I’m at Bushmere Estate in Gisborne, looking into a ‘regional selection’ collected for me by Gisborne Wine Growers Association – on behalf of their members. A couple of gaps in the line up are explained by my personal visit to those producers in the next days, which is understandable. I had started with the white wines – including a few sparkling in this ‘Part 1’ of the write-up > www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=12565 – moving from Prosecco through Rosés and ‘other whites’. Now it is time for Chardonnay – a varietal that has really made its mark in the region.
Longbush Reserve Chardonnay 2022 is one of the labels on the table that I confess I hadn’t tried before my visit. But I guess that’s part of the point of my visit isn’t it? I recall going up to Northland for the first time and having Rod McIvor of Marsden Estate explaining to me that a great many of that region’s wines never made it out of the region – selling all their bottlings to visitors and locals at the Cellar Door or at markets. Maybe it’s a similar thing here? The first Chardonnay sets the tone for the rest, with a spicy, citrus-laden palate with great fruit and plenty of fresh acidity.
Spade Oak Chardonnay 2023 has a bit more stonefruit character and good concentration. It leans into the oak a touch heavily maybe, but those old-school expressions have plenty of love from customers who grew up with that style. TW Estate Chardonnay 2024 is a well-balanced example of a wine from ‘the Golden Slopes’ of Gisborne. A green and gold colour in the glass sets the dial for plush fruit, crisp acidity with a direct, dry finish. The Matawhero Chardonnay 2023 is just one example of their range of Chardonnays. It is a straightforward, clean and has enough varietal typicity to please your everyday drinker, but it isn’t going to winning a Gold Medal today.
Another bottle from Tietjen Witters – TW Reserve Chardonnay 2024 is on top form – with a lovely pricklyness to the palate, and a lip-smacking dry, tart acidity highlighting the bright fruit flavours. Matawhero Irwin Chardonnay 2021 is named after the original pioneering family, who set the company on the track to what is now their 50th Anniversary year. It is their icon Chardonnay and sits well in that tier. A serious, age-worthy example, with delicious golden form to the colour, fruit and palate weight. My notes make mention of ‘greengage, incense and acacia wood’. There is still a youthful tightness and structure to this fine wine. One to look out for.
Another expression that shows a sappy green tone is the Millton Opou vineyard Chardonnay 2021. Artfully balanced, with some flinty struck-match minerality to the bouquet before a busy rush of bright acidity starts the palate. It is densely packed – that flavour of ripe fruit enriched with toasty oak – another well-weighted expression on the table. The Co-ordinates Chardonnay 2023 is a bottle I’ve seen on grocery store shelves without exactly knowing what it was. Seems it is another wine under Steve Voysey’s umbrella. The label makes mention of ‘Ormond’ – a famous name from Gisborne’s wine heritage, and still producing great fruit it would seem. The oak is apparent and rich, but it is a clean, direct style and would be a good choice to pop into your supermarket trolley.
It the midst of line of Chardonnays there is an outlier – the TW Wines CV 2023. It stands out as it is a blend of Viognier and Chardonnay. A very floral lift to the bouquet – honeysuckle and citrus blossom fragrance alongside the invitingly ripe stonefruit. A velvety texture gives a rounded depth to the wine, despite there not being any sense of oakiness to the core. A well-rounded, summery wine that takes the best of the character from each grape.
Back to straight Chardonnay with Thompson’s Chardonnay 2022. Another label I’d not heard of before today – I liked their Rosé from Merlot, and I like the personality of this Chardonnay too. It is another from the old-school class, but, again, it does what it does and I applaud that. There’s not one way to make anything, and I see nothing amiss in sticking to your guns. However… it’s one thing to have an opulence of spiced and toasty oak, but I did find the finish a bit soapy and short.
‘Light’ and ‘bright’ are two words that appear in my tasting notes for Longbush Wines Chardonnay 2023. The fruit sits forward in the palate with ripe stonefruit, citrus, vanilla, fig and hazelnut. A silky texture into a refreshing, dry finish. It’s a day of new labels, and Northrow Chardonnay 2024 is just one more newbie. This one is notable however for making me stop and think. There was something familiar to the style. My notes say ‘likeable, ripe, simple, fluffy’ and if I had to pick a producer, I’d say Villa Maria. Nothing to suggest that on the label though. The organisers tell me I’m correct though – it is made by Indevin and sells for around $12. Crikey. Good wine for that price.
Odyssey Reserve Iliad Chardonnay 2023 is a wine I’ve had a few times before. We stocked it in the store I managed in Devonport for a couple of years. It shows plenty of spice on the nose, with ripe, fleshy and succulent fruit with golden peach, fig and orange peel. Acidity flows through the palate and into a drier finish of good length. Bond Block Chardonnay 2021 is a single vineyard wine, but is ‘all front and no back’ according to my notes. A shame as it is a well-presented example with a classy label. The Last Shepherd Chardonnay 2023 shows those characteristics that I think will be popular and that people expect from the Gisborne wines. A full-bodied, rich style – ripe and toasty, with a creamy, buttery texture.
Now we’re moving on to the local reds. I would imagine that somewhere growing pretty good Chardonnay could grow decent Pinot Noir as well. Millton La Cote Pinot Noir 2021 is springy and crunchy, with a youthful palate that’s as savoury as it is fruity. Redcurrant, cherry, plum and lots of herbs – both dried and fresh. Quite firm tannin counters the juice, and the finish has great persistence. Earlier I had tried and quite like the TW Lilly Rosé which was made with Carmenère grapes, and I’m pleased to see that there is also a bottle of TW Wines Carmenère 2022 available to taste as well. Honestly though – I’m less pleased with an overly boisterous gummy, herbal eucalypt note that I find overpowers the wine. There’s something Loire-like about that red-fruit-meets-herbal element, but I just don’t get it.
Hugely more successful, to my taste (it’s all very personal preference with this) is their TW Wines Makauri 2024 – a blend of Merlot and Malbec. The perfume is filled with blackberry, cherry, damson jam, vanilla and pepper. Some grippy tannin provides a spine and is has a good smooth length to the finish. Bushmere Montepulciano 2021 is a sleek counterpoise to the previous wine. Crisp, fresh red fruits – redcurrant, cranberry and red plum. The acidity gives good length to the palate, fine and flowing. A local varietal of this is not something you’ll come across very often, and I thought it worked very well. Notes of terracotta and spice at the finish. Last in line is a Longbush Wines Merlot 2024. The perfume is slightly medicinal, with mint and herbs to the front, but then look out for a rush of generous dark fruit flavours. A little drag of tannin across the tongue, but smoothly textural at the back. Composed and persistent at the finish.
I have to comment on how impressed I was with this tasting. Not just the quantity, which was impressive, but the amount of wines that were completely new to me. But most of all the quality. There’s only a couple of wines that I would give a low score. Many were very good value for money – supermarket wines that held their own against the majority of the other bottles, including those at the ‘fine wine’ end of the market. A couple of wines I found myself talking about as I went around the region, and, importantly, for days afterwards. Gisborne may only have a handful of Cellar Doors open for visitors these days, but I certainly found the ‘scene’ in ruddy health and the wines are well worth seeking out.
