The palate balances bright acidity with flavors of passionfruit, nectarine and herbal notes. Compared to most of the other wineries on this list, Dog Point is a youngster—its first vintage was only in 2002. France's Loire Valley is the original home of Sauvignon Blanc, and this … The Vintner Group. And despite huge increases in production over the years, changes in vineyard sourcing and turnover in personnel, it has maintained a remarkable track record of excellence. Dry River was a cult wine in New Zealand before anyone had ever heard of the term. 90 Eradus 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (Awatere Valley). Growers consider Pinot Gris notoriously fickle, and the berries’ pink-tinged skins can make managing the phenolics difficult in the winery. £8.99. Future lists will no doubt encompass even more varieties, as existing vines age and new cultivars become available. The current winemaker, Sarah Burton, makes it clear that her job is to continue to improve the wine, not just maintain it. A little bit of Awatere fruit goes a long way to spicing up and enlivening regional blends, but pure Awatere wines aren’t always successful. By using our website and/or subscribing to our newsletter, That list now extends well beyond Sauvignon Blanc to include stalwarts like Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling, but also Arneis, Grüner Veltliner, Verdelho and Viognier. 90 Dry River 2009 Pinot Gris (Martinborough). The 2010, which I tasted out of barrel last year, looks sure to be stunning when it’s released. This wine pairs well with seafood such as oysters, scallops, and salmon. 93 Dog Point 2011 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough). Sauvignon accounts for more than 60 percent of all plantings and 850 percent of exports nationally, with the percentages even higher in Marlborough. Indeed, the grape doesn't feature among the top 25 wines in New Zealand, which is a huge surprise and another vivid example of how poorly the critics rate that particular wine style. This score is calculated for specific vintages of a wine, as well as across all vintages. When the Spence brothers planted a new variety at their northwest Auckland vineyard back in 1969, they couldn't have imagined what sort of a monster they were creating. Most vintages weigh in at 14% alcohol, yet still contain considerable residual sugar. Personal preference comes into play when picking favorites among the single-vineyard wines from Ihumatao (in Auckland), Keltern (in Hawkes Bay), Taylors Pass (in Marlborough), or the Reserve Chardonnays from Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. Today New Zealand white wine - one of the mostdecent in the world ranking. Now, more than 30 years later, Neudorf’s Moutere Chardonnay is one of New Zealand’s top white wines. Five consecutive years of 90-plus scores for its Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and now this mention, should help to change that. Although the various Kumeu River Chardonnays differ considerably, they all share a sense of balance and restraint. Bell Hill Chardonnay. Te Koko is entirely barrel fermented using indigenous yeasts, resulting in a complex, richly textural wine with more similarities to white Graves than to most Marlborough Sauvignons. Nearly 100,000 acres are devoted to wine production. Given the acres of space devoted to Sauvignon Blanc at the start of this story, the obvious talking point is the absence of any Sauvignon on the list. It's hard to imagine that if the wines above had French labels and heritage that they would be bouncing off a 93-point glass ceiling. It’s made in a style similar to a German spätlese, with about 9% alcohol and 60 g/L of residual sugar. There is an immediate fleshy impact carrying through with a good mid-palate texture. The Dry River style of Pinot Gris is one that emphasizes concentration and texture. Verity Wine Partners. It features less oak and a lower price tag than the other Chardonnays. If it’s a recipe, it must be the vinous equivalent of Julia Child’s Roast Chicken, yielding consistent results, but with endless delicious variations. In the Marlborough region of the South Island, Allan Scott Family … The largest production Riesling—and the only one regularly seen in the United States—is the Bannockburn bottling. Winesellers Ltd. Editors’ Choice. New Zealand may be best known for its signature smelling and tasting Sauvignon Blanc, but if that's the only variety you've tried from the southernmost wine producing country in the world, you're missing out. And in between, owners Tim and Judy Finn have overseen a nearly unbroken run of consistently excellent quality (to be fair, the runt-of-the-litter 2002 was still very good, just fading a bit). Rarely has a local style found such a ready global audience. It stole the judges’ hearts (including mine) at the 2011 Air New Zealand Wine Awards, where it won the trophy as best exhibition white or sparkling wine. It’s always varietally evocative, featuring textbook rose-petal, lychee and spice shadings. What would happen if New Zealand's most famous wine wasn't what it did best? Editors’ Choice. The Doctor's Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, White Wine 75cl. 90 Cloudy Bay 2011 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough). To the right are striking views of the cliffs below Cape Kidnappers. Despite that, the Reserve Chardonnay remains fruit driven, with crisp citrus notes when young that gradually unfurl over several years into white peach and sometimes tropical flavors, all framed by elegant notes of toasted nut and grain. WineGuide.nz is operated from home and will continue to be so, during the New Zealand shutdown. One other thing to point out is the relatively "low" scores. On the … 91 Cloudy Bay 2010 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough). From the mid-1980s, consumers have been enthusiastically swilling New Zealand Sauvignon down in ever-increasing quantities. The resulting wines are broad and rich, lush in texture but rarely fat. Wilson Daniels Ltd. Say what you will—overpriced, overhyped and overcommercial have all been used to describe Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc—but there’s no denying that this wine ignited New Zealand’s international rise to wine stardom. Canterbury: Opened in 1997, Bell Hill was the first NZ vineyard outside of Central Otago and … Average Price: $122 – €104 – £93. Wilson Daniels Ltd. 87 Kumeu River 2009 Village Chardonnay (Kumeu). Speaking of critics, let's talk about how we arrive at our scores. There are many excellent brands of New Zealand wine worth considering. We all know how wonderful the sauvignon blanc is from New Zealand, and there are great examples to be had in California, as well as in its original home in Bordeaux. It’s cooler and more open to the sea, with harvest dates that can lag behind the Wairau Valley by as much as two weeks. Winesellers Ltd. 90 Saint Clair 2011 Pioneer Block 18 Snap Block Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough). Editors’ Choice. The 2009 edition looks to be at a similar level of quality and aging potential. Maivino Sauv Blanc No. Buy the largest range of New Zealand's best white wines direct from New Zealand with delivery worldwide to Australia, USA, UK, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and China The cookie settings on this website are set to 'allow all cookies' to give you the very best experience. Today, although the winery produces several other varieties for which Marlborough is better known, it’s still the Gewürztraminer that sets Lawson’s apart. Trinity Hill Homage is a benchmark when it comes to Shiraz. It’s a wine that’s remarkably consistent from vintage to vintage, always combining New World fruitiness and Old World complexity in its own unique way. This richly fruited, lavishly oaked, opulent wine makes a luxurious contrast to the rustic, surf-shack aesthetic of the original winery, now turned cellar door and restaurant. New Zealand's best wine comes from the stony soil of Hawke's Bay. The oak elements are beautifully integrated, seamlessly supporting the concentrated white peach and citrus fruit with hints of toast. The fruit forward flavors end with a crisp finish. I recently heard Saint Clair’s Sauvignon Blanc program derided as “recipe winemaking,” by the owner of another Marlborough wine company. Gewürztraminer: Dry River, Spy Valley, Stonecroft, Vinoptima Editors’ Choice. What is … Best Wines: the best wines of the bunch from the LCBO’s latest batch of New Zealand bottles as selected by Toronto Life wine critic David Lawrason. 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