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Villa Maria Single Vineyard 2008 Ihumatao Verdelho
 Those
in Auckland and some elsewhere in the country will know that Easter
means the Royal Easter show and the prestigious wine awards that
accompany the event. One of the big winners this year was Villa
Maria, who picked up three trophies, 13 gold medals and 15 silver
medals. Three further gold medals went to Villa Maria’s associated
brands of Vidal and Esk Valley.
Delighted by the results, Villa Maria’s Senior Auckland Winemaker,
Nick Picone, comments:
“To have received three trophies is an exceptional honour,
particularly given the high calibre of wine producers that we were
up against in the competition. The passion that goes into each
bottle is shared by the whole team - from the winemakers to the
viticulturists and everyone in between - and we are all hugely proud
of this achievement.”
This week, my
review is of their single vineyard Ihumatao Verdelho. Verdelho is an
emerging white wine variety in New Zealand and originates from the
small volcanic island of Madeira. It might therefore not be
surprising that it grows so well in the extinct volcanic basin in
Auckland where Villa Maria has its Ihumatao vineyard.
The Ihumateo
vineyard is also the site of Villa Maria’s Auckland winery, located
on the edge of Manakau Harbour. The wind protected basin has
predominantly clay soils and the Verdelho fruit comes from a small
block in this vineyard. The 2008 vintage experienced an outstanding
flowering followed by a warm, dry growing and ripening season.
When ripe, the
fruit was hand harvested before it was sent to the winery where it
was crushed and destemmed. Fifty-five percent of the juice was
fermented in seasoned oak, while the other forty-five percent was
fermented in stainless steel. Villa Maria used 2 year old French
barriques and the wine was matured for six months on yeast lees
before bottling.
The resulting wine
lives up to the varietal reputation of being a distinct and aromatic
wine, with a bouquet I found to contain notes of stronefruit,
citrus, spices, ginger and mandarin. It has a rounded, smooth,
intense and complex palate. Particularly evident to me were the
flavours of stonefruit and exotic spices. with a succulent, long
lingering finish. It is an excellent and memorable aromatic wine.
I am not the only
one who enjoyed this wine, as it was one of the three wines to earn
trophies for Villa Maria (for ‘Champion Other Whites or Reds) and is
the first of this variety to win a trophy in New Zealand.
“Villa Maria and associated brand Esk
Valley are leading the charge for Verdelho production in New Zealand
so to win a trophy for the Single Vineyard Verdelho gives us
confidence that we are getting the techniques right and heading in
the right direction,” says Picone.
I
would recommend trying this particular wine with smoked salmon and
would expect it to cellar well until 2012.
Reviewed by Stephen Clark (26/4/2010)
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