Tasting Notes
The story
Te Whare Ra Winery or TWR is a
small, family-run vineyard and winery whose
Pinot Noir is much loved by Wines With Attitude customers; I decided therefore to stock some of their white wines. This one is from a vineyard that is one of the oldest in Marlborough and is certified organic. Three grapes, Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Noir are grown together in a single vineyard and co-fermented to produce this beautiful field blend.
The winemakers, Anna and Jason Flowerday, really care about the end product and it shows:
- they love the grape varieties of Alsace like Gewurztraminer and Riesling
- all grapes are hand-picked and hand sorted
- the co-fermentation means the three grape varieties are fully integrated
- there is minimal intervention and the wines are given sufficient time on lees in the winery to build texture and complexity
The Wine
I was not expecting to like this wine at all because of the predominance of the Gewurztraminer grape (66%); I find many Gewurztraminer or GWT wines to be overly fragrant, with over the top tropical fruit flavours and a level of acidity too low to balance the sweet fruitiness. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised by this wine!
It is beautiful - dry, elegant with subtle spice and fruit from the GWT, structure from the Riesling (24%) and texture from the Pinot Gris (10%). That texture has also been enhanced by a considerable of time sent on the lees (the dead yeast cells). It is creamy without being rich and has a very long finish of mineral and pear flavours. I love it!
This wine is drinking beautifully now but will keep a few years.
Food Pairing
This dry white wine is beautiful to drink on its own but it will also pair well with spicy Chinese dishes and other Asian food.
Producer's Notes
"TORU - (which means “three” in Maori) is an aromatic blend we first created 12 yrs ago and was the first of its kind in New Zealand. It is a delicious, co-fermented “field blend” of three varieties - Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris. We are passionate about these classic Alsacian varieties and we spent a great deal of time coming up with the right proportions in the blend. We were aiming for a wine that displayed the essence of all three varieties, whilst creating a distinctive and interesting wine in its own right. It has the aromatic spice and weight of Gewürztraminer, the structure and length of Riesling, and the great texture of Pinot Gris.
Intensely perfumed, this wine has an intriguing nose with notes of mango, fresh citrus, white florals and exotic spices. These lead into a multi-layered palate with flavours of mango, citrus, red apple and lychee with a lingering spiciness. The palate has excellent fruit concentration and weight with a lovely creamy
texture and a mineral edge which gives it great length of flavour."
Awards
91 Parker Points robertparker.com Feb 2018
"This wine, a co-fermented blend of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling, has become something of a signature for Te Whare Ra. The 2017 Toru is tropical-scented, with hints of guava and pear accented by gingery spice. This medium-bodied wine is silky and richly textured in the mouth, with a long, tactile finish... [it] has become a hit, often selling out rapidly on release."
Winery of the Year 2014 Raymond Chan Dec 2014
"... the Flowerdays represent the modern and young face of winegrowing in New Zealand, making a range of beautifully elegant, exceptionally high quality wines, with the greatest respect for the environment from which the fruit is obtained.
I’ve come across very few winegrowers and winemakers who give so much thought to every aspect of the vineyard, winery, winemaking, how their wines show in stylistic and quality terms, and how the wines are presented in the marketplace, as Jason and Anna. This reflects their passion, enthusiasm, extremely high standards, hard work and attention to detail in creating and crafting wines that reflect their vineyard and region, and their guiding the wines sensitively so that they are expressed with great finesse. At present, New Zealand wines are generally enjoyed for their strong and distinctively clear fruit flavours. It is apparent that our industry must progress towards producing wines which are more refined, subtly complex and textured with the ability to develop, so as to appeal to the increasing and maturing fine wine drinkers of the world. The Te Whare Ra wines are at the forefront of this movement in this country."
