By Raymond Chan
Born of the
love of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, Konrad Hengstler travelled from southern
Germany via Melbourne to settle in Marlborough to make the wine style that
enamoured him. Konrad, his wife Sigrun
and two sons now have 40 ha of vines in two vineyards, one in the Waihopi
Valley, the other in the Wairau Valley.
The first vines were planted in 1996, and nearly one and a half decades
later, the Hengstlers have Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris in their portfolio
in addition to Sauvignon Blanc, and now, Gruner Veltliner is on the way. The wines are made by the highly regarded
consultant Jeff Sinnott with a European outlook, and value is a prerequisite.
Le Marché
Français has quickly gained a reputation in Wellington that is greater than the
size of its operation suggests it would have.
French food and produce is the theme, but cheeses are the forte. With legislation allowing the importation and
sale of unpasteurised cheese in the country, Le Marché Français is poised to
further its repute.
It was a
pleasure to have Konrad Hengstler, supported by marketing specialist Andrew
Shackleton combine with Le Marché Français general manager Ludovic Avril in a
presentation of Konrad wines paired with a selection of French cheeses.
Following are
my notes on the wines tasted, served in pairs alongside a cheese, as determined
by myself and Andrew:
Flight One
First wine
was the Mount Fishtail Marlborough Pinot
Gris 2009 (17.0+/20), at 14.5% alc and 7.5 g/L rs, this was straw yellow in
colour with a Pinot Grigio styled minerally nose, with stonefruit nuances. Off-dry, and a touch of SO2, this was steely with
minerals, moderately rich white stonefruit flavours and soft acidity on palate carrying
through to the finish. This was served
along with the Konrad Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc 2009 (18.0-/20), at 12.5% alc. with 3% barrel ferment. Pale straw colour, this had a tight nose of
minerals, lime juices and pungent gooseberries.
Dry on palate, this was very fine-textured and elegantly constructed,
with stylish expression and delicacy.
Clean, clear-cut and showing good balancing acidity, this was very
Loire-like.
The cheese
served was the Saint Nectaire, a
pressed semi-hard cow’s milk cheese from Central France. Attractively soft, light and almost creamy
with a delicate piquancy. The Pinot Gris
was a good match (Match Rating: 4.0-/5.0) where both wine and cheese were
restrained and light, the textures very compatible and the wine becoming
livelier, with the sweetness complementing.
The match with the Sauvignon Blanc was not as good (3.0-/5.0) as the
wine varietal expression became more obvious and coarse, and the acidity
tending to show sourness.
Flight Two
A pair of
Rieslings, but very different in style.
The Konrad Marlborough Riesling
2008 (17.0+/20), at 11.0% alc and 7.5 g/L rs from Waihopi fruit, was pale
straw with green hues to the colour.
Tight on the nose with citrus and lime fruit on the nose, there was a
little SO2 and signs of toastiness just
appearing. Dryish on palate, this had
soft honey notes to the limes on a crisp, clean and lovely Germanic
‘Halb-trocken’ styled palate. This will
age 4-6 years easily. Regarded as the
‘dry’ Riesling. The Konrad Marlborough ‘Bunch Selection’ Riesling 2008 (18.0/20), at
8.5% alc and 50 g/L rs was made from selectively hand-picked bunches from
Waihopi was brilliant pale straw colour.
The bouquet had attractive honey and lime aromas with a touch of herbs
and again very Germanic with a touch of sulphide complexity. Medium sweet on palate, this was fine
textured with good honey and lime notes, very clean, with a lusciousness very
well balanced by the racy acidity. This
will keep 5-7 years. Seen as the
equivalent of an Auslese.
The cheese
served was the Gres des Vosges, a
soft cow’s milk cheese with soft rind, which had a dry, almost chalky texture
with pungent, nutty, funky characters.
With the Dry Riesling the cheese dominated, and the dry textures
remained. The lime flavours of the wine
were prominent. (Match Rating:
3.0/5.0) The Bunch Selection Riesling
worked better, the sweetness enrichening the cheese. Both wine and cheese flavours were more on
par, an apricotty element appearing. But
there was no magic. (3.0+/5.0) Many people noted the Sauvignon and this
cheese worked very well, the acidity giving life to the cheese, which in turn
moderated the wine’s powerful flavour.
(4.0+/5.0)
Flight Three
An unlikely
pairing of wines, which thought could match the cheese due to their
difference. Firstly the Konrad Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2009
(16.5+/20), at 13.8% alc with 9 g/L rs, from Waihopi fruit, the pressings
fraction wild fermented in old oak.
Light straw with golden hues to the colour, this had delicate rose water
and lychee aromas with some spice notes, all quite subtle and stylish. Off-dry, this was light and delicate on
palate with gentle floral and rose water flavours, finely expressed and
balanced by fresh acidity. Next was the Konrad Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008 (17.5/20),
at 13.5% alc, Waihopi and Wairau fruit totally destemmed, given a cold soak for
7 days, wild fermented, a portion matured 10 months in barrique. Pale garnet red in colour, this had intense,
fresh aromas of strawberries, but subtle in expression, and an elegant palate
with gentle, balanced structure, supple tannins and moderate sweetness of
fruit. The wine finishes on tannin and
has a good dry finish. One to drink over
4-5 years.
The Tomme de Chevre (Wheel of Goat), a pressed,
semi-hard goat’s milk cheese from the Atlantic was soft textured with a mild
pungency and smokiness with some piquant acidity. The sweetness of the Gewurztraminer countered
the acidity of the cheese and the spice, floral and perfume of the wine
combined well with the pungency of the cheese.
A very good match. (4.0+/5.0) With the Pinot Noir, the fruit sweetness
enriched the cheese and brought the cheese out.
However, the wine tended to lose ground in flavour to the cheese in the
final analysis. (4.0-/5.0)