Blackenbrook Gewurz 08

Daniel and Ursula Schwarzenbach run a very tight and tidy operation with 20 hectares of vines half-way between Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. Daniel’s winemaking background with aromatic producers Hirsch in Austria, Engelhof in Germany, Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace and Fromm in Switzerland (where he met the elegant and ever-smiling Ursula) has no doubt given the Blackenbrook wines an edge. Made from fruit from their clay soil Moutere ‘Home Block’, this was cool fermented to 14.2% alc and 9 g/l residual sugar and bottled without any fining. A firm and tightly bound wine, this has a steely edge to the crisp and minerally expression of florals and clear spice notes. The wine has a fresh delicacy and possesses the tell-tale hint of bitterness of stonefruit kernels on the finish which only Gewurztraminer shows. A silver medal winner at the 2008 ANZWA and 4 ½ Star ratings by Michael Cooper and Sam Kim. The Blackenbrook Reserve Gewurztraminer 2008 is more decadent at 20 g/l residual sugar.   RC Jan 10

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