I recently had an email exchange with a Waitaki Valley vigneron whom I have known for more than a decade.
He politely, but firmly, castigated me for the lack of coverage of the Waitaki region - I had to admit that I was guilty on all counts.
Rather than pin my photo to dart boards in their vineyard smoko rooms, the local vignerons cheerfully offered to help me gain a greater understanding of the wines of the region, and thus, a focus on the Waitaki began.
I'm excited about the journey.
Price: $22 (cellar door)
Rating: Excellent
Attractive nose of white flowers, gum and apricot. Ripe fruit floods the mouth leading with apple and apricot; spiced honey adding depth to the finish. Nicely balanced, with some crisp acidity bringing freshness and brightness to the long and appealing close.
Rather delicious and moreish.
Price: $39
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
The nose leads with pear, white flowers, grilled nuts and a hint of yoghurt. A richly textural and supple palate offers a raft of flavours: pear, pear drops, musk, cashew nut, warm baguette, apricot kernel and a touch of spice.
Quite different, not mainstream, yet fascinating and draws you back again and again.
Price: $35
Rating: Very good
Evident richness here, showing notes of bottle age and caramel. The secondary characters evident on the palate with caramel, cooked spiced apple, honeyed tropical notes, pear and green herb notes. Texturally rich and quite different with its secondary characters, yet with lots of interest.
Drink now.
Price: $30 (cellar door)
Rating: Very good
Attractively fruit-driven nose with pear, ripe peach, tropical fruit and a nutty influence. Full in the mouth with nice texture; while the nose suggests some sweetness this is quite dry with a bracing surge of acidity creating a sweet/sour counterpoint with grapefruit elements on the close.
Probably best with food.
Price: $22 (cellar door)
Rating: Good to very good
Floral nose with notes of lychee, boiled sweets and spiced pears. A cooler mouthfeel, relatively mellow and vinous with background hints of green herbs, greengage plum and nuts.
Clean as a whistle, crisp and just off dry this offers easy drinking, though just a little underpowered.
Price: $25
Rating: Excellent
Opens to notes of toffee apple with florality and pear scents joining in. The palate adds fruit sherbet, citrus and ripe apple to the toffee element, aligning nice, textural richness with real freshness.
Fruit sweetness and lovely flavours here finishing crisply off-dry.
Very appealing drinking.
