Having recently encountered Maria O'Riordan from Seifried's of Nelson Bay I reflected on how much had passed through our brief discussion. The oldest of the South Islands family owned wineries, Seifried's best known for their Sweet Anges Riesling which has gobbled up awards left right and centre. What is undoubtedly more interesting about this family range is the quality and variety of whites they present. Playing with three levels, the Rabbit Island, Old Coach Road, and flagship range "Seifried"
(They do have a fourth tier, consisting of only one wine the Aonatea, a Sauvignon Blanc that for just over half the cost of Cloudy Bay offers a fabulous wine not too far off the "boutique" giant) .
Empty's first encounter of the range happened occurred purely by chance, having been offered samples by a rep, and surprisingly not a Sauvignon but a Gewürztraminer. More surprising about this wine was the quality it offered, winning our best white of 2011 award in the Blueberries. Better again was the next experience was the stumbling upon back vintage Rieslings from 2003, a Pinot Noir from 2002. With these two encounters was the proof that the wines we were handling were not only fantastic young wines but presented with great ability to age and develop. It was the ageing ability of these wines that would begin the conversation. A slight light ignited within her as the topic of the back vintages came up, and her tone jumped a pitch with excitement and her lively reaction following my own thoughts that "It's fascinating to see how they respond to bottle age". Our chat continued to the Rieslings, I offered question on the difference in ageing style to Germanic style Rieslings, "They have the same residual sugar, yet they follow a more critic flavour and nose than the German counterparts". Continuing the topic of the winemaker arose "We are so lucky to have Hermann, he grew up with wine all around him". We tippled away at the history of the vineyard, and it's claim to being the Southern Islands oldest family vineyard (INFO ON HISTORY).
Pushed for time we quickly ran through the wines. Hitting upon the Pinot Gris, which was by no means a write as I had expected. A fantastic wine to which Maria smiled in politely in agreement, the quality of the wine was fantastic with great acidity "It's built to age" clearly noting my surprise. The flagship range was closely followed by the Rabbit Island Pinot Gris which at €10 was a fantastic offering, mimicking the Sauvignon yet distinctly more interesting and grassy. Dicussing the wine and how markets had taken to it Maria added thought "While in the trade we all look to Alsace, the public has never been too keen, the German AC names creating confusion, and that's what we have on our side, people are trying our examples and they are loving them". To me the style was indeed wooing and it seems the terroir of NZ combined with Nelsons micro-climates the variety seems to be preforming at a fantastic level.
The Sauginon's were great examples of NZ Sauv Blanc as would be expected- they were however somewhat more price friendly. Avoiding lingering on these we moved on to the Guner Veltliner which had only the previous day offered a head turner to even the likes of Mary Gaynor at the master class that was run at the New Zealand Wine Fair. A real treat, it offered a wine that is only being held back by vine age, watch this spot these wines will be fantastic gems in 4-5 years and offer a nice change right now, to quote Ms Gaynor "what the world desperately needs is another grape variety".
Pushed by time the quick chat ended, thanks to Maria and Martin Fagan of Classic Drinks. Below is a quick run through of our top 5 wines we tasted from Seifreids.
Rabbit Island, Sauvignon Blanc
great balance, good acidity, more restrained than many NZ sauvignons. If you like them, this is a top quality example.
Price: €9.99
Value: 4.5
Rabbit Island, Pinot Gris
Good Acidity and interesting grassy notes, for only €10 an excellent wine.
Price: €9.99
Value: 4.5
Seifried, Gewürztraminer
Interesting, delightful, our favourite white of 2011 too. Flawless wine.
Price: €14.95
Value: 4
Sweet Anges Riesling
Good balance, by far one of finest dessert wines on the Irish market, if you haven't tried it shame on you and you should promptly rectify this
Price: €18.00
Value: 4
Seifried, Pinot Gris
My favourite wine of the lot, interesting, fresh, amazing acidity, massive potential for ageing. Amazing wine.
Price: €14.95
Value: 3.5
Rob
Rob
No comments:
Post a Comment