Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2004

Duluc de Branaire-Ducru (second label Branaire Ducru) 4th classified growth, named after one of the estate’s early owners.

The wine is smooth in the mouth and well balanced with chewy red fruit flavours and vanilla pod.

Chateau Branaire-Ducru, 50 hectares in all, planted with 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and just 4% Petit Verdot, with an average age approaching 40 years. The harvest is manual, and fermentation takes place in a modern, well-equipped cellar, funded by the Maroteaux administration. The must and embryonic wine is fed through the cellar by gravity rather than pump, to ferment in stainless steel, temperature-controlled, before up to two years in oak, 50% new each vintage. The wine undergoes an egg-white fining prior to being bottled unfiltered. The grand vin is Chateau Branaire-Ducru, 15000 cases, and there is a second wine, Chateau Duluc, named for the Duluc family, of which there are 7000 cases per annum.

Saint Julien
the smallest of the four famous appellations of the Haut Medoc, is known for highly extracted, finely structured, Cabernet-based reds. It is nestled between Pauillac to the north and Margaux to the south. Like St. Estephe, there are no first growths in this area. Leoville-las-Cases, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Barton, Ducru Beaucaillou, and Gruard Larose are the second-growths of St. Julien followed by Lagrange which is the only third-growth. Beychevelle, Branaire Ducru, St. Pierre, and Talbot, which are all fourth-growth wines, round out the grand cru classe chateaux. In the last several vintages, wineries from this appellation have been out-performing their traditional rankings making many of the wines from this region some of the best values in red wine today.

Villa Maria Private Bin East Cost Gewürztraminer 2009

Gewürztraminer 2009
This wine was blended from fruit sourced in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Auckland, Marlborough and Waipara.

Each vineyard was harvested separately, destemmed, crushed and chilled to 6⁰c upon entering the press. To aid flavour extraction, the skins and free-run juice were held for a skin contact period of two to four hours prior to being gently pressed. The resulting juice was cold settled then racked clean and inoculated with aromatic yeast strains. Cool fermentation techniques were employed to promote fruit aromatics and intensity. Ferments were tasted daily and stopped to retain some natural residual sugar, enhancing mouth-feel and richness. The wine was then blended, lightly fined, cold stabilised and filtered prior to bottling.

WINEMAKER’S COMMENT
This wine shows delicate and classic varietal aromas of rose petal, quince and ginger spice. The palate reveals similar flavours, delivered with a seamless texture and balance.

Other’s comment
Full of aromatic tropical fruit and perfect with Chinese or Thai dishes. It has a floral bouquet plus hints of honey and ginger and a flavour of lychees. The wine is medium bodied with moderate acidity and goes well with Oriental food or creamy Indian curries.

Gewürztraminer 2006
The 2006 vintage varied across the regions where the fruit for this wine was sourced. Auckland and Gisborne experienced a warm, dry and disease free vintage, whilst Hawkes Bay proved more challenging to viticulturists, with rain during March slowing ripening. Marlborough was the best of the four regions with exceptionally warm and dry conditions leading to an early vintage of ripe and intensely flavoured fruit.

AWARDS
Gold – New World Wine Awards, 2006
Silver – NZ International Wine Show, 2006
4 Stars – Winestate Magazine, Dec 2006
Blue Gold & Top 100 - Sydney International Wine Competition 2007

Link: Villa Maria

Château Moulin Riche 2005 -Saint Julien

Château Moulin Riche is the second wine of Château Léoville-Poyferré. " Bordeaux and Its Wines by Order of Merit", the reference book by Edouard Féret and Charles Cocks in 1850 give an account of Château Moulin Riche's primacy among the Cru Bourgeois vintages of Saint Julien. In 1932 Château Moulin Riche was classified as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel – the only wine out of the 11 Cru Bourgeois Saint Julien wines to be marked out as such.

The vineyard is made up of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon 28% Merlot 8% Petit Verdot 2% Cabernet Franc. The wines are concentrated, dense and powerful. They have smoky flavors of spiced black fruits and plum with a voluptuous finish, are tannic and age well. The addition of Petit Verdot to the blend of Château Moulin Riche since 1970 has helped to express the deep backbone of the wine.

Saint Julien
The Grand Vin Château Léoville Poyferré is a Second Growth (2ème Cru Classé) and lies in the appellation of Saint Julien. Saint Julien lies on two plateaus between Pauillac and Margaux on the left bank of the Gironde Estuary. It is divided into essentially 2 areas - the riverside estates around the village of Saint Julien and the southern estates around the village of Beychevelle where the area's Cru Bourgeois are also grouped.