GIMBLETT GRAVELS® 2022 Annual Vintage Selection Revealed

Drum roll please! Huge congratulations to our 12 Gimblett Gravels® reds announced for the 2022 Annual Vintage Selection (AVS). On revealing the dozen, Andrew Caillard MW declared, “in 2022 the characters that make Gimblett Gravels® unique shone through.”

The fifteenth year of the release, the top 12 were selected as the best of the best by world renowned Master of Wine Andrew Caillard. Sent to wine commentators around the globe, the case reveals the character of the 2022 vintage.

While Mother Nature presented some challenges during the 2022 vintage, Andrew noted that the unique terroir of the Gimblett Gravels®, coupled with excellent custodianship, resulted in exemplary wines. “The free draining Omahu gravel banks, a warmer microclimate, reflected heat into the canopy and vineyard management techniques have all played a role in mitigating the challenges.”

Andrew applauded the producers for crafting outstanding Syrahs, commenting, “this year’s selection of Syrah wines highlight the crucial elements of craftsmanship and signature winemaking; a masterclass of the way nurture can assuage the forces of nature.”

Malbec shone, with its dense colours, tannins, and definition of flavours impressing Andrew. He noted, “both Church Road and Esk Valley were substantially lovely wines with superb inky density and vigour, whilst possessing attractive richness and fruit complexity.”

Merlot was a standout, with Andrew commenting, “the wines show attractive red and dark berry fruits, chocolaty textures and well-matched oak handling…these wines all possessed ample richness on the palate and the sinuous firm textures associated with claret-type wines.”

Chairman of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, Cameron Price, commented, “2022 was a year where precision winemaking and exemplary vineyard management have led to results we are proud of. The lovely characterful wines produced highlight the very special terroir of the Gimblett Gravels® and the dedication of our vignerons.”

The 2022 Annual Vintage Selection will comprise the following wines (in alphabetical order):

Blended reds (Bordeaux varieties)

Church Road 1 Malbec

Esk Valley Artisanal Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

Mills Reef Reserve Merlot

Mission Reserve Merlot

Squawking Magpie The Nest

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels The Gimblett

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon

Syrah

Church Road Tom Syrah

Craggy Range Le Sol

Smith & Sheth CRU Heretaunga Syrah

Stonecroft Gimblett Gravels Serine Syrah

Stonecroft Gimblett Gravels Reserve Syrah

In the coming weeks, the 2022 Annual Vintage Selection will be presented to key opinion leaders throughout the world for their review.

NOTE:

The fifteenth year of this initiative from the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, the Annual Vintage Selection provides a snapshot of each vintage and helps to chart the evolution of GIMBLETT GRAVELS® wines.

GIMBLETT GRAVELS® is a fully registered trademark owned by the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association, established in 2001. Only members of the Association are entitled to brand their qualifying wines as GIMBLETT GRAVELS® where such wines comprise a minimum of 95% fruit grown on specific free draining gravel soils deposited by the Ngaruroro River in inland Hawke’s Bay, North Island.

The combination of these deeply layered gravels - of which there are only 800 hectares (2000 acres) by area - and warm maritime climate has served to produce blended (Bordeaux varietal) red and Syrah wines that have achieved critical acclaim in New Zealand and internationally.

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