One of the delights of working in wine is that, as well as tasting old favourites, you get to discover new labels. They are perhaps making a couple of wines – maybe quite niche, but absolutely sensational. The sort of thing that you immediately buy a few to put away and then find yourself out the next day, opening them for friends and having the entire table raving about them… Well that’s what happened (again) this week.
Sam was assistant winemaker at Dry River with Wilco Lam, when that property (and label) was sold – and the whole crew jumped to take over the ‘On Giants’ Shoulders’ operation. I’d met Sam during a visit to Dry River in 2022 (which you can read about here > www.winefolio.co.nz/?p=6117) when we’d talked about aromatic white wines in particular. The wines he has made, and I will give some thoughts on below, are an echo of some of those Dry River wines. The whites there were always, for me, a highlight of any tasting of that label; and Sam tells me that the fruit is from the Martinborough Terrace. He admits that the Pinot Gris and Riesling is from the Dry River Craighall vineyard, but is protecting his supplier when he won’t disclose the source of his Pinot Noir.
Both wines on release now are beautifully presented – in an elegantly tall bottle, sealed with top quality (tested and guaranteed) cork that even has Harley ‘the assistant winemaker’ printed on the corks. They ensure that this little doggy picture is upright in the bottle, on every bottle. The labels are smart, arty, and suit the artisan, bespoke nature of what’s on offer here. Both wines take a long, slow ferment on their route to bottle, with the length on lees important. In fact, Sam racked the La Terre wine off the lees to avoid any further colouring of the liquid – so these are very carefully crafted and meticulous wines. Let’s take a look at them…
Samuel Mark Wines La Fleur 2022 is a Riesling-Pinot Gris co-ferment. Fruit from the Dry River Craighall Vineyard on the Martinborough Terrace was picked together, at the same time, pressed together and fermented together. Hard to put a sticker on a wine like this – I’d call it an “Aromatic, Textural White” and leave it at that. What it is made from seems a little irrelevant actually. We’re clearly looking at something Alsace-influenced. Perfumed with yellow apple, pear, cardamom, apricot, green tea, grapefruit and jasmine. Dry, with an intense, clean entry on the palate. A lovely nip of sapid astringency flows on a crystalline acidity. A hint of vegetal savouriness – carrot and sarsparilla and slatey minerality put flesh on the tight, phenolic framework. A cream and spice element works its way into the texture that then envelops the back of the palate. A fabulous new find. 94pts
Samuel Mark Wines La Terre 2022 is made from Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir co-fermented in barrel, into a white wine. Fruit from the Dry River Craighall Vineyard and another undisclosed source on the Martinborough Terrace. Hints of an ‘orange’ wine here – Sam explains something magical about reverse orange-winemaking that involves the lees? A pale green-copper-gold in the glass. Complex notes of grapefruit, dried pineapple, fennel, white cherry, mandarin, musk and granny smith on the nose. A richness of marmalade swells on the palate, tempered by a prickly tang of fruit tannin. Saline acidity gives line and length through to a pithy, drying finish of good length. 93pts
