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Villa Maria Single Vineyard 2009 Ihumatao Gewurztraminer
 

This week’s wine comes from the vineyard surrounding Villa Maria’s winery in the Ihumatao area of Auckland. It is in a wind protected volcanic basin on the edge of the Manukau Harbour and is an area with a proud heritage of producing excellent Gewurztraminer. The free draining soil of the vineyard and a unique soil profile makes a distinctive Gewurztraminer.

The 2009 growing season in Auckland was characterised by some diverse weather events. A warm summer, though provided perfect ripening conditions for the fruit. Villa Maria also employed meticulous vineyard management and careful bunch selection for this wine in order to make it the best wine possible.

Once harvested, the fruit was crushed, but allowed four hours of skin contact post crushing before the juice was pressed. A small parcel of the juice was naturally fermented in seasoned barriques to add complexity, while the majority of the juice underwent a long cool ferment in stainless steel tanks. Fermentation was halted while the juice still contained some residual sugar to enhance mouth feel and richness.

I found the resulting 2009 Villa Maria Ihumatao Gewurztraminer to have a wonderful bouquet of citrus blossom, and spice with rose petal and floral notes. The palate, I found to be elegant and gently textured with flavours of stonefruit and citrus and a good, rounded mouthfeel. It has a long, lingering finish and while drinking well now, I would expect it to cellar well until 2013. It would be the perfect wine to accompany some of the lightly spiced Asian dishes.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (23/7/2010)

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