Sunday, March 6, 2011

Wine Tasting: Greywacke wines

The Greywacke label is a new addition to the wines coming from NZ. Thursday at Ponti Wine Cellars wine enthusiasts had the opportunity to taste wines under this label. Kevin Judd, Greywacke wines winemaker himself, was present to introduce his new wares. He made Singapore part of his Asian tour to promote his new label.



Wine folks will know Kevin Judd through his earlier job as the first and long serving winemaker of Marlborough's award winning and well known Cloudy Bay Estate. He produced its first vintage and has been making wines there for 25 years.

Presently Kevin produces wines under his own label (year 2009 being the first vintage). We had the opportunity to taste 6 of his wines; a good range I must say. He is also known for his other interest, which is photography. He has spent some time capturing memorable facets of NZ's wine landscape.

The wines offered during this tasting were:

Greywacke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010. A classic Marlborough style with ample fruit and body in mid-palate to stand against the acidity. One finds typicity here.

Greywacke Wild Sauvignon Blanc 2009. Its a 'like it or frown-at-it' type of wine.Using wild yeast for fermentation and adopting a minimalistic winemaking approach certainly brings out a different aroma, flavour and texture profile in this wine when one attempts to compare it with the earlier SB.

Greywacke Riesling 2009. Youthful wine with good mid-body, a hint of 'petrol' and lots of lime showing on the nose, and a crisp finish.

Greywacke Pinot Gris 2009. Made with low-yield and handpicked grapes, it leans slightly towards the Alsace style of PG showing more fruits, ripeness and a hint of fruit sweetness in the finish.

Greywacke Pinot Noir 2009. Shows good red fruits in nose and palate. One is able to enjoy the fruit which shows in mid-palate before being charmed by the acidity enveloping the fruit. Still young and with a potential to show better with a few years of aging.

Greywacke Late Harvest Gewurztraminer 2009. Lovely fruits and spice slay one's nose and palate in this wine.

Unfortunately the Greywacke Chardonnay 2009 was not part of this tasting; something to look forward to in the near future I guess. The Greywacke label will certainly make a good addition to the growing number of NZ wines one can recently find in Singapore.

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