Riverby scoops Aust prize

BY DEBORAH WALTON AND PETER MORICE

After some rigorous trans-Tasman testing, a Marlborough riesling took top honours in a prestigious and expansive Australian competition.

A few weeks ago, Kevin Courtney, marketing manager for Riverby Estate, got in touch to say Riverby had won a trophy for Australasia's best sweet wine with its 2008 Noble Riesling in Winestate Magazine's annual awards. Would we like to try it? Short answer – you bet!

Kevin said the Winestate trophy was one of the hardest to win, because Australia's most prestigious wine magazine tasted more than 10,000 wines a year, including many that were not entered into wine shows.

The Riverby Estate wine first had to impress a panel of New Zealand judges, headed by Michael Cooper, late last year, where it was rated top Marlborough sweet wine. Then 12 months later, it had to convince a panel of Australian judges, to reach the final five, before eventually being awarded champion sweet wine for Australasia. Meanwhile, its 2008 Noble Riesling also won gold at the Royal Easter Wine Show.

Kevin said the award was made even more significant by the fact that the 2008 Noble Riesling was the first sweet wine made by Riverby Estate from grapes grown on its Jacksons Rd vineyard. We looked at this winning wine and then saw how the new release compared.

Riverby Estate Noble Riesling 2008

Colour: Glorious deep gold.

Aroma: Broad, honeyed, waxy, mandarin and marmalade, floral, sweet, highly aromatic and very ripe.

Taste: A wine with the texture of liquid satin, it has plenty of honeyed sweetness integrated with a rich sweet marmalade palate which keeps going to the finish.

Candied peel bitterness supports the sweeter flavours and provides good balance. There is a lingering manuka honey aftertaste. It is a very, very enjoyable wine

Price: Excellent value at $26. Buy some to team with dessert or blue cheese. The sweet-tart combination is lovely.

Riverby Estate Noble Riesling 2009

Colour: Straw with flashes of lemon.

Aroma: A lighter, more varietal aroma than the 2008 – displaying plenty of lemon, lime and honeysuckle. It smells crisp and tangy yet honeyed.

Taste: Sweet, citrusy with a well-defined acid spine. It has a generous whack of sweet citrus flavour front of palate, while some lovely orange blossom aromatics add a touch of the exotic. The end taste is luscious, cheesy (as in that savoury tang), citrusy and drying. This wine is beautifully balanced; it has vibrant, concentrated flavours, a silky texture and an overall lusciousness that will only improve in the coming years.

Price: Released this month and another excellent buy at $26.

Compare the sugars in each of these wines – the 2008 which was much softer and sweeter had just 165 grams per litre (g/l) whereas the 2009 had a whopping 230g/l – yet it is, at this point in time, the more restrained.

Selaks Winemaker's Favourite Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2008

Selaks wines have been around since 1934, so it's no wonder that today they are widely recognised as consistently good. Selaks celebrated its 75th anniversary this year and it seems appropriate to include the Winemaker's Favourite Chardonnay in one of our last reviews for the year.

Colour: Pale gold.

Aroma: Stonefruit and citrus mixed with toasty, buttery notes – creamy with a dash of mineral.

Taste: A lovely ripe, spicy medium-bodied chardonnay with gentle acids and plenty of appealing mealy, stone fruit and caramel flavours. The mid-palate tastes of marmalade, the flavour becoming crisp with some mineral-malic apple notes towards the finish, while the aftertaste is gentle, warming and sweet fruit all the way. This wine is well balanced, with nice oak work, and is easy to drink.

Price: Excellent buying for about $21.

Hunter's Miru Miru NV

Aroma: With a pleasant blend of biscuit, peach, citrus and dry straw – it's both fleshy and flinty.

Taste: Crisp lemon combines with wheat bread flavour in this smooth, creamy wine that is bursting with fresh appeal. The soft taste of stonefruit adds depth mid-palate and the finish is drying. There is some creamy sweetness tucked away in the aftertaste that wraps things up well.

Price: About $24, but sometimes seen for less.

Hunter's Miru Miru NV is a highly recommended drink for your New Year celebrations.

- The Marlborough Express