(2023) Quite quiet and reserved in this vintage but obvious intensity. The fruity aromas are gently ripe and hinting at creaminess of peach and mango, fennel-like, herbal nuances. Lovely palate, the lemon and peach combination gives lusciousness and decisive punch. Good length, very harmonious and promising. Bottled inSeptember 2021 after a year in barrel and five months in bottle. pH 3.16, acidity 6.3 g/l.
(2022) A new vintage of Cloudy Bay's iconic Sauvignon Blanc is always eagerly awaited, and luckily for fans, this 2002 nicely reflects the quality of the vintage. The nose opens with a surge of exotic fruit: mango, guava and lychee, fused with elderflower and a little herbaceous green bean, but all integrated and harmonious. The palate has a full texture and plenty of weighty fruit concentration, a mouth-watering pink grapefruit core of keen acidity balancing nicely. You cannot deny the quality here.
(2022) If a mad New Zealand scientist crossed a grapefruit, a lime, and a peach, the result might well be this Grüner from Riverby. There is a hint of mineral salts and white pepper on the nose, but it's the sheer, mouth-watering and citrus-fresh decisiveness of the palate that is an absolute delight. Standby for the punch and verve of this firecracker wine, a banker for shellfish and seafood.
(2022) The Riverby name does not appear on the label here, because Riverby Estate releases wines purely made with fruit from it's own vineyards, whereas the Gewürztraminer for this wine is purchased. I alway enjoy this wine, and the 2022 does not disappoint. It's a very classic expression of Gewurz aromatically, showing lychee and a just a glimpse of old rose perfume, but the Marlborough sunshine adds an extra brightness and zip to the aromatics. On the palate it is medium-bodied but has a rolling texture, a hint of sweetness, and a bit of dried fruit character, the mango and lychee sweetness subsumed in good levels of acidity. Concentrated and intense on the finish.
(2022) Well, this is the best vintage yet for this wine in my opinion. Despite the 14% alcohol suggesting full ripeness, there's a flinty, stony minerality on the nose, but creamy oatmeal and succulent, ripe pear and citrus too. The palate echoes all of that; sharp, zesty and mineral, but a burgeoning sense of nectarine ripeness smoothed by oatmeal. Orange and grapefruit add so much zest through the finish. A great effort. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas.
(2022) From the cooler Awatere Valley, this is barrel fermented, around half the barrels wild fermented, and it spends 11 months in barrel on lees. Mint humbug notes, beauitfully ripe fruit, with juiciness and a peachy character, lots of zest too, a racing orange and grapefruit character. Sparky in the finish, a beautifully defined wine where the cooler Awatare conditions helps that fresh and saline finish. pH: 3.2, Acidity 6.7, RS: 0.5g/l.
(2022) From dozens of Marlborough wines tasted from the 2020 harvest there is no doubt it's a top vintage, rightly being touted as such. This lovely Sauvignon is much more about ripe and juicy peach and nectarine than anything more aggressively herbaceous, with just a background hint of elderflower and gooseberry. In the mouth that ample juiciness of fruit continues, but the thrust of pink grapefruit and Seville orange sharpens the whole picture up into a dry, and long, finish. Mouth-watering and excellent.
(2022) Most of the 70% Sauvignon Blanc component was fermented in steel, with small proportion of the Sauvignon and all of the Semillon fermented and matured in new French oak for eight months. In bottle now for almost eight years, this is cracking stuff, still herbal, grassy, vibrant and vivacious, there's a sense of exotic and opulent passion fruit, but the palate streaks with limey, textured creaminess. Plenty of zesty acidity slices through the finish in a lovely wine, akin to a white Bordeaux, but with the expressive dial turned up to 11 - and no hurry to drink either.
(2022) Always a delightfully well-balanced Chardonnay, this has only 12 5% alcohol. It is fermented in French oak (25% new), spending an additional 12 months in oak with regular lees stirring. Mealy and gently honeyed on the nose, there's a touch of hazelnut and biscuit, and a ripe fruitiness beneath. There's a very nicely judged flinty quality too, that is also evident on the palate, giving extra freshness. Along with lemony acidity that gives decisive bite to the sweet, fleshy peach fruit. What a lovely wine once again.
(2022) Part of the Riverby range, but not carrying the Riverby Estate label because it is not made from estate-grown fruit. Its a tremendously decadent wine, heady with winter jasmine, lychee and Turkish delight aromas, then full, oily and rich on the palate. The flavours have that exotic profile, nectarine, mango, a bittersweet kumquat or blood orange, then a resounding blast of acidity that brings this to a dry, mouth-coating finish.