TWR Riesling M 2022

Reviews

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 96/100. Youthful, charming and exquisitely expressed, the wine is wonderfully flavoursome within an elegant frame and structure. Delicious notes of lemon sorbet, mandarin, Gala apple and acacia, lead to a delectably appealing palate offering gentle sweetness with perfectly pitched acidity. Mouth-watering and hugely appealing. Style: Medium-dry. At its best: now to 2037.

Cameron Douglas MS: 95/100 (Outstanding). Distinctive, familiar, fragrant and uplifting bouquet with scents of apple, mandarin and lime-flower, white blossoms and a core of Marlborough minerality. Plush, ripe, fruity and delicious. Off-dry with a tickle of sweetness then contrasting acid line. Flavours reflect the bouquet laced with fruit spice and flowers. A lovely example with best drinking from day of purchase through 2032.

Tasting Note

Lifted aromas of mandarin, pink grapefruit, and white peach follow onto vibrant, ripe flavours of the same with juicy lime with underlying slatey mineral notes. This wine is fine and soft with excellent fruit weight and concentration to counterbalance the mouth-watering acidity.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: White wine

Grape varial: Riesling

Food match: rich pork dishes, Foie Gras

Vineyard: TWR home block younger vines plus small amount from the old block (1979).

Soil type: loam over clay with a small amount of gravel in it. It has good water holding capacity but also reasonable drainage due to the gravels that are in it. Whereas on the Wairau flood plain and lower terraces some of the soils are very young (eg only 300yrs old) the soils in TWR's part of the valley are thought to be 3800yrs old.

Winemaking: All fruit for this wine was hand-picked and then hand-sorted. The grapes were destemmed and gently crushed and then given some skin contact time before being slowly pressed. All parcels were fermented in purpose-built Riesling tanks. The wine underwent a slow, cool fermentation to retain aromatics and purity. This wine has not been fined and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and anyone else who loves authentic, hand-made wines.

This is what Anna and Jason have to say: "Our passion for making and drinking Riesling is based partly on the wide variety of styles that this variety is capable of producing. That array of styles is a double edged sword for some, but we feel that by labeling our Rieslings true to type we can encourage the Riesling revolution. We are enamored by the general characteristics of all great Riesling wines: purity, elegance and age-ability, and feel that the growing conditions here in Marlborough allow Riesling to produce at its best – it really is an unsung hero variety for this part of the world. The high sunshine hours mean that we are able to achieve ripe, fruit concentration and the cooler night time temperatures mean that we retain the natural acidity that is the hallmark of this noble variety. We had always been inspired by the great wines of the Mosel and when tasting the fruit from this block at Te Whare Ra, we thought that the flavour profile and acid balance, lent itself well to this medium-dry style of Riesling. We love the knife edge of tension in this style of wine – the perfect balance between the initial sweetness of the fruit and the lingering, chalky acidity."

Alcohol: 9.5% vol

Wine style: medium dry

TA: 9,1 g/l

Residual sugar: 27 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphite.

Cellaring potential: 2030+

Closure: Screwcap

Produced and bottled by: TE WHARE RA WINES, 56 Anglesea Street, Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand