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The 2001 Season in review

Waipara's Vintage 2001 may well become one of the finest ever. A combination of above average yields and outstanding potential wine quality for both red and white wines was reported by most Winemakers in the region. The cool, wet Spring was followed by fine weather during flowering, one of the warmest summers on record and near perfect weather during the harvest period. The resulting wines show the generosity and ripe flavours of the '98's, as well as the fine aromatic quality of the '99's.

Alan McCorkindale:

no report

Canterbury House:

Late Harvest Riesling 2000 awarded 93 points and 5 stars in Cuisine's "Best of the Bunch".

Chancellor:

Exports continue to grow, with new markets recently opened up in Hong Kong, China and Japan.
Cabernet 2001 appears as good or better than the excellent '98, reports Vineyard Manager, Quin Broad.

Daniel Schuster:

Mt Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2000 was well received at Vinitaly in May and the NZ Wine Institute Hamburg Wine Exhibition in June 2001.
The same wine received 5 stars from Michael Cooper in the Sunday Times in June .
2000 Omihi Hills Vineyard Selection Pinot noir will be released in September of this year.

Fiddlers Green:

The first of the exceptional 2001 vintage wines bottled is the off-dry Riesling. The dry Riesling of the 2000 vintage is also available at the winery.
The 2001 Sauvignon Blanc will be released in the Spring and the first of Fiddlers Green Pinot noir, next year.

Floating Mountain:

News from the winery available on their : new website

Glenmark Winery:

New releases are the '99 Waipara Red, 2000 Gewurztraminer, 2000 Chardonnay, 2000 Pinot noir and Black Label 2000 Medium Riesling.
A vertical of 3 vintages of Glenmark Rieslings is available in a mixed case from the Winery as is the fine Late Harvest Riesling '97 in 375 ml bottles.

Montana Wines:

Site preparations are complete for Spring 2001 planting of Pinot noir on 200 acres of Waipara land, previously known as the home of Corbans Amberley Rieslings on the Corbett farm. Martin Tillard ex Pegasus Bay has been appointed the Vineyard Manager.

Mountford Vineyard:

The Wine Spectator awarded 91/100 Points to the '99 vintage Chardonnay.
New releases include 2000 Pinot noir, 2000 Chardonnay and 2001 Verraison Rose.

Muddy Water Fine Wines:

The Muddy Water James Hardwick Riesling 2000 was awarded 89/100 and a creditable 4 placing in the Riesling tasting by the Cuisine Magazine.

Pegasus Bay:

Riesling 2000 (5 stars) and Pinot Noir 1999 (4 stars) were highly rated by the Cuisine Magazine in "Best of the Bunch" tastings.
The 1999 Cabernet Merlot was highly recommended by the Newsletter of the Federation of the Wine and Food Society of New Zealand.
The construction of a new barrel hall, tasting rooms and extension of Pegasus Bay's wine cellar is well under way and is expected to be complete by Christmas 2001.

Torlesse:

2001 Vintage at Torless was the largest and best since the first Waipara harvest in 1991. Winemaker, Kym Rayner, compares his latest wines, including the Cabernet and Merlot to the Gold medal winning '98 vintage.
2001 Pinot gris and Sauvignon blanc will be released in the early Spring.
Torlesse shareholders have just completed the purchase of a premium Pinot noir site on the north-west facing slopes of the Teviotdale hills, adjacent to Mountford Vineyard.

Waipara Downs:

no report

Waipara Springs:

The popular Waipara Springs Restaurant run by Susie and Rex MacKenzie has recently hosted VIP groups fron the TRENZ Conference and Savour New Zealand food exhibition in May.
New Releases include the 2000 Reserve Pinot noir, 2001 Sauvignon blanc and the 2001 lightly oaked Chardonnay.

Waipara West:

Wines were well received at the recent London Wine Exhibition and Vin Expo in Bordeaux.
1999 Chardonnay was awarded 4 stars in Cuisine Magazine's Chardonnay tasting in May.
1999 Riesling was placed amongst the top ten (3rd) in the Cuisine Magazine Riesling tasting in July.

Waipara Hills Development:

A multi-million dollar business venture backed by leading Christchurch businessmen, that aims to develop a Waipara based winery of 400-500 tonne capacity. Grapes will be provided by contract growers in Marlborough, Canterbury and from own plantings in Waipara.
The Langdale brand will be purchased and early vintages produced at St Helena winery in Coutts Island. Alan McCorkindale has been appointed the Consultant Winemaker for the group.

The Waipara Winegrowers Autumn 2001 Newsletter
11th March 2001

The 2001 Season:
The cool and wet Spring was followed by a warm and dry summer, providing ideal conditions for flowering of all principal grape varieties grown. Verraison is well under way and the yields show considerable improvement on the 2000 vintage. Isolated incidences of Spring frosts and mid Summer hail caused slight yield reductions in several sites, whilst overall crop size for the region as a whole will be above average.

The annual Wine and Food Celebration will take place at the Glenmark Church grounds on Sunday 25th March and tickets are available for pre-sale as well as gate sales. With all 14 Waipara wineries participating, excellent entertainment and interesting local food on offer, it should once again prove a popular family day out.

Along with Canterbury, Waipara has been chosen to co-host the 2002 Bragato Conference.

Alan McCorkindale:

The first release of Brut methode Champenoise awarded first placing and Gold Medal in Sparkling Wine Category of the prestigious Salon International del Vino in Madrid, Spain in February 2001.

Canterbury House:

Recent release of the highly acclaimed Sauvignon blanc 2000 already awarded Gold at Christchurch Casino Sauvignon Awards, blue-gold at the Sydney Top 100 and Silver medals at the Air NZ National and Easter Competitions in Auckland.

Chancellor:

The plans for a new Winery on the corner of State Highway 1 and Mt Cass Rd are complete. The facility should be ready by the end of the year. New export markets in Canada, Japan and Singapore have been opened with exports reaching 80% of total production in the past two years.

Daniel Schuster:

The '98 Omihi Hills Selection Pinot noir achieved 96/100 in James Halliday's Australasian Wine Compendium and the '98 Petrie Vineyard Selection Chardonnay a 5 Star rating in Bob Campbell's Cuisine Annual, and the Wine Guides of Michael Cooper, Vic Willams and Peter Saunders. '99 Mt Nelson Sauvignon blanc made in a joint venture with Marchese Antinori of Italy was listed in the Top 10 NZ Sauvignons by the Australian Wine Magazine.

Fiddlers Green:

New releases include the 2000 Riesling and Sauvignon blanc. Peter Saunders lists the Riesling among the Top 10 Wines for February 2001 and Michael Cooper gives it 4 Stars in his Wine Guide. The first Pinot noir (2000 vintage) will be released in June.

Floating Mountain:

Pinot noir from the '99 vintage received a Silver medal at the Air NZ Wine Awards (Nov 2000) and a Bronze at the Easter Competition (Feb 2001).

Glenmark Winery:

The '99 Proprietor's Reserve Riesling has just been released alongside Triple Peaks white blend of Riesling and Muller Thurgau. The original property of John McCaskey in the Weka Plains area has been sold, but will supply grapes to Glenmark under contract. A new vineyard is being established at the end of McKenzies Rd to be named 'House o'Hill'

Mountford Vineyard:

The '99 Pinot was awarded 90 points in the prestigious Wine Spectator Magazine in the USA. A new, high density planting of Pinot noir has been completed on the slope behind the winery. Further hillside plantings will continue over the next couple of years.

Muddy Water Fine Wines:

Production is expanding with new vineyards coming to crop in 2000. The total of 100,000 bottles will be reached in 2 years. The 1999 Pinot was awarded a blue-gold Award in the Sydney Top 100. Winemaker, Belinda Gould, is experimenting with a highly promising 2000 vintage Syrah to be released later on in the year.

Pegasus Bay:

The 2000 Sauvignon Semillon has been released. Both the Prima Donna Pinot noir '99 and the Pegasus Bay '99 Pinot noir achieved 5 Star rating in Cuisine, following similar success with the '99 Riesling.

Torlesse:

The 2000 Riesling made the Top 10 Wines Under $15 Retail in Cuisine magazine. New Waipara vineyards are coming into production to supply an expanding export market and the recently opened retail room alongside the Winery.

Waipara Downs:

Pinot noir '99 awarded a Bronze medal at the Air NZ Awards in November 2000. New releases include the 2000 vintage Pinot and Waipara River Ruby Port.

Waipara Springs:

The '99 Riesling (Silver) and 2000 Botrytised Riesling (Bronze) were awarded medals in the Easter Wine Competition in Auckland. New Releases include the 2000 Barrique Chardonnay and 2000 Sweet Riesling served to the Minister of Tourism the Hon. Mark Burton and guests at a luncheon at the winery on March 7th. New export markets include first shipments to Australia and Japan.

Waipara West:

Expansion of exports continues with shipments to Malaysia and France. The '98 Ram Paddock Red (a Bordeaux blend) was highly rated (Runners Up Category) in Oz Clark's Wine Buying Guide 2001. The Riesling and Pinot noir vineyard is being expanded due to increasing demand.

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