Vintners Winemakers Showcase 2011 – Inspirational Wines
July 2011
Each year we hold a Vintners winemakers showcase, giving our customers a chance to taste the great selection of wines in our portfolio and meet the talented winemakers behind them. This year our winemakers bought along a wine outside their portfolio that has been inspirational to them. These wines generated a lot of interest and as such we thought it would be fitting to follow up with each of our winemakers as to what they chose and why. Here is what they had to say:
Warren Gibson of Bilancia
Inspirational Wine: Stonecroft Syrah
“Bilancia is, to be honest, largely about ‘la collina’ and Syrah. It would have been easy to have chosen an amazing Northern Rhone Cote Rotie or cool climate Australian Shiraz such as Clonakilla as our inspirational wine, but in reality, the reason ‘la collina” exists is because of the inspiration we gained from our neighbours at Stonecroft. When we arrived in Hawkes Bay in 1997, Syrah was a very, very small category. The story has been well told before, but if it wasn’t for Alan Limmer at Stonecroft initially rescuing some Heritage Syrah vines from being destroyed, there may not be a Syrah story in New Zealand at all. We were lucky enough to secure 2 older vintages of Stonecroft Syrah from the new owners, Dermot McCollum and Andria Monin. Both wines showed extremely well the short but incredibly important Heritage of New Zealand Syrah.”
Steve Smith of Craggy Range Winery
Inspirational Wine: Chateau Pichon-Longueville Baron 2005“From the magnificent architecture, ancient and modern, through to the incredible improvement in quality and character of the wine in the last decade, Pichon-Baron as I call it is one of my most inspirational properties in the world of wine. This is more remarkable seeing it has been achieved under the ownership of AXA, an international insurance company, and guided by two great stewards of wine properties in the world, Christian Seely and Jean-Michel Cazes. 2005 was a wonderful vintage in Bordeaux, the wines just now starting to come out of their slumber.”
Alana McGettigan of Delta Vineyard
Inspirational Wine: Jamet Cote Rotie 2007“We chose this wine as our inspirational wine, because in a nutshell it inspires us here at Delta. It is a pure and clean wine, with beautiful lifted aromatics and refined structure. It is a true reflection of the place where it is grown. These are the attributes we aspire to achieve with our Delta Pinot Noirs.”
Larry McKenna of Escarpment Vineyard
Inspirational Wine: Bin 389 Penfold’s Shiraz/Cabernet 2004“The blend/style is uniquely Australian particularly South Australian where I grew up. My Father had a cellar full of these styles and held the adage that the first duty of all wines is to be red. So it's fair to say I was brought up on these wines. They cellar very well and as 10 plus year old wines offer great drinking. Penfolds are the masters of the style and Bin 389 one of the most recognized enjoyed.”
Andrew Greenhough of Greenhough Vineyard
Inspirational Wine: Billard-Simon Chablis 2009“Chablis - not to be confused with unoaked Chardonnay. It represents a style of Chardonnay that is able to express complexity of aroma and flavour without dependence on oak. The sense of tension and acidity which Chablis embodies is what I am inspired to achieve in my own Chardonnays.”
Paul Brajkovich of Kumeu River
Inspirational Wine: Domaine Weinbach Pinot Gris Cuvee Ste Catherine 2008“Pinot Gris is a variety that Kumeu River did not plant until 1994, producing our first vintage in 1997. It was Pinot Gris from great producers in Alsace such as Marcel Deiss, Zind Humbrecht and Domaine Weinbach that first inspired us with their fruit, texture and sheer hedonistic drinkability. The 2008 Pinot Gris Cuvée Ste Catherine from Domaine Weinbach is an excellent example of this style of wine. The initial appeal is with the exotic, spicy aromas of ripe aromatic fruit, but the real quality reveals itself on the palate. Very low crop yield gives this wine a rich and weighty texture with great length. A touch of botrytis noble rot in the vineyard has added concentration and complexity to the fruity aromas. The residual sugar on the palate is a lovely counterpoint to the tannic backbone of the wine, which gives a refreshing quality, and well suits the rich style of food found in Alsace. It is this style of wine that we have used as the benchmark and inspiration for the Kumeu River style. Perhaps our Kumeu River wine is somewhat fruitier initially, but the texture of the wine does shows a similarity with the Alsacien wines that we admire. It’s a drink that is lovely on its own as an aperitif, and even better paired with food."
James Millton of The Millton Vineyard
Inspirational Wine: Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon 2007
From the Savennieres appellation in the Loire Valley, France "From an exemplary producer, this is a famous wine for which we take great inspiration for our flagship Te Arai Chenin Blanc. Annie and I travelled and worked along the vineyards of the Loire Valley and have been enjoying the wines of this noble estate for many decades. The famous Clos du Papillon vineyard is well over 350 years old and produces Chenin Blanc with profound richness and texture. A great, age worthy wine which shows that Chenin Blanc can rival the great white wines of Burgundy... "
Cath Oates of Mud House
Inspirational Wine: Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2008“The Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay reflects a bit of the Australian influence in the winemaking team (both Cath and Nadine are imports, plus Shaw and Smith was where Nadine cut her winery teeth). 2010 was Mud House's first release of a reserve Chardonnay for a few years, and the choice of a Chardonnay reflects our passion and commitment to the variety. Plus the M3 Chardonnay is a delicious drop - we appreciate the sheer quality of the fruit and the precision of the winemaking technique with a blend of old world process with new world thinking...”
Paddy Borthwick of Borthwick Vineyard
Inspirational Wine: Knappstein Hand Picked Riesling, Clare Valley 2006 “Chosen because this wine represents a style from our vineyard and also a wine from an area that we respected and drank plenty of during our time at Roseworthy College (affordable so). Fantastically enjoyable when young but immensely appreciated when cellared, and aged."
Rudi Bauer of Quartz Reef
Inspirational Wine: Hirsch Gruner Veltliner Heiligenstein 2009“Chosen because he is Austrian :) (and also a long time friend of Hannes Hirsch, and a big fan of
Hirsch wines)”
Fiona Turner of Tinpot Hut
Inspirational Wine: Hiedler Gruner Veltliner 2008 - Kamptal Austria“The original inspiration for the Tinpot Gruner Veltliner were a series of single vineyards wines tasted in 2006 from the Kamptal region of Austria by a producer called Kurt Angerer. The wines were all well made and affordable and gave hints of what Marlborough might be able to do with such a variety. Unfortunately these wines are not available in New Zealand and so I decided to show a wine by a very solid producer nearby by the name of Hiedler. The idea was to show the difference between the old and new world at similar price points in the market and to give people a broader understanding of what the variety is about".
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