Mount Michael Pinot Noir 2017
A single vineyard wine, from the Bendigo sub-region of Central Otago. A deep burgundy coloured wine with an elegant nose showing doris plum with spicey clove and star anise. More red stonefruits and a suggestion of mushroomy forest floor lingers in the palate that is woven with a vein of taut tannins and a deep sweetness hinting at mocha and singed cedar. Further in there is a savoury, dense, richness that has a real grip and yearns for a hearty slow cooked beef stew or roasted meat dish to accompany it. A really powerful wine with a lengthy, concentrated finish.
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao Chardonnay 2017
From grapes grown at the company headquarters in an old volcanic crater in Mangere, Auckland. Straw coloured in the glass, with a greener edging. Highly fragranced, with aromas of roasted nuts, citrus zest and lemon blossom. Folded between waves of smokey and toasty oak (30% new), there is a core of ripe grapefruit and white peach, but the wine treads a very linear path of crisp acidity. Deeply concentrated and yet delicately creamy, it has a dazzling intensity that leads to an endless and poised finish.
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Taylors Pass Chardonnay 2018
Chardonnay from the sheltered Taylors Pass vineyard on the northern banks of the Awatere Valley, Marlborough. A hand picked and single vineyard wine. A pale and golden yellow, with vibrant scents of flinty gun smoke and yeasty sourdough. Laced with toasted almonds, a zing of lemon zest, with vibrant grapefruit and nectarine, there is also a striking minerality and reduction to the palate. Enriched with a creamy caramelisation and framed in seasoned spicey oak. A balanced seam of supple acidity leads you to a dry and satisfying finish of great distance. Of the current single vineyard Chardonnays in the VM stable, I feel this one is their truest showing of the finest NZ (of South Island origin, certainly) terroir-driven chardonnay. Even at $50, this is a fine value – buy this rather than an averagely bland corporate French bubbly to kick off a special occasion, and you’ll be supporting some of the best of NZ wine – and doing yourself a favour to boot.
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