Gamay focus, 9 – Te Mata Gamay Noir 2014 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

gamay new zealand

Gamay focus, 9 – Te Mata Gamay Noir 2014 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

te mata gamay noir

Continuing the Gamay quest, we are off to New Zealand. There are just 7.3 hectares of Gamay Noir in New Zealand. And the producer who has led the way with his variety so far has been Te Mata, in Hawke’s Bay. This is their Gamay, and it’s pretty good. [The other famous example from Kiwi land is Rippon’s, from Central Otago, which I have yet to try, but which I suspect will be incredible.]

It is made from 1995 plantings of a superior clone of Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc that Te Mata was responsible for introducing into New Zealand. And it’s a single-vineyard wine from the Woodthorpe vineyard, which is on a north-facing terrace. Winemaking is 50% carbonic maceration and 50% normal red wine fermentation, and it is matured for three months in older French oak.

This isn’t the world’s greatest ever Gamay, but it is really good and delivers pleasure.

Te Mata Gamay Noir 2014 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
13% alcohol. Floral and very fruity with juicy cherry and plum fruit. Hints of earth in the background as well as tar. Opens up very nicely with time to take on better texture with sweet cherry fruit. This has a bit of stony, grainy minerality. Real interest and finesse with drinkability: decant this before drinking. 90/100 (£12.95 The Wine Society)

Added later, the follow-on vintage:

Te Mata Gamay Noir 2015 Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
Aromatic and juicy with cherry and plum fruit. Quite stony with silky fruit underlain by some stony, fine-grained structure. Lovely fruit here: sweet and direct with a dense of deliciousness. A little overpriced at an RRP of £18, but really appealing. 91/100

Find this wine with wine-searcher.com

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