Reds And Whites All Great For 2010 Hawke’s Bay Vintage

With a later vintage for Hawke’s Bay in 2010, Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Inc has some great news for those that love our wine. Surveying members on their thoughts for the vintage, it was hard to pick a single variety that will stand out for 2010.

Across the region, Merlot, Chardonnay, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier and Gewürztraminer have all shown excellent fruit character and varietal expression. Comments echoed “good flavour and acid balance”, “well defined fruit expression” and “excellent quality across the vintage” from all our growers and winemakers.

Starting with a challenging, cool summer, growers and winemakers were concerned about ripeness and reduced yields due to poor fruit set. As it turned out, harvest dates were almost two weeks later than expected across the region and most volumes were lower than expected but flavours and colour development in reds were better than average.

A hot, dry autumn with wonderful weather throughout March, April and even early May gave growers and wineries what they were hoping for. This enabled Hawke’s Bay’s fruit the warmth and time to ripen to the high quality standards sought for Hawke’s Bay wine.

2010 is predicted to produce some exceptional wines with one survey respondent declaring it the best vintage of the decade. Hugh Crichton, Winemaker Vidal Wines, says “We have some outstanding Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah. The reds are showing ripe and evolved tannins giving them real drinkability. For Vidal, we anticipate that 2010 will go down as a ‘classic’ year for Chardonnay and Syrah. Chardonnays will be a talking point, reinforcing the suitability of this variety to climate and soils”.

Once again, Hawke’s Bay looks set to deliver on its growing international reputation for simply classic fine wines.

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