Dog Point
It has been a magnificent month for exciting new wines from New Zealand. First, the Taste of New Zealand Wine Fair rumbled into town with more than the usual number of worthwhile new labels. Then I caught up with a couple of the most respected figures in the industry - winemaker James Healy and viticulturist Ivan Sutherland, both recently departed from day jobs at Cloudy Bay vineyard - to taste the wines from their impressive new venture, Dog Point.
First, my picks of the fair. Te Mata is not a new name - the wines from this top Hawkes Bay estate have been imported for a few years - but a pair of recently shipped 2002 reds really stood out. The 2002 Woodthorpe Syrah/Viognier starts out quite pongy, like a dusty cow shed, but opens up with air to reveal a very pretty, floral, spicy wine. The 2002 Bullnose Syrah travels in the other direction, starting fragrant and elegant, and then revealing some undergrowth and funk as it sits in your glass.
James Healy and Ivan Sutherland's Dog Point vineyard is close to Terra Vin. Though most of their crop has been sold to Cloudy Bay for years, from the 2002 vintage on the pair began making small batches of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot to release under their own label.
The Dog Point wines are made using different techniques from those adopted at Cloudy Bay. The yields are lower, and the fermentations are all spontaneous. In the case of the whites, this means pressing the juice straight into barrel and waiting for up to ten days before fermentation kicks off, then having the confidence to let that fermentation tick over slowly, sometimes for months.
The results are exceptional. In ascending order of preference, the 2002 Dog Point Pinot Noir is dark, forest-fruity, succulent and tangy. The 2002 Chardonnay is restrained, savoury-smelling but impressively concentrated and rich in the mouth. The 2002 Section 94 (100 per cent sauvignon blanc) is quite different from your usual Marlborough savvy. Subtle yet complex, with ethereal hints (rather than huge, in-your-face dollops) of passionfruit, it has a superbly satisfying, concentrated, minerally and grape-pulpy texture in the mouth.
Max Allen