A pack of Kiwi’s

The Kiwi’s are in town at the moment, or at least they were last week, with several large-ish NZ wine functions all happening within the space of a few days.

What’s more interesting though is how many wine events there are focused solely on Kiwi wines here in Sydney of late. I can’t think of any region, zone or country that promotes their wines en masse as much as the New Zealand winemakers do (and do it well) and how well organised/supported such events typically are.

That’s indicative perhaps of how big a market Sydney (and Melbourne for that matter) is for the wines of NZ, but their success/patronage serves to highlight just how useful well organised ‘co-operative marketing’ can be. I’d argue that there are plenty of Australian regions that could learn from the Kiwis approach….

The wines (all tasted at relative speed, so please forgive the occasional vagueness):

Kumeu River
NZ’s best Chardonnays by a comfortable margin (though Neudorf come close). Amazing value considering the quality too.

Kumeu River Village Chardonnay 2008
A wild yeast fermented, finely oaked $20 Chardonnay? Yes please.
Serious French oak, a flick of bubblegum yeastiness on a light and sprightly nose. Rich but not fat is serious and plain extraordinary for the dollars. Buy buy buy!. 17.8/92

Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay 2007
Step up in richness of both fruit and oak over the Village wine, this is also leaner, dry and minerally with sparkling acid through the finish. Background butterscotch overtones a real treat. Delightful wine, will get even better with age. Yum. 18.3/93+

Kumeu River Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2007
Dense and firm with a funky, wild yeast edge. Very fine with such chalky depth. Viscous, layered, creamy yet still finishing dry and firm. Top shelf wine. Lovely. 18.7/95

Ant Moore Pinot Gris 2009
Pleasant. Light pear, musk and a twist of gewurtz spice. Crisp, light and simple palate is fresh and inoffensive. Little excitement. 16.7/88

Wooing Tree Pinot Rose 2009
Light, refreshing and tangy with taut acid dominating the palate. Could do with a fraction more fruit sweetness. 16.4/87

Amisfield Pinot Noir 2007
Nice wine! Loosely sappy, pine tree and strawberry perfume. Sweet, rich and quite rounded palate is particularly inviting, svelte even. Slightly stewed fruit on the finish, but still lovely stuff. 18.1/93

Vynfields Pinot Noir 2008
Big, extractive and somewhat oaky style that is unwieldy and just a bit warm, but certainly full of potential. Hold. 16.9/89++

Surveyor Thomson Pinot Noir 2007
Tight nose. Dense and quite dry. Lovely round and full strawberry red fruit palate with a notably dry end. Savoury and nicely elegant for the vintage, well balanced acidity too. Stayer. Good stuff this. 18.3/93

Wooing Tree Pinot Noir 2008
Looking a fraction closed, this is again a very pretty wine with lovely red fruit on both the nose and the palate. Finishes just a little short but lots of like here. 17.5/92

Coal Pit Pinot Noir 2006
Dry. Very dry, beetroot and tomato bush nose. Firm palate needs more flesh. Still not bad. 16.5/88

Coal Pit Pinot Noir 2007
That same dry and beetroot edged nose. Tomato bush (but not the unripe, methoxypyrazine type). Some lovely exotic spicy fruit and with some nice palate cohesion. Good tannins too. Very good. 18/93

Prophets Rock Pinot Noir 2007
Very old world. Dusty, very dusty and fruit backward nose. Dense and spicy stuff, but not for drinking now. 17/90+

Two Paddocks ‘Picnic Paddock’ Pinot Noir 2008
Very light, pretty and fleshy style. Pulls up short on the finish but no doubting the simple charm. 16.6/89

Two Paddocks Pinot Noir 2007
Light and expressive, open strawberry flesh style. Pretty and quite gently sweet. Light finish. Easy and attractive. 17.6/91

Desert Heart Pinot Noir 2007
Surprisingly light nose. Quite round and voluptuous if just a tad showy. Finishes short. At it’s absolute peak. Nice enough. 17.3/90

Ant Moore Pinot Noir 2009
Ruby coloured, citrussy nose over a sweet simple and oaky palate. Again ‘pleasant’ but lacks stuffing. 16.7/88

Escarpment Pinot Noir 2008
Such a step up in this lineup. Dense and seriously Pinotish on the nose, with a savoury and ripe palate of great natural balance. Should fan out with time in the bottle too. Nice wine. 18/93

Julicher Pinot Noir 2007
Funky, sausage meat and sap nose, palate has plenty of acid but finishes ultimately meaty, dirty and a fraction ungenerous. I wasn’t a massive fan. 15.8/86

Mount Difficulty Long Gully Pinot Noir 2008
Top wine. Classic riper style Central Otago Pinot. Dusty, red fruit and sap nose, medium bodied and well balanced palate. Tight finish but not a super long termer. Worthy. 18.5/94

Te Awa ‘Leftfield’ Syrah 2009
Slimy, polished, slippery wine that is very young and juicy with plenty of simply meaty Syrah flavours. Good quaffer this. 16.8/89

Te Mata Woodthorpe Syrah 2008
Quite a light and even pretty nose is hiding plenty. Sour, firm and quite extractive palate is thus a surprise. Citrussy acid on the finish jars a fraction. Needs more bottle time. 16.9/89

Te Awa Cabernet Merlot 2007
Blunt, oaky and backward style. Wall of oak and tannins. Needs a while in the cellar but plenty to come here. 17.2/90+

Te Mata Awatea 2008
Lovely nose. Pepper, roast beef, leafiness. Lovely. Varietally true to boot. Quite oak driven at present, maybe even a bit fat, then tightens up again through the finish. Lighter tannins this vintage, but so much to like here. I’d happily drink this. 17.7/92