KWFC Greatest New Zealand Wines from the Past Decade

Ten years ago Kiwi Wine Fan Club was invented almost as a joke on the spare of the moment one evening as I participated in the online Wine Lovers Discussion Group chat evening. Who knows why I was there but I was super keen to learn as much as possible about the world of wine.

Over the following decade there were countless wines that we enjoyed. Above all that there were the wines that stopped time for just a second and made you realise why so many people search and obtain the world’s greatest wines. It is quite possible I have forgotten some wines that should be in this list of the greatest New Zealand wines I have drunk. It is more than probable that we simply never crossed paths with examples that could have done the job also. But hey we are all aware of the failings of a subjective rating. That as a caveat, it is fun to see what various people think

The below then is my attempt to assemble a selection of New Zealand wines that are simply the best of the best of the best. They embody both stellar quality and are iconic benchmarks (or at least they have the potential to do so in the due course of time in the case of the younger picks)

1996 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Although the star of Cloudy Bay may have dimmed a little lately with challenges from a new wave of Sauvignon Blanc producers, this is without doubt in my mind this is the greatest Sauvignon Blanc ever made in New Zealand. Not only was it a truly sublime Sauvignon Blanc but also it was a truly great white wine. Sauvignon Blanc struggles, I think, to put all the attributes in the bottle to create a great wine, especially one that holds and improves over the years. Although my last bottle is well and truly drunk, I wouldn’t be surprised if this wine if well stored is still alive and well today. It is pure genius. Perhaps if one wine had to be chosen to represent the New Zealand wine industry it should be 1996 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc in the same way that Australia regards 1990 Penfolds Grange.

2007 St Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. If the baton of New Zealand’s greatest Sauvignon Blanc has been passed from Cloudy Bay, one must assume that St Clair has it now in its hand. The Wairau Reserve label is the pinnacle of this sublime Sauvignon Blanc vintage and the 2007 vintage is perhaps its most stellar achievement. The purity, varietal expression and restrained class gives this wine a formality and presence about it that makes most other Sauvignon Blanc’s look brash and clumsy.

1996 Dry River Gewurztraminer. In my mind daylight is second when considering New Zealand’s best Gewurztraminer. The 1996 vintage once again hailed a great white wine. It was a concentrated, precise and compact wine. Despite this it still managed a gorgeous opulence as well. Weight and layered flavours cascade through the mouth. Despite challenges from the likes of Vinopima, Stonecroft, and Johaneshof , few would argue that Dry River has held number one spot with this variety forever. The 2008 Arapof would tend to indicate it is not ready to give up that mantle yet.

2007 Gibbston Valley Le Fou Riesling. Perhaps I am over rating this wine because it is so recently in my mind, but thinking over the story of Riesling it has dawned on me what massive progress has been made in New Zealand with this variety. I am especially thinking of the Spatlese styled wines flooding out of Marlborough, Waipara, Canterbury and Central Otago. Le Fou optimises the direction being taken. Many are taking the flavours first introduced by the likes of Pegasus Bay and are building more elegant and refined renditions of this style. We are in exciting Riesling times. Happy days!

2005 Fromm La Strada Riesling (Spatlese). Drop dead gorgeous Spatlese Riesling. Could any vintage of this wine have equally taken this spot? This is a very individual wine with its apple toned flavours, deep texture, subtlety and restraint. It is an amazing wine which we buy every year.

2006 Kumeu River Mates Chardonnay. Kumeu River has long made wines that are apart from the styles of the crowd. Elegance, definition and concentration is coupled with sensitive oak handling to produce one of the finest white wines in New Zealand. The 2006 was a sensational year for this winery. The Chardonnays were spectacular. Leading the charge was the flagship bottling ‘Mates’. It is such a multi faceted wine with reserved richness and careful detail. It screams out class, aristocracy and style.

1994 Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay. People need to understand that this is New Zealand’s greatest chardonnay label. The power, concentration and style of Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay would be more widely known if the production level was a little more helpful. However for the quick it is readily obtainable on release from the winery. Although many great vintages have come and gone I still remember being blown away by the 1994 vintage. Words cannot describe. Wine doesn’t get better. The current 2007 vintage is easily worthy of this illustrious label too. No doubt the 1994, indeed if any still exist, is past its prime. However the 2007 is a good substitute for a new age.

2005 John Forrest Collection Noble Riesling. Although the man who made this wine disagrees, pointing more to his Forrest Botytised Riesling, I see shades of great Sauternes in this wine. I see it in terms of its gorgeous icing sugar texture which I have only really experienced in the pinnacle of sweet wines. JFC is fresh, restrained and elegant. It is not as powerful or as seemingly sweet as many New Zealand dessert wines and it exudes class. This is a sensational, gorgeous and seductive drink.

1996 Martinborough Vineyards Reserve Pinot Noir. New Zealand makes some excellent Pinot Noir, but in my opinion very few bottles I have tried over the last decade can be considered truly great. This label however sits in that category. Although only made for four vintages, you could argue three of them deserve consideration when debating New Zealand’s greatest ever Pinot Noir. Flavours of red and black plum were typical with these wines. Finely boned and tautly structured maturing and improving with age. Well stored the 1994, 1996 and 1998 are all 10 year+ wines. They were rare, and now even more so. We do look back on them with salivation. mention must also go to Ata Rangi who have produced some outstanding Pinot Noir over the last decade including the stellar, and still available, 2006 vintage.

2000 Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir. Outside of Martinborough this is probably my pick as the greatest New Zealand Pinot Noir I have ever drunk. Granted I drank it after several years careful cellaring giving it time to evolve to its zenith. However the results were spellbinding. Felton Road continues to lead the way for Central Otago. There are many of their Pinot Noirs that could no doubt challenge this spot; Block 3, Block 5 and now Cornish Point. I must also give mention to Gibbston Valley whose fantastic Reserve wine from various vintages pushed for a spot.

1995 Esk Valley Terraces. A blend of Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc, the mythical Esk Valley Terraces has for a long time been one of New Zealand’s greatest wines only made now in the very best Hawkes Bay vintages. Most of the vintages are fantastic being supremely rich and generous with gobs of smooth black fruit. The 1995 is a little different. As the earliest picked vineyard in the Hawkes Bay, the fruit for this wine was well off the vines before the problematic end of vintage rain which caused some other makers to struggle. One of the characteristics of this vintage was the more red fruited nature of the wines. Another emerging characteristic is the vintages performance in the cellar. When winemaker Gordon Russell was recently married he told me this was the chosen celebration wine. I too rate this vintage my favourite even above the richer wines of 1998, 2000 and 2002. It is likely if well stored that it still has a decade of life still in it.

2005 Puriri Hills Pope. This is perhaps the latest New Zealand cult Bordeaux styled wine. Pope is sensational. It is finely boned, endlessly complex and refined. It certainly is aristocratic, individual and laden with potential. We haven’t seen the best of this label yet, but what’s the use in looking into the past entirely. Let’s take a gamble, put the neck out and predict this wine will define fine red wine in New Zealand in a decade’s time. It is getting more and more expensive but if you took note of our fine original tip off you would be somewhat happier.

2000 Providence Private Reserve. A list such as this would be boring without something a little left field. Providence is a rather reclusive Matakana winery which was, with Antipodean, the flash point for the whole regions growth. Although this label is basically now never seen in New Zealand, and the prices are incredibly steep, its hard to avoid the fact that the wine is magnificent. It combines elegance with plump, velvety incredibly sweet fruit. It certainly is luxury, and in the glass it is luxury defined.

1991 Te Mata Coleraine. If a debate about New Zealand’s greatest red wine does not include considering seriously this wine then the discussions participants are incompetent or unlucky not to have tried it. It is and expansive, concentrated and multifaceted claret styled red with immense cellaring potential. If well stored this wine is easily alive today and perhaps still has over five years still in the sun. An even more complete wine than the 1995 to which it has similarities, it simply is the most authoritive Coleraine I have tried. I hope one day to try this wine again, although my personal cellar grieves without one. This wine is an absolute classic.

1998 Te Mata Coleraine. We have had to be incredibly patient with all of the 1998 Cabernet based reds from the Hawkes Bay. Argument over whether they were over ripe and would fall over seems unfounded for most labels. 1998 Coleraine is incredibly slow in developing, it is still youthful. The glass floods with dark purple and the palate packed with pure dark primary fruit. It is clear though that in ten or even twenty years time, this wine will be delighting those with the foresight to purchase it. Tightly wound and compact this is a classic in the making from the Hawkes Bay’s most famous vintage. It is also a wine that is now in heavy demand on the secondary market as its lore is widely understood. Only a fool sells it.

1996 Stonyridge Larose. I have picked the 1996 only just ahead of the great 1994 and promising 1999 only because of my more recent experience with it. Stonyridge Larose is an absolutely iconic wine which now commands some silly prices in some places. The 1996 is a complete wine, elegant but generous, seductive but serious. The complexity is endless and the breed and class of this wine is apparent from the first whiff through to the silky refined tannins on the finish. Stonyridge is recognised for the ripeness they enable to attain with their fruit. A great vintage displays fine velvety fruit and tannins with subtle earthiness and ripe lavender like complexity. It is great wine, a very great wine. I would drop anything for a glass of this.

1998 Montana Tom. Although it was not necessary to spend anywhere near its $100+ price tag to secure a great 1998 Hawkes Bay red (a magnum of 1998 Coleraine was the same price), it is fair however to say this was a bloody impressive wine. Some may argue that the 2000 or 2002 vintages are better, but to me this vintage embodies all that the 1998 vintage is famous for; plum dark fruit, soft warm tannins and approachability. I haven’t tried the 1998 for a long time now but my feeling is that it would be drinking fantastically now. It is also actually still obtainable if you know where to look.

2002 Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah. Although presently this wine is concentrated, bold and closed I chose it over the more obviously brilliant 2006 Trinity Hill Homage and 2006 Bilancia La Collina. Firstly this represents I feel the greatest rendition of size and power ever put together in New Zealand. It is dark, structured and it will be incredibly long lived. I would expect this wine to cruise for another 15 years. I am sure then it will be considered one of New Zealand’s very great wines.

2006 Trinity Hill Homage Syrah. For those more in love with texture and subtlty over the Power and concentration of the Le Sol, this is the one for you. A stunning soft, seductive and fragrant wine with endless complexity and interest. Class in a glass, and still available. People who haven't tried this wine critisise the price. People who do try this wine fall in love.

1998 Vidal Joseph Soler Cabernet Sauvignon. 1998 was one vintage where 100% Cabernet Sauvignon made a brief comeback as a result of extremely warm temperatures. Church Road and Brookfields both made outstanding wines in this mould but the Vidals must rate as the best 100% New Zealand Cabernet Sauvignon made in recent times. This is a freakish wine, black, varietal and expressive. You may argue that it only reaches the level attained by top Australian makers year in and year out, but it is such an enigma and a great wine to serve blind to an Australian buff. It was expensive and as a result even though this was a small production wine it is still available in retail for pretty much the release price.