zealand Winegrowers' 2012 Vineyard Register report, I noticed a few other 'aromatic' white varieties lurking around too, in relatively tiny quantities but there's obviously some experimentation going on, such as Albarino, Arneis, Gruner Veltliner, Muscat, Petit Manseng, Pinot Blanc, Verdelho... as well as slightly more substantial plantings of Viognier. Anyway, back to the focus of this piece: these dozen Rieslings, PGs and Gewurzes were mostly sampled at a recent NZ tasting in Dublin hence the € prices, although should be easy enough to find elsewhere in the world.Riesling2011 Felton Road Bannockburn, Central Otago (9.5% abv) - wild lees edges and enticing oily 'kerosene' (!) notes, pretty sweet on the palate (60 g/l residual sugar or RS) underlined by nice fresh acidity, elegant and quite long. A little on the sweet side although does have attractive Riesling character. €18.502011 Esk Valley Marlborough (13%) - aromatic floral 'chalky' nose, fairly concentrated citrus fruits then more honeyed on the palate with some oily development vs crisp bite and a touch of roundness too (slightly off-dry style). Quite good, lacks a bit of character perhaps. €14.992011 Richmond Plains Nelson (organic, 12%) - developing oily honeyed characters vs quite intense lemon and lime fruit, crisper and 'chalkier' mouth-feel vs off-dry and fairly long finish. €14.75Pinot Gris2011 Forrest Wines Marlborough (13.5%) - quite complex maturing fruit showing spicy honeyed notes and ripe cantaloup melon, rounded medium-dry palate with exotic fruit vs still a little freshness riding underneath. £10.99 / €16.50 James Nicholson2011 Amisfield Central Otago (14%) - quite rich and leesy, honeyed 'waxy' palate vs nutty spicy and toasty edges even; rounded vs crisp profile, weighty and off-dry finish with refreshing bite too. Good stuff.2011 Pasquale Hakataramea Valley (13.5%) - juicy and honeyed with fairly exotic sweet fruit, pineapple almost vs yeasty toasty nutty edges, a touch of oomph vs bitter twist on the finish. Nice start, ends up a little bitter though. €262011 Babich Marlborough (13.5%) - yeast lees notes and mix of guava and greengage, quite rich then tighter and crisper mouth-feel, fairly dry with light bitter twist. €12.992010 Bilancia Hawke's Bay - more golden in colour, oily honeyed developed nose with spice notes, has a bit of oomph vs bitter twist and dry bite, attractive lingering maturing fruit. €18.99Gewurztraminer2011 Greystone Waipara Valley (14%) - lightly 'cheesy' vs lush sweet lychee and Turkish Delight, big mouthful of exotic fruit, medium dry with a hint of 'chalky' bite and bitter twist to finish. €202011 Te Mania Nelson (organic, 14.5%) - powerful lychee and pineapple aromas / flavours, has a little bite on the palate with lingering perfumed fruit, quite alcoholic although this helps cut through its medium dry/sweet side. €16.992010 Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao, Auckland (13.5%) - developing complex oily notes and pretty intense lychee, has good weight and finishes with a little bitter twist. €26.992009 Lawson's Dry Hills Marlborough (14%) - more restrained to start, although turns a bit confected with that Turkish delight, boiled sweets and lychee combo; finishing with a kick and medium dry. €22.50Pinot NoirI've said the odd kind thing about Pinot Noir from New Zealand before (see archive page on my site - link below - with links to previous post featuring Pinots from Seresin, Borthwick Estate, Wither Hills and Mount Edward); so I can't be bothered repeating myself with headline-grabbing clichés about "... great potential for Pinot now being revealed... cool climate elegance... blah blah..." and all that jazz (oops, I think I just did). The ten Pinot Noirs picked and noted below were mostly tasted in Dublin earlier this year (apart from the first one bought in Tesco 'UK'), hence € prices and importers mentioned are in the Irish Republic. I've split them up by region, which neatly highlights a pattern showing where much of the country's (best?) PN is planted: from Wairarapa, or Martinborough in the south of North Island, to Marlborough, the biggest wine region especially for white varieties, in the north of South Island; and heading south through the Waipara Valley in Canterbury and finally Central Otago, the most southerly area for vines and rated as producing some of the best NZ Pinot to date (and often the dearest too, alas).Central Otago2009 'Tesco Finest' Sacred Hills Wines / Jenny Dobson (13.5%) - attractive maturing style showing smoky vs perfumed sweet berry fruit with savoury edges, fair weight and rounded palate vs touch of fresh acidity and bite still, quite long and fine. Bought and sampled last year sometime, on offer for less than £10 at the time so not the current vintage and price for sure.2011 Felton Road, Bannockburn ("Must be the 1314, unmistakeable..." - enticing perfumed Pinot nose with toasty chocolate edges, nice 'sweet/savoury' fruit with a little weight, balanced and quite stylish with elegant fruit coming through on the finish. €28 WineKnows2010 Wooing Tree Beetle Juice, Cromwell (14%) - richer cherry fruit, turning savoury with enticing volatile edges, has a touch of bite and Burgundian style, quite big though vs attractive maturing 'sweet/savoury' fruit. €30 Quintessential Wines; Harry's Road Fine Wines in Belfast.2010 Rock Ferry - fairly vibrant fruit and oak on the nose, turning more elegant and Pinot styled, quite firm and fresh mouth-feel vs more fruit than oak in the end. €30+Waipara Valley2010 Bellbird Spring River Terrace - perfumed tasty 'sweet/savoury' fruit, fairly silky and soft with delicate fruit vs a bit of weight too. €29.50Wairarapa2011 Craggy Range Te Muna - hints of vanilla oak vs delicate red berry/cherry vs savoury notes, tasty and juicy in the mouth, quite elegant finish yet has nice palate weight too. Needs a little time to come together. €40 Febvre & Co.2010 Gladstone Vineyard - elegant maturing Pinot notes, lacks a little concentration perhaps but has subtle attractive Pinot style and still lively too. €24.50Marlborough2011 Spy Valley - a little extracted and chunky at first, moves on to nicer 'sweet/savoury' fruit combo with subtle oak in the background, attractive silky tannins with lingering more savoury flavours. €20-€25 Cassidy Wines2010 Auntsfield Single Vineyard, Southern Valleys - intriguing lightly volatile notes with 'sweet/savoury' touches, reasonably concentrated although a tad clunky perhaps. €22.502009 Villa Maria Cellar Selection - lovely perfumed fruit with maturing 'sweet/savoury' edges, elegant vs a bit of weight, mature vs still fresh on the finish. Nice style. €21 Barry & FitzwilliamRichard Mark JamesOriginally published on http://www.winewriting.com
