Awards & Reviews

...Typical ripe tropical fruit on the nose leads to a quite atypical palate. A portion of the wine was fermented in old barrels and while the alcohol is quite high, acids are low. The resultant wine has a gentle start, a mouth-filling complex palate and a long, interesting finish. The sort of wine the French would like to make.

Hugh Wood - Hamilton Press (Oct 2003)

This interesting wine was sourced from 57% Marlborough and 43% Hawke's Bay grapes and is also fermented in French oak. The blend of grapes adds some amazing flavours and the oak influence gives it some longevity. It has strong tropical flavours and a crisp finish.

Patrick Caudle - Kapiti News (21 May 2003)

... toasty grassy aromas with hints of passionfruit, citrus and melon. Its rich and full-bodied with a mealy yeasty character too a touch of hokey pokey on the rich, ripe finish.

Sue Courtney - Montana Tasting, wineoftheweek.com (13 Jan 2003)

(17) Pale lemon, a lovely colour. Bouquet is a bit to one side in this bracket of [Sauvignon Blanc] wines, showing oak fairly prominent, plus a faintly rubbery undertone, both of which stand out against the sparkling varietal purity of the top wines. Nonetheless it is clearly sauvignon. Flavours improve on the bouquet, with the wine sweetly fruited, quite rich and long-flavoured, and the oak now well-hidden in the mixed capsicum and peachy varietal fruit. Barrel fermentation and lees autolysis have built up body in this wine so much, it is hard to tell what the residual sweetness is - higher than the standard Montana, but still 'dry'. It is certainly rich, and the generosity of flavour will appeal to many people. Cellar 5-10.

Geoff Kelly - RegionalWines (Jan 2003)

Wine of the Month
It has to be said that the winemakers at this Hawke's Bay winery are extremely talented. And they are now using Marlborough grapes for this wine, which is gorgeously drinkable and packed with textural qualities stretching the wine out to a long, satisfyling, well-balanced finish. It is modern in style with all the hallmark notes of instantly recognizable and, in this case ripe Marlborough grapes.

Joëlle Thomson - Grocer's Review (Dec 2002)

****½ ... It's a weighty, smooth, full-flavoured wine with well-ripened fruit characters and a clear emphasis on delicacy, complexity and texture. Drink: 2003+

Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines, 2003

Q****/V***½ There is a bit of Marlborough-style pungency on the nose, but it's unusually gentle. The flavour profile is smooth, broadly focused and very appealing. It's hard to identify particular fruit associations, but that's not the point. It goes well with chicken fricassee - remember that? Drink: now-3 years.

Vic Williams - The Penguin New Zealand Wine Guide 2003

A Marlborough / Hawke's Bay blend, partially barrel-fermented. There are pineapple and passionfruit aromas and flavours, gentle herbaceousness, and soft acids. Interesting, drinker-friendly wine.

Graeme Barrow - Daily Post (Nov 2002)