Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Following the vintage of a lifetime in 2013, along came another vintage of a lifetime: Hawke's Bay was starting to sound like Bordeaux. In 2014, it was slightly cooler but the conditions allowed Villa Maria to make its new flagship wine two years in a row. This displays a wonderful, silken texture; there's a sense of effortlessness as it glides quietly through your mouth. When it comes to aromas and flavors, expect classic but sweetly ripe Cabernet cassis and green capsicum with integrated oak-derived cedar notes adding complexity. Yields are tiny, reflected in the density within the elegant core. There's an abundance of resolved Cabernet tannins providing the frame for the delicate fruit. If you are lucky/wealthy enough to have a bottle of this and you were thinking about opening it soon, please don't: it is still an infant. It's a prodigious child but I'm sure it will be more satisfying in adulthood.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The impressive 2014 Ngakirikiri is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Pencil shavings frame notes of cassis liqueur in this medium to full-bodied wine that manages to be rich and creamy yet firmly structured and intense. It's downright embryonic at this stage, with layers of primary fruit, elegant French oak and a swirl of dusty tannins on the lingering finish. This luxury cuvée sets a new standard of excellence for Villa Maria.
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James Suckling
Dark cherries and cassis, chocolate, graphite and roasting herbs abound on the nose. This has such striking intensity and depth to the palate with dark-chocolate and black-cherry flavors, as well as dark-plum paste and a spicy thread, too. The length is impressive here. Great balance and drive. Drink or hold.
Founded in 1961 from humble beginnings, Villa Maria is a story of pioneering spirit and a desire to champion the best of New Zealand wine.
From the cool climate region of Marlborough, famous for crisp, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc, to the sun-soaked Hawkes Bay producing world-class reds, their wine is a unique expression of their extraordinary land, passion for excellence and bold spirit.
Their portfolio of highly awarded wines is the most stylistically and regionally diverse in New Zealand, setting them apart and consistently delivering a rewarding wine experience.
As the leading winemakers in Marlborough with an unwavering focus on quality and sustainability, Villa Maria wines are distinctive, vibrant, and most importantly, delicious.
Today, Villa Maria is globally recognized and adored for bold, expressive, and exceptional New Zealand wines.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
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.