Winemaker Notes
An electric, candy-apple red, fresh, and full of appeal, the Estate Gamay Noir 2022 charms with intense wild strawberry, bubble-gum
aromatics, and notes of ripe watermelon and red cherry. The palate is goose-down soft, creamy, and lightly spiced with clove, anise, and cinnamon. Estate Gamay Noir 2022 is a marriage of tempting textures, and summer bright, ultra-ripe, red-fruit freshness.
This is an incredibly versatile wine, partnering with any food and is particularly good with tapas, matching its vibrant fruit and soft tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Showing varietal character infused with NZ charm, this Hawke's Bay Gamay opens plump and fruity (think: cherry and strawberry) with a bouquet garni of herbs and spices, and a gentle floral nuance, too. The medium-weight palate is plush and silky, while the red-berry fruit is on display. Acidity and chalky tannins creep in slowly on the midpalate. By the finish—which is long and herb-filled—the mouth is watering, ready to take another sip. Drink now, with a variety of autumnal and winter dishes.
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James Suckling
This has an attractive nose of wild raspberries, chocolate strawberries, cloves and licorice. Medium-bodied, crunchy and bright with a delicious spiciness and vibrant fruit. Soft tannins. 60% whole bunch with short carbonic maceration.
Delightfully playful, but also capable of impressive gravitas, Gamay is responsible for juicy, berry-packed wines. From Beaujolais, Gamay generally has three classes: Beaujolais Nouveau, a decidedly young, fruit-driven wine, Beaujolais Villages and Cru Beaujolais. The Villages and Crus are highly ranked grape growing communes whose wines are capable of improving with age whereas Nouveau, released two months after harvest, is intended for immediate consumption. Somm Secret—The ten different Crus have their own distinct personalities—Fleurie is delicate and floral, Côte de Brouilly is concentrated and elegant and Morgon is structured and age-worthy.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.