These guys were one of the pioneers of the Gimblett Gravels region of Hawkes Bay, NZ. Alan Limmer, one of the two winemakers is apparently unimpressed by the screwcap seal, basically because he finds too many reductive qualities in capped wines (read sulpher dioxide characters present).
The wine is light golden in colour with a slightly green hue. Residual sugar is noticeable on the palate but probably only a little below 6g/l. Lovely floral notes & musk on the nose and a little rosewater. The palate weight is medium to heavy but lacking the driving power of its Alsatian counterparts yet charming and almost seductive. Great length, as you’d look for in gewurtztraminer, and a beautifully balanced wine. Alsatian gewurtztraminer, which is the best in the world to my experience, shows great power, bracing acidity and warming alcohol. NZ seems to me to be very tuned in to the balance between sugar and acidity but does not seem to produce noble wines near the power of Alsace, with the exception of Vinoptima & Cloudy Bay gewurtztraminers. This wine would have to be the best example of the newer, emerging style of subdued gewurtztraminer with more of a focus on delicate floral aromatics and musky mid-palates than on powerful lines and acidity. There is a lovely fresh citrus finish to the wine that I dig, most probably because it’s unexpected but not out of the rulebook. Lovely roundness on the palate met by the necessary supplement of acidity on the finish, which put my mind at ease.
In sum, a lovely wine recommended but not without some thought. It’s a wine that the masses will dig without thought but offers enough complexity in its floral and powdery array of flavours to entice my fellow wine freaks.
I reckon when you decide to start publishing tasting notes on the web that you have to decide what sort of a wine writer you want to be: a critic, always pointing out the shortcomings and being excited only by the quest for the perfect wine; or a fan of wine, who enjoys the good stuff you find in every wine. I want to be the latter so let me point out that this is by far one of the most enjoyable whites i’ve had in the last month.
OK, that’s it for my first online tasting note. I like this wine and would definitely buy it for less than $50. If you see it in a shop you should buy it.
