Hawkes Bay
New Zealand's second largest region by plantings, with 4,500 hectares (or 20 percent of the country's total) in 2006, Hawkes Bay continues to fine-tune its Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Franc Bordeaux blends, offering some fine, fresh, pencil-shaving-nuanced examples, particularly from the Te Mata Estate. The more recent success story seems to be that of Syrah, in a cool, black pepper Northern Rhône style.
Hawkes Bay, encompassing Napier on the east coast of North Island, is New Zealand's second largest region by plantings, with 4,500 hectares (or 20 percent of the country's total) in 2006. It is led by Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (34 percent), Chardonnay (23 percent), Sauvignon Blanc (16.5 percent) and Pinot Noir (nine percent).
It boasts a diverse spread of soils, from fertile alluvial to stony dry, resulting in an array of variously-sized wineries from the small to the not-so-small; the region accounts for 12.5 percent of the country's 530 wineries, suggesting a happy balance between the two.
Hawkes Bay continues to fine-tune its Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon/Franc Bordeaux blends, offering some fine, fresh, pencil-shaving-nuanced examples, particularly from the Te Mata Estate (ie Coleraine). The more recent success story seems to be that of Syrah, in a cool, black pepper Northern Rhône style.
Prices:
Bottle
£54.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 4cs
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle
£59.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - Issue#191 Oct 2010
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
This has all the attributes to mature very well over the coming ten years, but I believe this will be at its very best in six to eight years.
Gary Owen, Fine Wine Sales Advisor
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
A rich vibrant and complex Bordeaux blend, albeit predominantly cabernet sauvignon, full of smooth supple gracious fruit with charming, ripe blackcurrant flavours. It is a big wine with plenty of muscle, but Jenny Dobson’s Bordeaux background shows in the strength of the backbone – she’s not looking for exuberant fruit. Drink 2015-2020.