I was asked to come along to an informal tasting of twenty Hawke’s Bay Chardonnays last week – hosted by Mat Kirby – winemaker at Clearview Estate and Helio – for a quick run through of some of the current (and many newly-released) wines from the excellent 2020 vintage. With the occasional 2021 thrown in as well.
I’d spent some of the morning at the neighbours – Elephant Hill, where their classification of wines falls into three different sub-regions – Earth for Bridge Pa, Stone for Gimblett Gravels, and Sea for Te Awanga. That visit — and discussions with Hugh Crichton and Simon Swa – along with this tasting, reinforced an idea that I’d been thinking about for a while now — that there is a development in style of what I call ‘Coastal Hawkes Bay Chardonnays’.
There is a definite thread that runs through these wines that cannot easily be explained by anything other than location. It’s probably not the earth – Tim Turvey at Clearview Estate at Te Awanga has had his soils tested, and that salinity that’s part of the character does not enter from the soils — they aren’t overtly salty. The fresh acidity? Could be explained in part by the proximity to the coast, with sea breezes and temperature variations.
Whatever is the cause, the wines are terrific. To my taste, the Sea Chardonnay is arguably the best at Elephant Hill. The Chardonnays made by Clearview Estate are obviously doing something right — currently the Champion Wine of Show at the NZIWS. In the WineFolio Top 10 Tasting, Clearview were second and third on the list, with a Te Awanga ‘Trademark’ wine at no.6. Add in the Chardonnays like Helio, Topsy Turvey and Testify, to name a few, that take fruit from this coastal strip, and you start forming a picture.
There were also terrific examples from the other sub-regions. Gimblett Gravels continues to shine – a new vintage of the excellent Trinity Hill wine that won the Top 10 tasting – see www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=2098 – was excellent and is due a full review on here any day now. A couple of the excellent wines in the tasting aren’t reviewed here as they aren’t yet released. All the wines were poured and tasted blind, with the wine revealed after a brief discussion around the table.
Elephant Hill Salomé 2020 Full and rich on the nose, with a minerality and funkiness bordering on over-ripe. Mandarin, lemon peel, apple, nougat and brioche flavours. Quite youthful and energetic. Plenty of oak on show here. 94pts
Bilancia Tiratore 2020 Generous and concentrated, with a lovely tropical bouquet of fig, ginger, peach and spices. An earthiness, along with subtle use of good oak, forms the spine. A softer, broad and waxy texture. Lengthy finish. 94pts
Clearview Three Rows 2020 Pungent on the nose with a flinty reductivity. Nice weight and richness, with lovely citrus-dominated flavours. The acidity needed to be a little cleaner and the finish is a touch flat. 90pts
Bilancia Trelinnoe 2020 A classic cool climate Chardonnay, with brightness across a focussed, compelling palate. Lemon curd, peach are balanced with nuances of savoury green olive plus a briny minerality. The best texture on show – lush and rounded. Great oak too. 95pts
Te Mata Elston 2020 Lighter on the body with a youthful finesse that is elegant and jazzy. A mixture of flavours — plenty of action — lemongrass, red apple, bacon fat, nectarine and honeydew. A sharp acidity, and turning more generous deeper into the palate. 93pts
Villa Maria Keltern 2020 With an intensely aromatic bouquet fronted with a struck-match smokiness. Complex, but quite hot and weighty. Nice gravelly minerality and purity of fruit, alongside a little funk. Interesting texture — slippery and silken. 92pts
Askerne ‘The Archer’ 2021 Punchy and with a real swagger, this has everything in extra large. Broad through the palate with ripe notes of guava, caramel, honeycomb and nectarine. A little salinity brings balance and the finish is sweet and long. 93pts
Crab Farm 2020 Some green notes on the nose — agave, pineapple lumps and crushed herb. A butterscotch sweetness, with blanched almond and citrus peel on the finish. Unremarkable. 88pts
Clearview Estate Beachhead 2020 Clean and crisp, with grapefruit and satsuma on the nose – and some reductivity to add complexity. Acidity is good, but could add a bit more drive. Pleasant and well-balanced. 91pts
Helio 2020 Lemon pith, grapefruit, pear and fennel. Fabulous line of acidity and a mellow oak influence give a great core to this minerally, textural beauty. Tense throughout and with a generous harmony to the finish. Wow. 95pts
Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels 2020 Serious, elegant and focussed. Great lees influence here, with a quartzy minerality and brilliant acidity. Rich, ripe fruit, with a balance of stonefruit and citrus given a toasty layer of oak to offset. Classic. 94pts
Bilancia 2020 Airy, lifted and juicy; with plenty of citrus and spice alongside a pithy grapefruit and mandarin peel. Focussed and piquant through the mid palate, fanning out across some delicate layering of flavours. A measured, elegant finish. 90pts
Te Awanga ‘Quarter Acre’ 2020 Eye-wateringly filled with reductivity on the nose, pungent and confronting. Sharp acidity and some flinty minerality couple with good citrus flavours and nice oak; but, boy, those aromatics are polarising. 86pts
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels 2020 Great all-rounder, with enough reductive notes to add complexity to the nose. Good juice, good drive, good acidity. Impressive depth to the palate. Densely packed, with a little briney mineral and a weighty, lengthy finish. 95pts
Askerne 2020 A refined, if straightforward, crowd pleaser, arguably punching well above its weight. Plush tropical fruit meets citrus in a cocktail of spices and oatmeal textures. Gently oaked with a subtle balance, and a persistent finish. 90pts
Clearview Estate Reserve 2020 Everything in place. A wine with character but where nothing jars, yet doesn’t sidle off into blandness. A crisp and fresh acidity; with volume, intensity and power to burn. Luscious texture, perfect balance of oak, succulently ripe flavours. The opulent finish blooms with plush fruit sweetness, offset with a drying pithyness. 96pts
Elephant Hill ‘Sea’ 2020 Briney, with a delicious crushed shell note immediate on the nose. Aromas of citrus, with hay, orange blossom, pear and chestnut. Lively, with a youthful zest and purity into the palate. Great acid line and purity, as well as a good dose of personality. 95pts
Askerne Reserve 2020 An attractive nose, with an aromatic verve and intensity. Ripe pear, candied ginger, nectarine and red apple. Medium acidity and a lovely weight – sweet-fruited without being sweet. Good lees-influence and well-judged oak. 93pts
