New Zealand Rosé production has grown apace, following the global trend. Currently rosé is the fastest growing wine style domestically as well as the fourth largest export category – 2020’s export volumes were 10 times that of 2010. There’s even a dedicated Rosé Day each February. Astrolabe recently released two rather beautifully labelled examples that…
Category: IWM
Dicey : New Releases
Fans of Central Otago producer Ceres need not worry the wines have disappeared. Instead, under the new label Dicey, the pair continue to craft wines from their Bannockburn vineyards.
Greystone : new releases
North Canterbury’s Greystone, always one of NZ’s most interesting producers, has really hit its stride with the last couple of vintages. A great deal of care in the vineyard results in pristine fruit that allows winemaker Dom Maxwell to continue to evolve the style of the wines
Must try harder
Given the choice and budget, most of her friends prefer to buy one of the hard seltzers such as White Rhino instead of wine. However whilst tidying up some magazines and press releases she read out a tasting note for a newly released wine and was incredulous that a paragraph of flowery prose seemed to be the only information offered to entice a consumer to purchase.
Masters of Wine Trip 2019
” There have been more lavish trips. There have been more luxurious trips. There have been shorter trips and longer trips. There have been trips with less farting and bus drivers with slightly more interesting delivery. But I don’t think there has ever been a better trip. “
Te Whare Ra : new releases
The Flowerdays are strong advocates for organic and biodynamic farming and have worked to convert their vineyards to full organic certification. The subtle ‘SV5182’ on their estate wines references the vineyard designation number awarded by BioGro NZ.
Judging in Blois
We saw and learnt a fair bit in such a short time (not only does Touraine have around 5000 hectares of vines and is home to 650 wine producers but Mick Jagger has a home there).
Jules Taylor : new releases
The latest releases from Jules Taylor shows that, as we’ve come to expect, she excels at creating ebullient, fruit laden wines that have just the right degree of complexity and structure.
Dog Point : new releases
For a team as experienced as the Dog Pointers (surely some of the most consistently capable of hands) it would take a catastrophic upset for the wines to be anything other than excellent. So when the year’s new releases arrived from the winery there was an initial fleeting thought; “do we actually need to review these or shall we just drink them?”
Giesen Zero Alcohol Sauvignon Blanc
However the modern trend for wellfulness, coupled to health and dietary concerns seems to have created a newly burgeoning market, despite the inherent cynicism of the category.
Dry River : new releases
Long regarded as one of NZ’s icon wineries, under the direction of Chief winemaker Wilco Lam Dry River’s wines seem to have taken on a more animated character. These are not wines that walk on the wild side, and are definitely made to be cellared, but there seems to be more spirit in each bottle, the wines no longer buffed and polished within an inch of their lives.
Ata Rangi : new releases
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir regularly graces the lists of top New Zealand wines, the likely legacy of great vineyards, increasing vine age, continuity of people and the assured hand of winemaker Helen Masters. The most recent releases of the flagship estate pinot and its sibling ‘Crimson’ deliver poised and delicious but never showy wines.