Villa Maria takes top spot at New Zealand Wine of the Year awards - WineFolio tastes the wines
Villa Maria has been awarded the highly coveted title of New Zealand Wine of the Year at the recent awards – we grabbed the two top wines, plus an alternate vintage, to try these winners on for size…
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2017
We started off with an “alternate” vintage…The 2017 season was a game of two halves – an incredibly dry January, but with late season rainfall came worries about getting the fruit to maximum ripeness. The wine is a dense purple colour with a softening to carmine around the edges. Profoundly perfumed, with aromas of ripe plums, dried herbs and a hint of violet floral. Medium-full bodied palate, laden with succulent black berry and redcurrants, unfolding with pepper and a rich seam of oak. The soft dry tannins are beautifully in harmony and direct the wine towards a sensual, velvety textured finish of some length.
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018
Winner of the NZ Wine of the Year Trophy in 2019 – a fantastic feat for an entry level wine. Villa Maria must be pretty happy with their syrahs going from little-known varietals, to major award-winners in the space of just a few years. Interesting to compare the 2018 to the 2017 on the same evening…
A huge nose of black pepper, blueberries, and dark plums with fruitcake spices. A sense of riper fruit than the ’17, but still with the floral and some liquorice depth coming through on the medium-bodied palate. The dry and fine tannins are framed with cedar in a tightly structured core that has a litheness despite the plump lushness of the fruit. A mocha oak influence completes the layered silken textures, as the finish is precise and so, so long. I love the balance of this wine. And the value for money factor cannot be overlooked.
Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2018
The 2006, 2013 and 2018 vintages of this Reserve wine won Champion Wine of Provenance at the NZ Wine of the Year awards (the Champion Wine of Provenance celebrates a wines’ consistency of quality and ability to age over ten years). We tasted the young 2018 tonight.
A dense inky burgundy colour in the glass; again with a wonderfully fragrant nose – boysenberry, white pepper and a fennel-like savouriness amongst the signature top note of violet flowers. Heading towards full-bodied on a palate of decadent damson and currant ripeness. Intense. Layered with an underlying creaminess and honed with spicy French oak. Nicely drying tannins balance out the sensual depth, and lead towards a sweet and concentrated finish. Quite some complexity – almost chaotic – for a new wine. I expect this to ‘settle down’ in the long term, drinking beautifully into the next decade and justifying the awards.
