Esk Valley is one of Hawke’s Bay’s most admired wine brands and has a new range of top drops. From full-bodied dry white and a trio of tasty reds, each has been lovingly crafted by winemaker Gordon Russell. Here, wine writer Joelle Thomson explores some of Esk Valley’s finest from 2019, a premium crop renamed as the Great Dirt wines. Read on to learn more.
Esk Valley Great Dirt Seabed Chardonnay, $50
This full-bodied, creamy Chardonnay is bursting with toasty flavours of oatmeal, cream and fresh macadamias. It’s a big white with all the bells and whistles. Made with grapes grown on the coast at Bay View north of Napier, every grape in this wine was handpicked and fermented with wild yeasts in French oak, which softens the edgy acidity, adding spice notes, cedar and hints of oak. The result, a super-rich and flavoursome wine ideally suited to luscious, fleshy food, such as pan-fried white fish, roast chicken or fettuccine with olive oil, lemon, pepper and parmesan.
Graze with: fish goujons or freshly smoked salmon with sourdough.
Dine with: roast chicken with all the trimmings or fettuccine with olive oil, lemon, pepper and parmesan.
Rating 17.5/20
Esk Valley Great Dirt River Gravel Merlot Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, $70
Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon rub shoulders in this outstanding full-bodied dry, smooth and powerfully structured red wine. Made from handpicked grapes grown in the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District’s Cornerstone and Ngakirikiri vineyards. The grapes fermented with wild yeasts take longer than adding yeasts to the ferment, providing a more diverse, exciting flavour. That translates to the savoury, earthy flavours of black olives, dried herbs, ripe black plum and black currant notes. It was aged in French oak for 20 months and bottled unfiltered, accentuating its gritty character and powerful cedar notes. So if you’re looking for a wine to age for the long haul, here it is.
Graze with: aged cheddar with olive’s.
Dine with: grilled mushrooms with Parmigiano.
Rating: 19/20
Esk Valley Great Dirt Hillside Syrah, $90
This 2019 is a dark and delicious, meaty, dry and velvety Syrah. Made from grapes grown on a stunning 1.1-hectare vineyard at the top of The Terraces Vineyard at Bay View north of Napier. The warmth of the limestone soils and the cooling sea breezes combine to ripen Syrah grapes slowly with hot days and cool nights, providing floral aromas and a depth of dark fruit, black olive and Omega plum fleshy notes to the wine. It’s made in small volumes, a drop for a special occasion, or if you have the willpower to tuck it at the back of the wine cellar, it will age for up to and beyond ten years. All the grapes were handpicked and fermented as a mix of whole cluster bunches and de-stemmed fruit in a single concrete fermenter with wild yeasts.
Graze with: a triple cream brie or salami with black olives.
Dine with: slow-cooked chicken in wine with smoked paprika chorizo.
Rating: 17.5/20
Esk Valley Great Dirt Hillside Malbec Merlot Cabernet Franc Syrah, $90
Here’s another dark, spicy, deep and complex red made from the Esk Valley’s The Terraces Vineyard at Bay View north of Napier. The site was initially planted in Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc in 1989 on re-established vineyards terraces which had sat idle for 30 years, until they were replanted at high density and dry-farmed (no irrigation makes the vines struggle resulting in smaller, more concentrated and flavoursome grapes). It’s smooth and velvety, its appeal comes from the 36 per cent Malbec in the blend, which adds softness and depth. Supported by plummy 24 per cent Merlot, while the structure comes from the remaining 13 per cent blend of Cabernet Franc and Syrah. It’s a great wine for drinking now, as long as it’s decanted and served in your largest glasses. This allows its complex flavours to shine. Finally, if you can wait, it will also age for the long term.
Graze with: bruschetta with mushrooms.
Dine with: eggplant parmigiana.
Rating: 17.5/20
