The New Zealand Wine Flight

Yesterday, Air New Zealand and New Zealand Wine Growers collaborated to put on a special wine flight over five of New Zealand’s wine regions. I captured the experience in a short film.

Taking off from Blenheim airport

Blenheim

Looking across the southern valleys to the Wither Hills

Where the Waihopai Valley (left) meets the Wairau Valley

Bob Campbell gies us some chat

Hawkes Bay

from Jamie Goode’s wine blog http://www.wineanorak.com:/wineblog/videos/the-new-zealand-wine-flight

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Central Otago (7) tasting verticals with Gibbston Valley

Christopher Keys, Gibbston Valley winemaker

This was my third time visiting Gibbston Valley, one of Central Otago’s pioneering wineries. Back in 1981 Alan Brady, who had previously worked as a journalist in Northern Ireland, planted 500 vines here. He was one of a small group who believed in the potential of the region, and this hobby planting led to a more serious interest, that finally resulted in what is best described as the first commercial wine to be released from Central Otago, in 1987.

Gibbston is a cool subregion, and doesn’t always perform – although when it is good it is very good. ‘In Gibbston, there’s a fine line between success and failure,’ says winemaker Christopher Keys, who I tasted with. For this reason, in the late 1990s Gibbston Valley started planting in the warmer Bendigo sub region, in the Cromwell Basin. This is where most of their vineyards are now located. They have some quite distinct vineyards here, four in all, on different terraces at different altitudes. Their range now includes single vineyard Pinots from Gibbston and Bendigo.

For 13 years, Christopher Keys has been the winemaker here. Grant Taylor made the 2002 and 2004 vintages that I tasted but everything from 2006 onwards is from Christopher. We began by tasting the Chardonnays, which are from China Terrace, Bendigo (2007 onwards). The 2002 and 2004 tasted here were from a mix of subregions.

Chardonnay is hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed and goes to barrel. ‘We’ve learned to relax about stuff not getting dry. They turn out fresh, and they get stable, without the completion of ferment. We tended to wanted to force [fermentation to complete] by warming the barrel room, but now we are comfortable with a slow fermentation that by the end just gives a little bit of complexity. It gets there in the end.’

For the Pinots, the winemaking has changed a bit, with less polish and less extraction. ‘Extraction of tannin and extraction of colour is no guarantee of longevity in Pinot Noir,’ says Chris. ‘In fact, it may be the opposite. It’s the sort of tannin you extract and when you extract. At the three-quarter stage of fermentation it is dangerous to extract more. The best things will already have been extracted.’

‘We have smaller canopies, pick earlier, have increased whole bunch use, radically reduced punch downs, we press earlier and use less new oak,’ says Chris. ‘In 2017 and 2018 we have been trying to reduce the wavelength of Pinot Noir, and get a finer oscillations. We are looking for a more transparent, visible Pinot with a finer oscillation.’

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2002
Yellow/gold colour, but not too dark. Still fresh, with some almond and peach notes, as well as a bit of honey and fig. There’s a richness on the mid-palate and a sweet edge to the fruit, and it tastes really fresh still. 92/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2004
Fresh, still quite delicate but with some fig, pineapple and honey notes alongside the citrus fruit. Very lively with a lemony edge and just a touch of toastiness. Good concentration and nice acid drive. Lovely stuff. 94/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2007
14.3% alcohol. Toast and bread here, with some crystalline fruits. Rich, honeyed, a bit nutty with a touch of fig as well as pear and citrus fruit. Lively with some pineapple on the finish. A rich style but with some freshness too. Has a bit of canned corn. 91/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2008
14.5% alcohol. Delicate with some fine toast and spice. Some lemony characters. There’s a sense of sweetness on the palate with some honey and nuts, but there’s freshness too. Attractive stuff with nice focus. 93/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2009
14.1% alcohol. There’s depth, ripeness and richness here. Has a warm, peach and pear character with good concentration. Very seductive with some pineapple and toast notes. A big, generous wine. 92/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2011
14.3% alcohol. Fresh, slightly pithy nose leads to a linear, compact palate. Has citrus and pear fruit with some white peach richness and lovely tension and complexity. This is a rich wine, but has lovely freshness, too. 94/100

Gibbston Valley Reserve Chardonnay 2012
14.5% alcohol. Fresh and intense with some rich pineapple and pear fruit, but also citrus brightness. Juicy and fine with lovely grapefruit and crystalline fruit precision. It’s all about the fruit here. Such precision allied with a bit of sweetness from the alcohol. Lovely. 94/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2013
14.2% alcohol. Lovely aromatics here with some pear and pineapple, as well as a touch of almond. The palate has fruit sweetness, and it’s supple and broad, but still quite focused. Generous stuff. 92/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2014
14% alcohol. Lovely brightness to this wine with some spicy grapefruit alongside the lemon and pear notes. The acid line is really keen here, with a real fruit focus. Such attractive spicy, zesty freshness here. Complex, concentrated and linear. 94/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2015
14.5% alcohol. Pear, peach and toast notes here sitting alongside the citrus fruit. It’s nicely balanced with a fine spiciness and good depth. Has some generosity and richness. Friendly, but with concentration and some complexity. Sweet, warm finish. 92/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2016
14% alcohol. There’s delicacy here. It’s not lacking flavour, but it is light on its feet with fine citrus and spice notes. Warm undercurrents with nice precise spicy lemon and white peach fruit on the palate. Lovely finish: tapered and expressive. 94/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Chardonnay 2017
13.5% alcohol. Honeyed, sweet, toasty, bready edge to the nose. Focused pear and pineapple fruit on the palate with nice acidity. Quite intense and direct in the mouth with a long citrus finish. Juicy and salivating with keen acidity, but also some richness. 93/100

Gibbston Valley ’95’ China Terrace Chardonnay 2014
Small-release wine for the wine club. West facing part of the vineyard with a single clone (95), picked a bit earlier. Full solids. Taut lemony nose with some fine herbal notes. Lovely precision and tension on the palate: very fresh and focused with nice tension and keen lemony acidity. Has lovely texture and a long mineral finish. 95/100

Gibbston Valley ‘B95’ China Terrace Chardonnay 2016
Fine, lemony nose with subtle spice and nuts. There’s a delicious tension on the palate between the sweet citrus fruit and the linear acidity. Mineral and finely spiced with nice depth and interest. Has a bit of oyster shell, too. Very nicely poised. 94/100

Gibbston Valley ‘B95’ China Terrace Chardonnay 2017
There’s some pineapple and a slight touch of vinyl reduction on the nose, as well as sweet citrus and white peach fruit. There’s some tightness here, but also some very sweet fruit (the canopy was opened up on both sides this year, giving some more tropical notes). Attractive, but the tropical notes and acid tension aren’t in harmony yet, but maybe in time the result will be much better. 93/100

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Gibbston Valley Glenlee Pinot Noir 2011 Gibbston
40% whole bunch. Slightly faded colour. Some earth and spice on the nose with a hint of rubber. Very expressive on the palate with nice complexity and savoury spiciness. Has a slight cola edge, with sweet and sour characters. 90/100

Gibbston Valley Glenlee Pinot Noir 2014 Gibbston
20% whole bunch. 13.5% alcohol. 6 hectare site (3 on glacial outwash, 3 on heavier soil), 6000 vines/ha. Floral black cherry and plum fruit. Really enticing. The palate is silky and fine with red cherries, black cherries and some sweet, textured, silky fruit, but also nice freshness and a fine, spicy finish. Lovely expressive wine. 94/100

Gibbston Valley Glenlee Pinot Noir 2016 Gibbston
20% whole bunch. Really enticing floral nose with some raspberry jam, some bright cherry and lovely floral notes. This is fresh and direct with lovely precision, as well as lovely sweet fruit. There’s a silkiness here. It’s pretty but also very fresh and detailed. Has structure. 95/100

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Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2009 Bendigo, Central Otago
Textured and with a lovely smooth mouthfeel. Ripe and quite warm with lovely sweet elegant red cherry, strawberry and plum fruit. Showing a little development, with mouthfilling, broad, sweet fruit. In a nice place at the moment. Very harmonious in a ripe style. 94/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2012 Bendigo, Central Otago
Smoky, slightly funky edge to the nose which shows sweet red fruits. The palate is fresh and detailed with nice compact berry fruits, and a hint of strawberry. There are hints of earth and iodine with a bit of grip. Very nicely poised, and still quite tight, and really elegant. 95/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2014 Bendigo, Central Otago
This has so much freshness, concentration and structure. It’s compact with raspberry and red cherry fruit, and good structure. Ripe but direct and focused. Very polished and correct with lots of fruit. Rich and dense and drinking nicely now, but a bit blocky and dense? 93/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2015 Bendigo, Central Otago
More whole bunch from here onwards. 30% whole bunch. There’s a lovely brightness to this wine, with focused, structured red cherry and raspberry fruit. Good concentration with some fruit sweetness, and also some fine herbal notes and a bit of spiciness under the fruit. Lots of fruit but tending towards a structured elegance. 94/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2016 Bendigo, Central Otago
50% whole bunch. Really seductive floral, slightly meaty cherry fruit nose, with some fine sappy notes. The palate shows finesse and purity, with a wonderfully vivid yet elegant fruit quality. There’s some structure here, but everything works together. 95/100

Gibbston Valley China Terrace Pinot Noir 2017 Bendigo, Central Otago
33% whole bunch. A touch of roast coffee on the nose with lively, sappy-edged black cherry fruit. Concentrated yet very fine with silky, fleshy black cherry and blackberry fruit with incredible detail and elegance. Such a lovely wine with great potential. Thrilling stuff. 96/100

There is a pattern coming out with these vines, says Christopher. The wines from younger vines move around a bit and show faster development. Then we get densely packed new world style Pinots. Then much more assured wines of place.

—

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2009 Bendigo, Central Otago
Sweet, herbal, slightly malty nose shows some development. The palate is developed, but has a nice vivid personality with some sweet, herb-tinged cherry fruit and some notes of earth and tea. Fully mature, but lots to like here. 92/100

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2012 Bendigo, Central Otago
Slightly smoky, funky edge to the nose, alongside bright red fruits. The palate is fresh and vivid with a herby edge to the bright raspberry and cherry fruit. Juicy and a bit tart with nice focus and acidity. A fresh, supple wine that’s still got some primary tension and bright fruit. 92/100

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2014 Bendigo, Central Otago
Rich, vivid, delicious raspberry and cherry fruit here. Densely packed and sweetly fruited with seductive, ripe fruit. Balanced but quite fruit driven. Lots to like here with a primary, intense fruit-driven personality. 94/100

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2015 Bendigo, Central Otago
Stunning concentration and depth here, with ripe, impressive sweet black fruits and a bit of red cherry freshness. Has a wall of flavour: very fruit driven and modern but also balanced. Good concentration and structure, showing vivid fruit. 94/100

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2016 Bendigo, Central Otago
Such beautiful perfume: sweet aromatics with a slightly sappy green edge bringing out the floral notes so beautifully. Seductive but with lovely tension through the palate, and notes of raspberry and red cherry. Very fine and multi-layered. Ripe but with balance and such pretty, elegant fruit. There’s structure lurking here under the fruit, too. 96/100

Gibbston Valley School House Pinot Noir 2017 Bendigo, Central Otago
Hints of roast coffee sit under the vibrant red and black fruits. So seductive and fine with lovely precision on the nose, and nice reduction. Primary, with sweet black cherry and red cherry fruit, and good structure. Lovely precision to this wine, with some appealing sweet fruit. It’s really serious and should develop beautifully. 96/100

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Gibbston Valley Le Maitre Pinot Noir 2009 Gibbston, Central Otago
This vineyard is now dry farmed, as of three years ago. Developed, slightly baked red fruits nose with some tinned strawberry notes. The palate is sweet and evolved with mature red fruits and a bit of earth. Perhaps a bit past its best, and a little jammy, stewed and hard on the finish. 89/100

Gibbston Valley Le Maitre Pinot Noir 2014 Gibbston, Central Otago
Very bright and sweetly fruited with nice freshness. Some sweet and sour notes with lively raspberry and cherry fruit. A bit tingly with a citrus peel finish. Juicy and lively. 90/100

Gibbston Valley Le Maitre Pinot Noir 2015 Gibbston, Central Otago
Supple and bright with keen acidity supporting sweet, elegant cherry and raspberry fruit. Direct and linear with nice acidity. Shows a vivid personality with good tension, and fresh raspberry notes on the finish. 93/100

Gibbston Valley Le Maitre Pinot Noir 2016 Gibbston, Central Otago
This is fresh and direct with linear, vivid raspberry and red cherry fruit. There’s good concentration but also a fresh, primary red fruit character to the fore. Lovely drive to this wine. Supple, bright and linear, energised. 94/100

Gibbston Valley Le Maitre Pinot Noir 2017 Gibbston, Central Otago
Some roast coffee reduction on the nose. Direct, floral, some black fruits and some cherry brightness. This has lovely linear red fruits on the palate with some floral characters and also a bit of silkiness. Seductive but still very linear and direct. Super wine. 95/100

See also: an interview (video) with Christopher Keys

Reports on earlier visits: 2014 and 2010

from Jamie Goode’s wine blog http://www.wineanorak.com:/wineblog/new-zealand/central-otago-7-tasting-verticals-with-gibbston-valley

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Central Otago (6) Providore

Pete Bartle is the winemaker at VinPro, which is one of the two most significant contract wineries in Central Otago. He currently makes some of the highest-rated wines in Central Otago. Even though VinPro are a big winery in the region, they process only 800 tons through their winery each year, which in a New Zealand context is quite small. Last vintage this was split into 105 different fermentations, and the winery, with its many small tanks, reflects this parcellation approach, with lots of different clients making wine here.

Pete Bartle, winemaker, VinPro and Providore

But as well as doing contract winemaking, VinPro are now launching their own wine brand, Providore. This was the reason for my visit, to talk with Pete, taste the wines, and discuss why they are taking a step that might look like a bit of a conflict of interest with their clients.

A short film introducing the brand:

Pete explained the reason for the move. They have been making their own wines on and off since 2006, and selling some in bulk. ‘The industry is quite dynamic and changeable at the moment,’ says Pete. ‘Some of our bottling business is going to Marlborough and a lot of fruit is going out of the area. We are proudly Central Otago.’ VinPro realise that they are probably going to be losing some business in the next few years because of consolidation, and larger groups and wineries making their own wine, some out of the region. And a strong contract winery operation is important for lots of the smaller producers who otherwise would find the cost of building their own wineries, and hiring a winemaker, prohibitive.

Pete says that one of the reasons is that he wanted to do it: he’s been in the industry for 20 years making wine for other people. ‘This is a project for me, as well as the rest of the shareholders of Providore.’

VinPro winery

So they have started Providore, which initially is 4000 cases, and they wanted to make a full range to got to market straight out. In 2017 they made a premium Pinot Noir from Abel clone grown in Queensbury, and in 2018 they added a Pinot Gris, a Blanc de Noir, a rosé and an early release Pinot. These were all launched together in December 2018.

They lease two vineyards in Gibbston which they manage manage themselves (9 hectares) and partner with a couple of growers in Bannockburn and Queensbury. For the labels they took a photo looking northeast from Bannockburn and had an artwork commissioned, which is then turned into a nice set of labels that share a family resemblance. They wanted to do things a bit differently in terms of marketing. ‘The market is busy with good wines,’ says Pete, ‘so we decided to use the social media route and devlop an app.’ With the app, the labels suddenly come alive. It’s cool and interactive.

‘It has been a great experience,’ says Pete. ‘We are putting ourselves in the same shoes as all our clients.’

Providore Pinot Gris 2018
100% Hand picked, Gibbston, some whole bunch, some skin contact, racked to tank taking some lees, tank fermented but also some older barrels. Bright and fruit driven with nice crisp citrus and green apple aromatics. Textural and interesting with a hint of sweetness (3.5 g/l) and nice fine spiciness. Shows generous fruit but also freshness. 92/100 ($25)

Providore Luminaire Blanc de Noir 2018
Pinot Noir from Bannockburn, Champagne press cycle then fermented in tank, finished with 2.9 g/l residual sugar. Very pale pink/yellow colour. There’s nice gentle texture here with a hint of cream and some stoniness. Lovely pear and apple fruit with a hint of redcurrant, and nice weight and balance, with a hint of sweetness. Finishes with some spicy tangerine notes. 91/100 ($25)

Providore Rosé 2018
2.1 g/l rs. 7.1 g/l acid. From the Clark Vineyard, which is the highest elevation vineyard in Gibbston. Attractive pink colour. Bright with lovely tangy cherry and raspberry fruit. Fresh with nice assertive acidity, a hint of melon and some briskness on the finish, with a bit of structure and a saline twist. Lovely stuff. 92/100 ($25)

Providore Pinot Noir 2017
Queensbury (on the way to Wanaka, not many vineyards there), 100% Abel clone. This has amazing, pretty floral notes on the nose. There’s a lovely directness and concentration on the palate with some meaty, peppery depth and lovely raspberry and black cherry fruit. Good structure. Lots and lots of sweet dark fruit here, but impeccable balance. Hints of blackcurrant and clove, too. 94/100 ($39)

Providore First Edition Pinot Noir 2018
This is the early release Pinot Noir, and it’s nearly all from Gibbston fruit. 20% in barrel, no new oak, then the rest on staves in stainless steel, all destemmed. Aromatic and floral with lovely red cherries and some fine herbal notes. Bright, juicy, fruity and textural on the palate with lovely purity and focus. Just a hint of reduction works really well here. So juicy, delicious and spicy with a twist of complexity. 91/100 ($25)

from Jamie Goode’s wine blog http://www.wineanorak.com:/wineblog/new-zealand/central-otago-6-providore

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Central Otago (5) the beautiful naturally made wines of Aurum

Aurum is one of Central Otago’s hidden gems. They are known in the region, but they don’t export. But these wines are worth seeking out. Naturally and sensitively made, they are serious expressions of place.

Lucie Lawrence

Aurum dates back to 1997 when Joan and Tony Lawrence planted the 45th Parallel Vineyard on the Pisa Flats. They then added a second vineyard in Lowburn in 2001, which is now the home block. In 2010 they had to sell 45th Parallel (it’s now Domaine Rewa), and when I visited they were in the process of developing a new vineyard on the hillside over looking the home block on the Burn Cottage Road. There are currently 1 hectare of vines in the ground and this will rise to 3, complementing the 4 hectares of the home block.

Brook Lawrence

Aurum is now run by Brook and Lucie Lawrence. Lucie is from Burgundy, and they met while both were working at Domaine de l’Arlot. She came over to New Zealand to see him again in 2002, and then came back the following year, and they got married in 2004. The winery was completed in time for the first vintage in 2006.

The new vineyard

Brook and Tony were busy applying in-row matting to the new vineyard. These black plastic mats are not the prettiest, but they are a very effective way of suppressing weeds, giving the young vines a chance to establish themselves without resorting to herbicide. Aurum were fully certified organic in 2014, and have been farming this way for a decade now. Lucie explained that without the matting, unless they used herbicide the vines would really struggle, and they’d lose a year or two of growth. Biogro, the organic certifying body, even recommend using herbicide for young vines and then switching to organics, but Lucie would rather be organic from the outset.

Extenday matting for weed control: this is 3 years old and still in good condition

Here, weed control is the main obstacle to organics. ‘Choosing what to do with the weeds is the challenge,’ says Lucie. ‘We mow the grass rather than cultivating, the soil is too fragile for that. This works really well for us: the life of our soil is improving all the time.’ She says that the problem with cultivation is that you are constantly killing the top level of soil. But weeds can compete with vines if you aren’t careful. ‘Vines are very polite they give their nutrients to anyone else but them first,’ she says.

The weed matting looks very artificial, but the vines grow really nicely. And the soil under the mats is very healthy. ‘You see all the worms, it is very reassuring.’

Aurum Dry Riesling 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
This is the one wine that isn’t organic, because they can’t find organic Riesling. Lucie has always made Riesling in a dry style. Linear and focused with laser-sharp citrus core. Whole bunch pressed into a stainless steel tank with a cool long fermentation – pure Riesling. The key is to stop it after the right time. The acidity varies from year to year so we have to decide when to stop it. It’s very pure and a little austere, but in a nice way with lime and lemon characters. 90/100

Aurum Chardonnay 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
Organic. This is from the warmest spot of the home block, and it’s the second harvest of the new planting (they lost 45 Parallel in 2010, and so there were a few years without Chardonnay). ‘There is a great potential for Chardonnay in Central,’ says Lucie, ‘but not in every place. It was an exciting day when we got our first grapes, because it was tough without Chardonnay.’ The first harvest was 100 litres! Complex peach, nut and pineapple nose: fresh and refined. The palate is linear with bright citrus fruit, a bit of white peach, and the oak playing a supporting role with cashew and some warmth. Lovely acidity here. 93/100

Aurum Pinot Gris 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
Pinot Gris gets such bad press. People are forgetting where it comes from and how good it could be. It’s also trying to express the full potential of the grape. We experimented with old oak but I didn’t like it. This is delicate with nice tangerine and pear fruit. Lots of flavour here. Quite fresh and not at all fat or heavy, but has some grapey richness. Good detail here, and easy to drink, and apparently this ages well, too. 91/100

Aurum Pinot Gris Rosé 2018 Central Otago, New Zealand
‘I made the amber wine first and realized how much colour could come out of the skins, so next year I made a rosé,’ says Lucie. She doesn’t like Pinot Noir rosé. ‘We experimented and I was really pleased with the results.’ She destems it into a tank, with three days of cold maceration. Then press it and ferment it cold in stainless steel. ‘It’s incredible how much comes from these skins, which normally go straight to the compost. Flavour and tannins come out so you can go a lot drier than normal Pinot Gris.’ Orange/pink colour. Aromatic, spicy nose with orange peel and lemon notes. It’s dry, supple and nicely textured on the palate with fresh cherries and some spice. There’s some citrus and pear, too. Nicely complex with a lovely mouthfeel, and quite dry. Food friendly with layers of flavour. 92/100

Aurum Amber Wine 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
No added sulfites. First vintage was 2013. All destemmed, made like a Pinot Noir, except the maceration is longer. This is four months on skins. No punchdowns: just water the cap with a watering can. This is the first vintage that has no sulfur until bottling (previously, as with the Pinot Noirs, there had been no sulfur added during fermentation, but a bit added at bottling). Orange/copper colour. Beautiful nose of tea and herbs, with tangerine, fennel and nuts. The palate is textural and dry, with some grip, and very intriguing grape, spice, herb, tangerine and red apple character, as well as a bit of cherry. It’d dry with a slight rasp to the mouthfeel. Lots of interest here. 93/100

Aurum Libera Pinot Noir 2016 Central Otago, New Zealand
This is from young vines (six years old). ‘There was a chance here to make wine with no sulfur at all,’ says Lucie. ‘Sulfur was the last thing we’d eliminated from the wine. I loved it so much half the winery went sulfur free that year (2015). It was a no brainer. Very quickly I started not using sulfur until just before bottling.’ The 2017 has been bottled with no sulfur additions at all. Had been using 50 ppm at grape reception because that is what you do. Supple, textural and bright with nice red cherries and plums, with some raspberry brightness. Fresh and pure with vivid fruit to the fore. Has a bit of structure too. Crunchy and satisfying, and very pure. Almost Gamay-like: not too serious, but fun. 92/100

Aurum Pinot Noir 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
This is from all over the old vines block. Beautiful aromatics: floral and enticing with sweet black cherries and some spice, with just a hint of nice reduction. The palate is elegant but structured with lovely black fruits character. Black cherries, spice, plums. It has some juiciness and forward fruit, but lovely elegance and purity and real drive. ‘Easy but not simple, having purity of fruit but also dryness and texture. Making a plush Pinot is not interesting.’ Serious stuff, but also quite approachable. The fruit is so linear and pure, the reduction gives nice edges. 95/100

Aurum Mathilde Pinot Noir 2015 Central Otago, New Zealand
When Lucie’s daughter Mathilde was born she started separating out bits of the vineyard. I don’t like blending. I don’t understand making a reserve wine by blending barrels. This is 20-30% whole bunch (but no whole bunch at all in 2018, because there was some powdery, and we made no Madeleine). Elegant, supple nose with lovely floral detail to the red fruits. The palate is fresh, fine, elegant and harmonious, with some savoury herbal hints, layers of flavour, a lightness to the red fruit character, and great precision. There’s some generosity, but also a bit of fine-grained structure and savouriness. ‘There’s a comfort about this wine,’ says Lucie, and she’s right. Long red fruits finish. Slight green sappiness in the background is really pretty. 95/100

Aurum Madeleine Pinot Noir 2016 Central Otago, New Zealand
First made in 2007, this is 100% whole bunch, but this was only after a few years. 667 gives beautiful stem ripeness every year. Wanted to be able to make a wine that is 100% whole bunch. It worked: the tannins were fine and intricate, so we kept going. Floral and pretty with elegant red fruits and some black cherry on the nose. There’s some savoury seriousness on the palate, but no greenness. There’s black cherry, plum and spice with a bit of grip. Very sophisticated and grown up with flesh but also structure and acidity. So many dimensions and layers here. ‘It takes you through a real journey while you are drinking it: every time you pick up your glass you get a slightly different version of it.’ Grippy finish, but there’s also elegance here. ‘It’s not muscular.’ 96/100

Find these wines with wine-searcher.com

from Jamie Goode’s wine blog http://www.wineanorak.com:/wineblog/new-zealand/central-otago-5-the-beautiful-naturally-made-wines-of-aurum

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Central Otago (4) Te Kano and their stunning new vineyard

Looking across to the Northburn vineyard

It’s always exciting to see new vineyards being developed. In recent years one of the most exciting vineyard projects in Central Otago has been the development of a large vineyard in Northburn, on the hills overlooking Lake Dunstan, by Te Kano. This is a substantial undertaking, and so far 32 hectares have been planted over the last couple of years, with 9 hectares to be added. (In the past four years, after a lull, 200 hectares have been planted.)

Dave Sutton

I visited with GM and winemaker Dave Sutton. The soils here vary a bit. The first block we stopped in was Chardonnay, planted on one of the warmer sites with fractured schist soils that were quite bony. Here’s a film of the visit:

 

The Chardonnay block: at 5.5 hectares its the largest in Central

Schist soils in this Chardonnay block

Further down, the soils stay bony, but have some glacial/flood deposited stones. And there are also some patches that have more in the way of soils, which are mostly decomposed schist.

A cut away showing the stony soil in this part of the vineyard. The whiter patch is a layer of pedogenic lime gathering around the stones

Te Kano used ground penetrating radar to map the soil variation, and match variety and rootstock appropriately. Irrigation zones also match these various soil types.

These look like really good vineyards. The biggest challenge will be the wind: these are exposed sites, and the vines will have their work cut out. But it will be exciting, in a few years’ time, to taste the first wines from here.

There’s a small part of the vineyard that had its first crop in 2018

The steepest part of the vineyard

Tailings hand stacked by miners

There is some soil in this part of the vineyard

In the meantime, Te Kano’s wines are based on two vineyards in Bannockburn, which Dave took me to see. The first is Jerome, which has incredibly sandy soils. The second is Eliza, opposite Mount Difficulty, off Felton Road.

Dave in Jerome, with his spade

The sandy soil of the Jerome vineyard

Eliza vineyard, looking towards the sluicings in the distance

The bottom part of Eliza

A new tasting room under construction in Eliza

Jerome, with its sandy soils, gives firm tannins to the Pinot Noir, while with richer soils with some clay, Eliza makes plush wines. At the moment, Dave tries to marry these together. ‘When we add Northburn into the mix then we’ll need to make philosophical choices,’ says Dave. ‘Is it about expressing a single site, or creating a house style?’ With Northburn, taking a single site approach would likely result in 20 different wines.

Te Kano Rosé 2018 Central Otago, New Zealand
Clone 5 from the Jerome vineyard. Grown for rosé so there is less bunch exposure. Textured and quite rich with sweet cherry and plum fruit. Really appealing with a lovely rounded character. Has a smooth palate. Ripe and plush. 89/100

Te Kano Chardonnay 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
Mendoza clone top grafted onto Pinot Gris in the Jerome vineyard, whole bunch pressed to barrel. Rich, nutty and spicy with some cedary, spicy oak with nice fruit expression. Good breadth of flavour, yet still has a compact nature. 91/100

Te Kano Pinot Gris 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
Jerome vineyard. Very pretty and textural with freshness and brightness. A bit of tangerine richness, with some tropical notes as well as rose petal and lychee. Flavoursome. 91/100

Te Kano Blanc de Noir 2018 Central Otago, New Zealand
Whole bunch Pinot Noir from a block with large berries and bunches,  pressed with a Champagne cycle. Very pale in colour. Gentle and textural with subtle pear, green apple and table grape flavours, and a bit of tropical character. Restrained and balanced. 89/100

Akin Pinot Noir 2016 Central Otago, New Zealand
This is a sister wine, although the label is a bit reminiscent of Akitu’s! Lovely intense floral and cherry fruit with some raspberry and tar on the nose. Fresh and direct on the palate with nice brightness and focus. Has some nice tannic structure with a grainy finish, as well as sour cherry and damson bite. 93/100

Te Kano Pinot Noir 2017 Central Otago, New Zealand
Debut wine that’s a blend of Jerome and Eliza. Fine and floral with some black cherry here. Herbs and tar here. A little closed. The palate is vibrant and elegant with black cherry, plum and savoury spiciness. Has some silkiness with a seamless nature. Needs a little more time to fully integrate. It’s plush, a deliberate choice for the first release, but subsequent vintages will be more Abel and have more tannin. 94/100

UK agent is Davy’s

from Jamie Goode’s wine blog http://www.wineanorak.com:/wineblog/new-zealand/central-otago-4-te-kano-and-their-stunning-new-vineyard

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