The story of Hawkes Bay's wines is as rich as its flavours, writes Charmian Smith.
A Hawkes Bay winemaker asked two visiting sommeliers from Beijing what their favourite red wine was.
They replied immediately (and not particularly diplomatically since they were in the Bay) that it was pinot noir.
Another winemaker quipped that syrah is what pinot noir wants to be when it grows up!Wine writers and sommeliers from China, New York, Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and New Zealand were visiting the Bay last week as guests of Hawkes Bay Winegrowers and we spent a day tasting some of the region's best wines - chardonnay, red blends, and syrah - which New York sommelier Dane Campbell said was considered a very ''sexy'' wine there.
Hawkes Bay syrah is distinctive with lovely purity of fruit, often a hint of pepper and a lively freshness.
The best have poise, structure and charm with supple tannins and will develop for 10-12 years.
Alan Limmer, formerly of Stonecroft, was the first modern winemaker to plant this red variety in the Bay in 1984.
It had been grown in the Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay in the 19th century but been pulled out.
It had been tried in Auckland in the 1970s but the humid climate had not suited it.
Referred to as the''godfather'' of syrah, Dr Limmer tells the story of how he took cuttings from the vine collection at the former research station at Te Kauwhata in the Waikato, which was being disestablished and the vine collection bulldozed.
Records were not good, but he managed to discover that the vines had arrived at the Wanganui quarantine station from the Sydney botanical collection in the 19th century.
They are thought to have been some of the original vines brought from France by James Busby and it's probably the same clone that's found in old Australian vineyards such as Hill of Grace in Eden Valley, or in Hunter Valley, according to Dr Limmer.
Now called MS (mass selection) this clone is still preferred by many winemakers over more modern ones.
However, Hawkes Bay's claim to fame and possibly its finest wines are its reds blended from what are often known as the Bordeaux varieties, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, sometimes with smaller portions of malbec, cabernet franc and petit verdot.
The varieties fit together and make a more complete wine than a single variety, according to Peter Cowley, winemaker at Te Mata Estate, known for its Coleraine and Awatea.
At their best, these blends are fragrant with generous fruit but retain an elegance, often with spicy hints of cigar box, and are well structured with dusty tannins.
The best will develop for 20 years.
When young they need time to tell their story - leave them in the glass for 20 minutes - but after four-five years they mellow and integrate and become more delicious.
Both syrah and the blends are best with food. Tasting such wines young is hard work because of the tannin build-up in the mouth.
That's not so with Hawkes Bay chardonnays, which I found simply delicious.
They are rich but also refreshing.
The best are textural with lovely creamy hints of citrus and stonefruit, a hint of nuts and a dry finish.
The best linger for minutes on the tongue and will develop more complexity with bottle age.
Tasting highlights
The creamy, crisp and deliciously balanced Clearview Reserve Chardonnay 2009; the charming, spicy Bilancia La Collina Syrah 2013; Ngatarawa's fragrant, savoury spicy and elegant Alwyn Merlot Cabernet 2010; the rich, complex, fresh Ngatarawa Alwyn Chardonnay 2010; the fine, taut Villa Maria Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2011; the creamy, citrusy Crossroads Winemakers Collection Chardonnay 2012; Hope's Grove Silver Lining Syrah 2010 fresh with overwhelming fruit; the impressive Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2010; Te Mata's elegant but mouth-filling Bullnose Syrah 2012; the mellowed, harmonious Sacred Hill Helmsman 2011; and the fragrant, textural Clearview Noble Harvest Chardonnay 2011.
