TOP PINOT GRIS

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Gris 2021 (Marlborough) - 3 $18 ★★★★★

VILLA MARIA IS SHINING bright with both the best and the second best pinot gris this year. Their record as New Zealand’s most-awarded winery clearly isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Villa Maria is a venerable brand both at home and internationally, and I think it is agreed that this is a winery known not just for quality and widespread availability but also for consistent quality at a great price. This is especially true of their cellar selection. Resplendent with its gold label, this range is well known on the shelves of supermarkets and specialist wine stores alike.

Case in point: our top wine the Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Gris 2021 which pipped the Marlborough Reserve gris to the post by a whisper. At $18 it is a best buy indeed, and makes it a fantastic addition to your summer drinks list. Our judges were suitably impressed with this gris which was described as “bright, fresh and poised.”

On the nose, ripe nashi pears are matched with hints of raspberry and watermelon and subtle white blossom aromas. Pinot gris’ signature pear-drop character is undoubtedly present but nicely balanced through the palate against bright fruit sweetness and flavours of baked apple pie. The palate boasts fantastic texture and lovely length.

An exceptional example that proves that excellent care of fruit and considered winemaking can deliver a brilliant, bright-focussed, layered pinot gris.

2 / Villa Maria Reserve Pinot Gris Marlborough 2020 ★★★★★ - 3 $25

Bright red apple with baking spice and almond biscuit – imagine a freshly baked, sugar-dusted apple pie. A wine with lovely weight and texture on the palate. The primary fruit present is matched with fantastic acid which ensures this wine glides seamlessly along the length of the palate, which has an unexpected twist of spice on the finish making this wine all the more memorable.

3 / Sileni Priestess Grand Reserve Pinot Gris 2019 (Hawke’s Bay) ★★★★ - 2 $25

Fruit and spice combine perfectly in this beautiful pinot gris. Lovely baked pear with red apple and oak spice reminiscent of cardamom. A rounded, fleshy, almost autumnal example with fantastic textural phenolics which grip to the balanced and complex palate.

Bald Hills Kirameki Single Vineyard Pinot Gris 2020 (Central Otago) ★★★★ - 4 $30

Petane Hau Hau Block Pinot Gris 2020 (Hawke’s Bay)

★★★★ - 3 $28

Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Bull Block 2019 (Marlborough)

★★★★ - 4 $29

Squawking Magpie 2021 The Chatterer Pinot Gris (Hawke’s Bay)

★★★★ - 2 $19.95

Terrace Edge 2021 Pinot Gris (North Canterbury)★★★★ - 3 $26

The Ned Pinot Gris 2021 (Marlborough) ★★★★ - 2 $19

Trinity Hill Pinot Gris 2021 (Hawke’s Bay) ★★★★ - 4 $25

Whitehaven Pinot Gris 2020 (Marlborough) ★★★★ - 2 $23