New look for Esk Valley

Villa Maria/Esk Valley/Vidal owner, Sir George, and Esk Valley winemaker, Gordon Russell, dropped around to show off the new Esk Valley label design and share some of the new release wines. The label is a great improvment on its rather old-fashioned replacement (Reserve label shown above – regular label is similar without the numbers and without the word “Winemakers” which replaces “Reserve”).

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009 was pleasingly intense although just a tad too sweaty to earn a top score from me. I particularly liked Esk Valley Verdelho ($22.99), a wine I’ve been fairly lukewarm about in the past. Quite complex, dry and with a pleasing mineral character. It was significantly better than a Spanish Verdelho opened alongside it (Valdeorras Godello 2008 Gaba do Xil – weighty but too phenolic and drying). A dry-ish Marlborough Riesling 2009 ($22.99) also impressed. Nice purity, great acidity (how do you descibe acidity that is the opposite of hard? Somehow “sweet” doesn’t quite work. The acid was quite strong but pure and taut – it made me shiver slightly and salivate gently – I liked it very much). A weighty and cleverly balanced Pinot Gris 2008 ($22.99) followed. A touch of barrel fermentation added extra interest to a rich, velvet-textured wine that Gordon describes as his best yet. I’ve always liked the Esk Chardonnay and the 2008 regular label ($22.99) didn’t disappoint although it was out-gunned by the deliciously complex Esk Valley Winemaker 2008 Chardonnay.

On to the red wines starting with a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec 2007 ($22.99) that punched well above its weight thanks to a cracker of a vintage. Very Bordeaux-like wine with dusty tannins and an attractive sappy complexity. Syrah 2007 ($22.99) was a wine that Gordon accurately describes as a “Shiraz for Pinot Noir drinkers” – a peppery, supple wine with silky tannins. There was certainly nothing Pinot Noir-like about Esk Valley Winemakers Syrah Gimblett Gravels 2007  which was as bold as its $60 price tag. This is a powerful red in a peppery Rhone-like style with masses of fruit supported by subtle, classy oak.

Esk Valley is in good shape under the enthusiastic stewardship of Gordon Russell.

Sir George (left) and Gordon Russell

Which road for the best Pinot Noir?

A group of Martinborough wineries (you never get a full complement because they’re a passionate bunch who seem to hate each other) gathered in Auckland to show their wares to the wine trade. They staged a panel tasting, complete with audience, to prove the premise that Martinborough is New Zealand’s most versatile wine region. I was one of the panelists. We reviewed 11 wines ( a curiously unbalanced number) to demonstrate that Martinborough can make a wide range of wine styles well.

The wines were (with very brief comments, sorry no scores):

Craggy Range 2008 Te Muna Sauvignon Blanc – one of the best 2008 Savvies from any region. Taut, minerally wine with subtle melon and stone fruit characters.

Vynefields 2007 Classic Dry Riesling – very pure, dry-ish (5 gms RS) Riesling with an interesting backbone of fine tannins adding to its structure.

Nga Waka 2003 Riesling – a stunner. Intense wine with strong mineral and pure kero flavours (in a nice way).

Dry River 2007 Pinot Gris – powerful, intense but subtle wine. A clear leader on the Pinot Gris game.

Margrain 2008 Pinot Gris – I liked this wine more than those around me. Bone dry, taut, subtle pear flavours and fine tannins that worked well.

Palliser Estate 2007 Chardonnay – succulent white peach and melon with subtle spicy oak. A very modern New World masterpiece.

Martinborough 2006 Chardonnay – a wine clearly modelled on white burgundy. Powerful, complex and impressive. It will be an absolute knockout in a couple of years time.

Alana 2006 Lumiere Pinot Noir – garish label, a new top-of-the-line Pinot from a winery that’s trying hard. Fine, tight, mineral, delicate and relatively austere. Really opened in the glass (worth decanting). Top stuff!

Escarpment 2006 Kupe Pinot Noir – wonderfully intense wine that achieves a peacock’s tail of many flavours on the finish. Full of fruit, spice and classy oak.

Kusuda 2006 Pinot Noir – Hiro Kusuda is the most fastidious winemaker I’ve ever met. His wines are beautifully immaculate. This wine is all about texture (which is great) although a complex array of flavours did begin to emerge after a while. Like the Alana it needs plenty of bottle age.

Ata Rangi 2006 Pinot Noir – A silken texture, powerful yet restrained fruit flavours and much more. Deservedly hailed by many as NZ’s best Pinot. No argument from me.

I was dissapointed not to see a Dry River Syrah and perhaps a good Bordeaux blend such as Benfield and Delamare 06 to drive the point of the tasting home. Yes, Martinborough can make many wine styles very well. Incidentally, according to my database of 23,000 wine ratings, Martinborough wines have a higher average score (84.32) than any other NZ wine region – they also have the highest average price ($34.44). Curiously Marlborough has the second highest average score (82.62) but is sixth highest in price ($24.57). I guess Marlborough wins on value.

Finally, which sub-district of Martinborough makes the best Pinot Noir; the original Martinborough Terraces or the cocky newcomers in Te Muna? It’s a close race but I’d still put my money on Martinborough Terraces by a very narrow margin. That could be about to change.