After making wine for several high-quality producers in NZ and Australia since 2006, and a 2011 vintage in Vosne Romanee, Burgundy, winemaker Marc Udy finally took the plunge and followed his dream to start his own label – m.a.u wines – in 2021 with partner Camilla. A small vineyard in Clevedon, Auckland became available – so Marc has started making a couple of wines from there. But also using his connections from his time making wines for Villa Maria in Marlborough, he has a couple of ‘Southern Clays’ wines from the Cowley vineyard.
The Pink Ensemble Rosé 2022 is mostly Merlot, with a dash of Malbec and Cabernet Franc in the mix – from the dry-farmed Clevedon site. Hand-picked and whole bunch fermented, but also held on its gross lees pre-fermentation, it has a freshness of acidity and plenty of personality from some grippy phenolics. Pale and very dry, although it is a ‘serious’ rosé there’s enough red berry fruitiness to have appeal across the board.
Marc makes five barrels of the Basket Case Southern Clays Chardonnay 2021, with a wild fermentation travelling slow and cool that strangles the malo, and keeps a check on unwanted reductive flavours. There is a noticeable flintiness to the nose, but it disperses on the palate and there’s no sense of it in the finish. Complex – a wine that takes you on a journey from that struck-match citrus perfume, through a juicy but savoury edge to the palate, and with a great line of acidity, into a dry, richer finish.
Continuing the naming on labels – Basket Case Southern Clays Pinot Noir 2021 is quite a big wine. A degree of extraction meets up with some whole bunch and whole berry, to show aromatics that are bold, dark and yet have a lift of floral prettiness on the nose. As a fan of tannin (and – to some extent – good oak in a Pinot) I find quite a bit to like in the depths of this brooding wine – the old ‘iron fist in velvet glove’ analogy definitely applies here. Modern Pinot Noir comes in many forms and styles, and it is good to see a version like this for the old school.
A selection of those varietals from the rosé also appears as a full-blooded Basket Case Clevedon Field Blend 2021 red wine in the range. All three were fermented together and see time in 3-year old oak to come together into a really characterful, and I guess you would say Bordeaux-style wine. Lots of dried herb and spice on the nose. Very dry and has that minerally iron-earth tang that I pick up in something like a Gimblett Gravels Syrah for example. This is also very good, with excellent ageing possibilities.
I talk to Marc about my only question about the wines…what’s inside the bottle doesn’t quite gel with me on the labels. There’s some serious wine in my glass here, but the cartoon-drawing style of the labels doesn’t communicate this to me. I worry that they won’t have shelf appeal at $50 retail. If someone tastes the wine – of course – they get it, but a casual browser is not going to think – here is a fine wine, when seeing the front label. At contrast to this is the rest of the packaging – good bottle shape and a cork with a bright wax seal.
However – and I’m delighted to hear this – Marc has an explanation. Decisions like labelling need to have some thought and reasoning behind them – and this is absolutely the case here. He wanted to get away from that corporate winemaking life and feel, and reflect that in his product – hand-made, left of centre and a bit ‘basket case’ – like his own personality. A little bravery in this regard could pay off handsomely. As I often say – you want to be a product that a few people ‘absolutely love’, rather than one that everyone thinks ‘is OK’.
