Villa Maria ‘Reserve Barrique Fermented’ Gisborne Chardonnay 2008
Gisborne has claimed the title of ‘Chardonnay Capital’ of New Zealand, and despite fierce competition from a whole raft of top producers from throughout the country, the Gisborne wines still sit at the front. For the wine lover, Gisborne Chardonnay has advantages over the other wines. The best Gisborne wines have a richness and ripeness seldom seen in the wines from the other regions. Exotic, sweet, tropical fruits and lush melon aromas and flavours are the hallmark. The wines have great breadth and fullness to their structure, and their roundness gives them an accessibility and approachability second to none. Their extroverted nature allows significant oak and lees input, and the overall result is a wine similar to the very best Meursaults of the Cote de Beaune.

This 2008 ‘Reserve Barrique Fermented’ Gisborne Chardonnay continues a lineage that dates back to the mid 1980s, when this label stunned the wine lovers of the nation with its fulsome style. This vintage has already taken three gold medal awards – at the 2009 Air N.Z. Wine Awards and at this year’s Royal Easter Show Wine Awards and the Liquorland IWC. Made from Clone 95 and Mendoza fruit sourced from the McDairmid Hill and Katoa sites in western Gisborne, this was 60% wild yeast fermented to 14.0% alc and matured for 10 months in 47% new French oak barrels, 70% of the wine undergoing MLF. Pale straw in colour, this has a superbly refined, yet opulent nose of citrus and tropical fruits lifted by spicy new oak. On palate, this is still tightly bound, yet the potential of the wine is clear. Intense citrus and melon fruit complexed with mealy, cashew nut elements along with spicy, nutty oak nuances show. This is still crisply acidic, with a youthful mineral aspect and this adds finesse and sense of elegance to the creamy textured palate. It will become richer, fuller and more flavoursome developing toastiness over the next 4-6 years.

Villa Maria ‘Single Vineyard – Southern Clays’ Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
From the 2000 vintage, Villa Maria’s Pinot Noirs have been consistent trophy winners, indicating that the company had joined the leaders such as Ata Rangi, Martinborough Vineyard, Fromm, Peregrine and Felton Road. Villa Maria’s success signaled the coming of age of Marlborough as a top Pinot Noir growing region, and the fulfillment of the potential. Villa Maria’s Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir must be counted as a superb representation of our best wines with this variety. The ‘Single Vineyard’ wines take the concept of Burgundian style and terroir even further. The ‘Rutherford’, ‘Taylors Pass’ and ‘Seddon’ wines are analogous to different lieux-dits in the Cote d’Or, each having their distinct personalities. ‘Southern Clays’ is the new and more descriptive designation for what was the ‘Rutherford’ wine, the vineyard being sited in the north facing, clay soiled Ben Morven hills of the Wairau Valley. It is one of our favourite wines, consistently showing elegance, beautifully ethereal, soft red fruit aromatics and sumptuously rich, opulence on the palate.

The 2008 wine is no different. Ruby garnet in colour, the bouquet opens out to show ripe strawberry and raspberry aromas with violet perfumes. The palate is silky smooth and seamless, with supple, fine tannins and layers of red and black fruits. The componentry is seductively interwoven and allows immediate drinking. However, the balance and depth of the fruit will allow 7-9 years cellaring. The fruit was wholly destemmed, fermented to 14.0% alc and given 14 months maturation in 32% new French oak barrels. The wine has now won gold medals at the 2009 Air N.Z. Wine Awards and 2010 Liquorland IWC. Stylistically, this would be a hypothetical blend of Vosne-Romanee with Volnay at the premier cru level. You could do no better in seeing how close we are to Burgundy by tasting this wine.

It would be criminal not to make a note of two other related Villa Maria wines that are also available at present. There is a very limited quantity of Villa Maria ‘Single Vineyard – Ihumatao’ Chardonnay 2008 available. This is the wine from fruit from the volcanic-soiled vineyard around the winery at Manukau near Auckland airport. The label is a consistent gold medal winner and has great elegance with complex fruit flavours, this 2008 vintage awarded gold at the 2010 Liquorland IWC. It warrants tasting alongside the wines from Kumeu River by Michael Brajkovich. The small volume produced always results in a high demand for this wine. First-in, first-served.

The Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007 is the current offering of this high performace label. Made as a blend of the best fruit from Villa’s Wairau and Awatere sites, this captures the essence of Marlborough, and is always a most ‘complete’ wine. It possesses all the beautiful and subtle nuances that make Pinot Noir so exciting, and the structure is classical Burgundian, seriously velvety, and with the ability to age 8-10 years. Already, the 2007 has won gold medals at the 2010 Liquorland IWC, 2009 ANZWA, International Cool Climate Show, Royal Perth Wine Show in 2009 and 2008, the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition as well as a 5 star rating by Michael Cooper.