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2004: Vintage rating 92
Long cool spring flowering, and long dry finish to summer and classic crisp dry autumn made for a long and slightly late (1 week to 10 days) vintage. Working with David this year we have Charles from Chateau de Lauga a Cru Artisan in Haut Medoc, Bordeaux. Its so cool having people who have worked at famous Bordeaux chateau, their own family chateau and all over the world getting stuck in and really enjoying the high quality our of grapes and the personality of our vineyard. This year we sold fewer grapes to increase our own wine production for our unoaked chardonnay EC2 - up to 1,000 cases now to cope with export orders and very strong local demand.
EC2 Chardonnay sold out in NZ and only small quantities available in Las Vegas and Florida. Good acid balance means this will be our longest lived Chardonnay which will continue to give pleasure well into 2008.
Carsons Cabernets 456 cases made, 400 served on Air New Zealand International Business class for 6 months of 2006. Contact the winery for some library stock of this high flyer!
Tahi & Reserve are both block-busters, the international release of the Reserve will be mid September 2006 and the en-primeur release of Tahi 2004 will be at the end of September 2006; contact the winery for more details. Available: Tahi 275 cases / Reserve 175 cases
Syrah 180 cases made, we were going to call this wine Virgin’s Kiss as we had done everything to baby the vines along except have virgins kiss the bunches- but when we tasted the wine- I exclaimed “That’s just what the doctor ordered !” After some thought we went with The Doctor- at the end of the day doctor’s tend to have more money than Virgins…. Only 56 cases left in NZ.
Gimblett Road Range
Merlot 2004 Great easy drinking Merlot with a backbone of Cab Sauv, good on its own with a few friends or pair with lamb chops on the BBQ, delicious.
Cabernet/Merlot 2004, now sold out, but for those of you lucky enough to find one in the cellar or in a restaurant, this wine will continue to drink well for another 3 to 5 years
Updated 16 July 2006
2003: Vintage rating 89
A frosty start, scorching days followed by cool overcast days, a classic crisp dry autumn. Some hit by frost in the region, Hatton Estate very lucky with frost and with our good canopy management we had a good year. Despite our good fortune we will not release a Tahi from this vintage.
EC2 Chardonnay all sold out, drinking very well now and will continue to delight until 2007 at least.
Reserve 2003 Our first release of Reserve Cab Sauv/Merlot/Cab Franc, a wine we used to keep aside for the family to drink, now made in saleable quantities. No surprise this wine has garnered many friends- not least the tasting team at Cuisine magazine who named in their Top 5 Cabernet dominant reds awarding it 4.5 stars and making it the top wine under 30 bucks! This wine will continue to inspire till 2013 at least.
Carsons Range
Cabernets Drinking wonderfully well now and will continue to reward cellaring for at least 4 more years, this wine displays classic Bordeaux style Cabernet Franc characteristics with a pleasing Cab Sauv backbone. Library stock available direct from the winery.
Cabernet/Merlot Now hitting its straps, this wine like the Reserve makes a liar of vintage charts and really shows the value of the Gimblett Gravels in a difficult vintage. Deep of colour and flavour this wine is a crowd pleaser. Library stock available direct from the winery.
Syrah/Cabernet The pepper sauce for a charbroiled thick cut Sirloin, this meaty version of an Aussie classic was made by our Cousin Mark when he was out from Sydney for harvest. Library stock available direct from the winery.
Updated 16 July 2006
2002: Vintage rating 92
A warm wet summer with a long hot and dry autumn- brilliant.
The Tahi 2002 is beautiful, Still far too young to be released, we usually only release after 18 months in bottle at least, so some will come to UK in September 04 ready for release sometime in late 2005 early 2006. 450 cases made of which about 160 dozen for UK market and 200 for the USA.
The first release of our white wine EC2 took London by storm, I doubt there are any bottles left in your cellar, but if so they will provide good drinking well into 2006.
Tahi a powerful beast which still needs time but will be released to those with cellars and patience from June 2005 in USA and October in UK: will drink from end 2005 to 2012
Carsons Cabernets 2002 (Cab Franc 70% Cab Sauv 30%) drinking now to 2007,
Carsons Merlot 2002 (Merlot 90% Cab Sauv 10%) drinking now to 2007.
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