TWR / Te Whare Ra Toru White 2021

Description

Te Whare Ra Toru White 2021 is what is known as a field blend. At TWR Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris grow together in a single vineyard  and since winemakers, Anna and Jason Flowerday, love the grape varieties of Alsace, they experimented and came up with the lovely Toru blend. The TWR Toru vineyard is one of the oldest in Marlborough and is certified organic. The three grape varieties are co-fermented to produce Toru  and the co-fermentation means the three grape varieties are fully integrated; the wine is seamless.

I was not expecting to like Te Whare Ra Toru White 2021 at all because of the predominance of the Gewurztraminer grape (52% in this vintage); 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! TWR Toru is beautiful – dry, elegant with subtle spice and fruit from the GWT, structure from the Riesling (25%) and texture from the Pinot Gris (23%). 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, citrus and pear flavours. I love it!

Te Whare Ra Winery or TWR is a small, family-run vineyard and winery. The winemakers, Anna and Jason Flowerday, really care about the end product and it shows in the quality of their wines, most of which are certified organic. All grapes are hand-picked and hand sorted. There is minimal intervention in the vineyard and in the winery and TWR wines are given sufficient time on their lees to build texture and complexity. Te Whare Ra Pinot Noir is much loved by Wines With Attitude customers so why not give it a try.