2009 Alluviale Red Wine

Michael Cooper - listing in 'Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2012'

A great buy. The 2009 vintage, blended from Merlot (63 per cent), Cabernet Franc (23 per cent) and Cabernet Sauvignon (14 per cent), was grown at two sites in the heart of the Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay, and matured for 16 months in French oak barriques (40 per cent new). Boldly coloured, it is ripely scented and mouthfilling, with fresh, rich flavours showing lovely concentration of pure blackcurrant, plum, spice and nut flavours, hints of herbs and dark chocolate, and buried, fine-grained tannins. A sexy, savoury, Merlot-dominant style, it's a steal at $33.

2009 Alluviale Red Wine

Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate, eRobertParker.com #197, Oct 2011
93+

A blend of 63% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc and 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon was aged for 16 months in French oak, 40% new. Deep garnet-purple in color, it gives moderate to intense aromas of ripe plums and mulberries, dark chocolate, spice cake and licorice, with hints of dried leaves and menthol. Medium to full bodied, it has a good backbone of high acid and firm, fine-grained tannins fleshed out by mouth-filling rich fruit. The finish is long and spicy. Approachable now, it should drink best 2012 to 2021+.

2009 Alluviale Red Wine

Michael Cooper, The Listener (www.listener.co.nz/author/michael-cooper)
Included in Michael Coopers 100 must try New Zealand Wines.
Wine of the Week and 5 stars, Listener Aug-Sept 2011

The best buy of the lot. This merlot-dominant blend is sturdy, with pure blackcurrant-like flavours, hints of dark chocolate, plum, spice and nuts, and a seductive roundness and richness.

2009 Alluviale Red Wine

Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz

The Alluviale Bordeaux-blend has quickly become one of the most consistent labels from Hawke's Bay. Since taking over the brand from Blake Family Vineyards, David Ramonteu and Kate Galloway have made it a success. While dallying with Sauvignon Blanc in various guises and releasing two spectacular 'Dada' wines, the core of what they do is the red blend, and the benefits are for the consumer at large. Here is the review of the 2009 wine, from another fine Hawke's Bay vintage.

A blend of 63% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc and 14% Cabernet Sauvignon from two sites on Gimblett Road, fermented to 14.0% alc., then aged 16 months in French oak barriques. Dark, deepish, purple-hued ruby-red in colour, this has an elegant band gently expressed nose redolent of redcurrants from the Cabernet Franc component and warm, dark red berry and plum aromas, complexed by spicy, savoury, earth nuances and sour cherries, typical of Merlot. A full, open-styled wine with lush dark-red berry fruit and plum flavours, the accessible sweet fruitiness is firmed up by supple, rounded, fine-grained tannins. Soft and plump, this has sufficient structure to see it age 6-8+ years.

Serve with pork, lamb and beef dishes. 18.0-/20 Apr 2011

2009 Alluviale Red Wine

Robert Geddes MW reviews the Gimblett Gravels 2009 Annual Vintage Selection in his July 2011 newsletter, including Alluviale Red Wine.

To read more, click here

2009 Alluviale Red Wine

From Raymond Chan's Wine Reviews site:

The quality of Gimblett Gravels wines was reaffirmed in the June 2011 masterclass held in Hong Kong for media, trade and collectors from Hong Kong and mainland China, led by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW.

Eight 2008 vintage classed growth clarets including all five First Growths were served alongside eight 2009 Gimblett Gravels blended reds as selected in May 2011 by Perrotti-Brown, including our Alluviale Red Wine.

To read more, click here

2008 Alluviale Red Wine

Gourmet Traveller Wine August September 2010
NZ Bordeaux Style – Top 12 – Bob Campbell; 91pts, 4 stars

There has been a string of good wines released under this relatively new label but this is one of the best. Quite intense yet elegant wine with ripe berry flavours supported by classy oak. Attractive sweet fruit is gently restrained by firm, fine tannins.  It's appealing now but has moderate cellaring potential and is excellent value.

2008 Alluviale Red Wine

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit August 2010
93, 5 stars

From the Gimblett Gravels district, this is a blend of 55% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc. Matured in French oak barriques (90% new) for 16 months. It's ripe and fragrant on the nose displaying dark plum, cassis, spice and cedary oak characters. The palate is concentrated and succulent showing a smooth mouthfeel and fine, chalky tannins. The wine is opulent and generously flavoured yet firmly structured and integrated for graceful development. At its best: now to 2018. $14.5% Screw cap.

2008 Alluviale Red Wine

Wine of the Week, 5 stars - Michael Cooper, New Zealand Listener May 8-14 2010

This Hawke's Bay red is dark and finely fragrant, with deep blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, deliciously rich and rounded. A five-star wine at a four-star price.

2007 Alluviale Red Wine

Jancis Robinson - 'Hidden treasure in Hawke's Bay' 27 Nov 2009

Rod Easthope, winemaker at Craggy Range in New Zealand with quite a bit of South African winemaking experience under his belt, brought a few intriguing bottles over from Hawke's Bay on his recent short visit to London. 'I want to shatter Hawkes Bay's conventional wine image'. Chardonnay is the most consistent performer across the region. Whereas with reds they really only excel in distinct pockets: free draining gravels and the odd sun baked slope. Though instead of showing me Chardonnays, he chose a particularly eclectic line-up of whites.

Some of the Sauvignons he showed me confirmed a trend I have discerned among Sauvignon Blanc makers around the world. I sense that more and more of them are tiring of the standard intensely aromatic, unoaked Marlborough style and are seeking to make less pungent but more complex, denser, drier, longer-lasting examples, rather more like Pessac-Léognan, in fact. He had just been in the US and reported that he'd seen a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc for as little as $4.99 there in this period post the gluts of 2008 and 2009 harvests. I asked him how things were in Gisborne after Montana's dramatic cutback in purchases there. 'Poor Gisborne's in dire straits', he said, 'with about about a third of growers without contracts because they used to supply the additional 15% from outside the region that's allowed in wines labelled Marlborough'.

As for the reds he showed me, the point was to show just how good Hawke's Bay Syrah can be, even though the region is more famous for red bordeaux tastealikes (see Gimblett Gravels v Bordeaux). He succeeded.

Approximate retail prices are given with UK retailers or importers and US importers.

BORDEAUX VARIETIES

Alluviale Merlot/Cabernet Franc 2007 Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay
17.5 Drink 2009-14

Easthope thinks this is the only 'off Broadway' bordeaux blend producer worth showing, the guy who also made Dada. Mark Blake of Redd Gravels did high-end Gimblett Gravels wine and sold the label to Ramonteau. Lots more new oak than Craggy - 90%. Very lively nose - quite peppery, even slightly reminiscent of Syrah! Then very sweet and succulent red bordeaux sort of nose. Lovely polish. Nice gentle stuff. Soft tannins and always approachable. Just very slightly tarry on the finish but very good. Someone really should import this stunning wine!

2007 Alluviale Red Wine

Gold medal at 2009 Royal Easter Show Wine Awards