By Raymond Chan
CJ Pask is a
truly venerable Hawke’s Bay wine producer.
Planting vines in 1981, Chris Pask was a pioneer of the Gimblett Gravels
region. His first wines, from the 1985
and 1986 vintages were acclaimed by the wine press immediately on release. Kate Radburnd, then winemaker at Vidal Estate
sourced fruit from Chris Pask, and was so impressed with the quality that she
decided to go into business with him.
Nowadays, with 90 hectares on Gimblett Road, CJ Pask remain family
owned, and make their wine from practically only their own fruit, from what is
regarded some of the best vineyard sites in the country. The wines are right down the middle of the line
for Hawke’s Bay. Absolutely rock solid
in quality and consistency, and thus wonderfully dependable. On top of that, they have always been and
continue to be very good value. Not to
be left behind in developing trends, Pask have their toes in some of the new
varieties, such as Pinot Gris and Viognier, but have fully committed themselves
to what must be the next sure-thing – Syrah. Surely no other label is so well-grounded in
the belief in what they do is right. CJ
Pask must be applauded for all that. It
was a real pleasure to have winemaker and proprietor Kate Radburnd lead us
through an excellent and most pleasantly surprising and fun tasting of her
newest and current wines. Here are my
notes on the wines tasted:
Flight One: Sauvignon Blanc
Two wines
made at CJ Pask, both using fruit from outside the estate Gimblett Road vineyards. Firstly, under the ‘Instinct’ label designed
to show the aromatic nature of varieties and allowing the use of grape material
out of Hawke’s Bay, the Instinct
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (17.5-/20), at 13.0% alc, from Waihopi
Valley fruit fermented to dryness, this was pale straw colour with fresh
gooseberryish and passionfruit aromas possessing good punch and depth. On palate dry to taste, fresh, crisp tight
and with good zesty gooseberry and lime flavours, plus a touch of
minerals. This had some weight and body,
softening the acidity somewhat. An
archetype Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
This was paired with the CJ Pask
‘Omahu Road’
Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (17.0+/20), at 12.3% alc, <1 g/L rs, 50% fruit from
Omahu Road
and 50% from Crownthorpe. Very youthful,
pale straw colour, this had a soft and refined nose, full of gentle yellow
stonefruits alongside gooseberry elements.
On palate medium weighted with weight and depth of herbs, limes and
passionfruits, showing an attractive gentleness and underlying body. This is clear-cut Sauvignon Blanc with some
restraint and texture, plus breadth, in a fine fresh style.
Flight Two: The New Aromatic Whites
These two
wines were the first releases of the Pinot Gris and Viognier varietals under
the CJ Pask label, the former taking into consideration the demands of the
market and the latter especially as a blending component with Syrah. Kate’s approach with both is to explore the
performance and expression of pure varietal character from vines planted in
their Gimblett Road
site without extraneous influences, in particular, winemaker inputs. Both were fermented dry to <1 g/L rs. The CJ
Pask ‘Gimblett Road’
Pinot Gris 2009 (17.5-/20), at 14.5% alc,
was light straw yellow with some deeper hues. Steely and crisp on the nose, with restrained
quince notes there was a little SO2 showing.
Dry on palate, there was good fruit richness, body and texture, rounded
and dense, forming a good core. Flavours
were in the delicate pear and white stonefruit spectrum. A good, solid wine. The CJ
Pask ‘Gimblett Road’ Viognier 2009 (18.0-/20), at 14.0% alc was deep straw
yellow in colour with an elegant and fine bouquet of apricots and res petal
florals. Crisp and steely on palate, this
possessed the exotic orange blossom varietal characters on a well-weighted
palate showing fruit richness and a touch of oiliness to the texture. This was very clear-cut in expression. It will be interesting to see some more
complexities built into this wine in coming vintages, but on this initial
release, the personality of the grape has been captured.
Flight Three: Chardonnay
Chardonnay
has always been handled extremely well by Kate and the two presented were
superb examples of very different styles.
First up was the CJ Pask ‘Gimblett Road’
Chardonnay 2007 (18.0/20), at 13.5% alc, some Mendoza clone included, the fruit given 15%
barrel fermentation with no MLF. Straw
yellow in colour, the bouquet was clean and fresh with attractive, ripe
grapefruit and stonefruit aromas, and very subtle oak nuances. Dry on palate, this had up-front, elegant
grapefruit flavours, still quite tight, restrained and youthful. The palate was braced by fresh, lively
acidity, and finished with good length.
This will develop well over the next 5+ years. Next was the CJ Pask ‘Declaration’ Chardonnay 2007 (19.5/20), at 13.5% alc, all Mendoza fruit, fully
barrel-fermented and aged 11 months in all new French barriques, with
batonnage, but no MLF. Youthful pale
straw in colour, this had an extremely concentrated and intensely taut nose of
very fine grapefruit and citrus aromas balanced by powerful spicy, toasty
oak. Sheer class here. The palate still very tight and refined, with
superb depth and concentration, this was very youthful and the fruit just
showing nuances of mealiness to the primary expression. Citrus, toast and spicy components all came
together on the very long finish. This
outstanding wine will develop layers of complexity over the next 6-8 years.
Flight Four: Syrah
The new
‘darling’ red variety and embraced by the Hawke’s Bay winemakers, CJ Pask
already producing a range of styles all more than competent, and in fact
showing skill, having produced Syrah from the 2000 vintage.. The first in this flight was the
aromatics-emphasised Instinct Hawke’s
Bay Syrah 2008 (17.5+/20), at 13.5% alc, fruit from the Gimblett Gravels, a
touch (<1.0%) Viognier included, aged 9 months in oak. Medium deep ruby red, this had a gentle
bouquet of florals, white pepper and spices, all in harmony. An elegant wine, still tightly bound, but
soft and supple through the palate to round off the density. Lovely florals and whitish pepper notes,
resulting in an aromatic beauty that should drink well over the next 4-5
years. Next was the CJ Pask ‘Gimblett Road’
Syrah 2008