Styles’ picks: sub-regional stars from Hawke’s Bay

De la Terre, Viognier, Te Mata- Hillside Hawke’s Bay 2014 93

N/A UK www.delaterre.co.nz From the Te Mata Special Character Zone, winemaker Tony Pritchard says he is happy to sacrifice varietal definition in the pursuit of minerality. This unoaked wine is all about the hills, and it’s well worth seeking out.

Drink 2019-2024 Alcohol 13.5%

1 Sacred Hill, Riflemans Chardonnay, Dartmoor 2016 92

£ 39.99 Inverarity Morton Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay is often more winemaker than the soil and, despite great pedigree, this golden, more developed style, is no exception. But this showcases the potential of the beautiful Dartmoor Valley. Drink 2019-2024 Alc 13%

Supernatural Wine Co, Minus 220 Sauvignon Blanc, Coastal 2018 92

£ 16.95 (2016) Vintage Roots A combination of hillside soil and coastal aspect. No additions (220 is the code for sulphites) in this wine, which was tasted a week before going to bottle. Concentrated pineapple, supple, textured and fresh. Compelling and, if it holds together in bottle, a real flag-bearer for ‘living wine’.

Drink 2019-2024 Alc 12.5%

2 Ant Mackenzie Wines, Craft Farm Chardonnay, Tukituki 2016 91

£ 35 The Knotted Vine A bold, toasty Chardonnay showing Tukituki’s heavier soils albeit with coolclimate acidity. Winemaker Ant McKenzie has pedigree. Australian readers should also seek out Church Road’s Tom Chardonnay 2014. Drink 2019-2029 Alc 13%

3 Mission Estate Winery, Riesling, Ohiti 2016 89

£ 13.50 (2015) Le Bon Vin, Next Wines To represent Ohiti, it was a tough choice between Vidal’s driven Soler Chardonnay 2017 and this developed, kerosene-andlime Riesling. No bird nets here; the grower is also a gunsmith and takes his work into the rows. Drink 2019-2024 Alc 11.5%

4 Bilancia, La Collina Syrah, Hillside Hawke’s Bay 2016 98

£85-£89 The New Zealand Cellar, The Wine Treasury Sublime. A heady, aromatic perfume incorporating blackberry fruit and spice, then a seamless palate showing more juicy fruit with a fresh, lingering finish and a fully integrated structure devoid of edges.

Drink 2019-2039 Alc 13%

Esk Valley, The Terraces, Hillside Hawke’s Bay 2016 96

POA Via UK agent Hatch Mansfield A blend of Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Big and broody with savoury notes on the nose, this is intense, structured, complex, long and powerful, and it keeps developing in the glass. Along with La Collina, a true showcase of hillside Hawke’s Bay. Drink 2019-2039 Alc 14%

5 Te Mata Estate, Bullnose Syrah, Bridge Pa 2016 94

£ 34.99-£ 26.80 The New Zealand Cellar, Waitrose Cellar Very aromatic, with camphor and red and black fruits on the nose. A soft, pretty and structured wine with fine tannins. Supple, with a long finish. Drink 2019-2034 Alc 13%

6 Easthope Family Winegrowers , Gamay Noir, Mangatahi 2016 92

N/A UK www.easthope.co. nz Whole-cluster ferment and nine months in oak. Pungent red fruit aromas pushing into cassis notes. A juicy, nice, mid-weight expression of the cooler Mangatahi climate, while still showing a degree of extraction. Nice length, freshness and structure. Drink 2019-2029 Alc 13%

Paritua, Syrah, Bridge Pa 2015 92

£ 24.99 Hennings A toss-up between two styles of Bridge Pa, but this gutsy, developed, textural Paritua just edged out the lovely Te Awanga Estate Syrah 2017. Drink 2019-2029 Alc 13.5%