Kemp Wine Merchants / Great Little Vineyards recently announced a partnership with Schubert Wines of Wairarapa. To celebrate their collaboration, Winemaker & Director Kai Schubert was in town, hosting a tasting event at the Park Hyatt Auckland that included several new releases across the range. I was particularly keen to meet up with Kai again, after spending time with him in Martinborough early this year and having a sneak preview of their new icon wine – ‘Kai’, named after the man himself.
I arrive to find that the Pinots have all been sitting chilled in the fridges before the event, and Kai is rightly flustered that his guests are arriving to taste the new wines, in less than optimal conditions. Fortunate then that I’d blocked out some of the afternoon, and could afford to wait for the wines to be a little more approachable. And it is not a problem for the first couple of wines we taste, which are the pair of Sauvignon Blancs. It’s my opinion that Wairarapa makes a damn good version of our ‘national wine’ and of course, with Craggy Range planting more of this varietal along Te Muna Road, we’ll be seeing even more of this delicious style in future.
Schubert Wines make two – the Selection Sauvignon Blanc is created in tank only, and the 2021 Sauvignon Blanc has a small amount of fermentation in french oak barriques. The Selection 2021 is a great summery white wine, with brisk acidity and fresh green flavours of pea pod, jalapeno and cucumber; but also a little pineapple, white pepper, and lemongrass. A step up, and a noticeably calmer, more expressive and elegant wine, the Sauvignon Blanc is still very fresh and flinty. Lime and grapefruit flavours on the nose, with fennel, herbs and a delicious oyster shell minerality through the palate. Richer and drier on the finish. For a house that’s best known for their pursuit of Pinot perfection, these two ‘21s whites are very, very good.
They also make another white – their Tribianco, and the latest release has that distinctive ‘old fashioned’ perfume that led me initially to guess that it had Muscat in the blend (it is actually Muller Thurgau). I really love the musky aromatics and lilac florals that lead to a tropical, pineapple and melon note in the palate. It’s all quite exotic, and whilst inevitably a popular choice at the Cellar door, it does warrant a spot in your fridge for when you fancy something a bit different. I also tried the Selection Pinot Noir 2020 and this should not be ignored if it crosses your path. A quintessential Wairarapa Pinot, with a bloody earthiness and a crunchy, perfumed palate filled with liquorice, raspberry and dark cherry. Good value, well crafted.
I was fortunate to try some of the premium 2020 Pinot Noir as well during the visit down south in February, but this is my first taste of the finished wines. I thought the 2019 Marion’s Vineyard Pinot Noir worthy of a 96/100 score, which is an unusually high score for me – one of only six New Zealand Pinot Noir I’ve scored that high. The full review is here > www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=5031. The 2020 edition of the wine is comparable. Dense, opulent, spicy and sweet-fruited. Look out for a fabulous mushroom earthiness as well – a delicious umami note that adds complexity and depth. It has a breezy, linear flow of acidity. A very focussed, direct wine in fact. Red fruits of cranberry, redcurrant and plum. Still tight, with a graceful lack of hurry through to a finish with length and finesse.
The Block B Pinot Noir 2020 has a focus on their Dijon clones and is a broader, more brooding expression. The nose is smoky, vibrant with damson, black cherry, blood orange and elderberry. The tannins have a grip and edginess – one criticism I would say is that those are a little unresolved as yet in this young wine. The palate is complex, rich and bloody, with a dark depth – the fruit enhanced by a bold toasted oak character – there’s a lot of boldness in this wine… it makes a statement and shows great character. The finish has amazing length, spicy and resonant.
The star of this show is undoubtedly the new Kai Pinot Noir 2016. I do say that if you have a wine named after a person, the chances are it could be pretty good – if it is going to live up to the name. No problems here. A three barrel selection that ended up being 100% Abel clone and 100% new oak. Given its title, there is no surprise that the wine has plenty of personality – another bold expression with plenty to say. Intensely aromatic, with a salvo of both complementary and contrasting fruit and savoury notes on the nose. Lilac florals, blueberry, star anise, mocha, mustard seed, cherry, macademia and mushroom. Bright with a racy acidity and firm concentration. There’s a lovely gloss to this – a polish and harmony, with a pulse of plush fruit, plenty of well-integrated oak and fine, ripe tannins. Some tapenade, black tea and roast tomato flavours emerge as the wine evolves (again, this was a little cold at first, then blooming and voluptuous a while later) and shows great depth and elegance.
A little hard on the 2019 Syrah to have to follow that. But it is a terrific wine. Syrah from the area can be superb, and this shows that in spades. You can see the same hand in the crafting of this, and with the cinnamon, clove, pepper, herbal and balsam overlay to the wine, it is actually like a spicy Pinot. Again, there is savoury to balance the lush, and an iron-earth loamy quality underlying those flavours. Generous, with supple tannin, spice and enticing acidity all neatly woven in.
One Comment on “New releases from Schubert Wines”