Down here in New Zealand we rely on the reviews of the lauded international wine critics such as Robert Parker Jnr (Wine Advocate and erobertparker.com), James Suckling (Wine Spectator), Stephen Spurrier (Decanter), Anthony Hanson (Christies) and perhaps to a lesser extent, Jancis Robinson, to find out what the new vintage European wines are like.

I'm thinking Bordeaux in particular and the great Bordeaux tasting at the end of March, six months on from vintage. It is the reviews of Parker and Suckling in particular, writing primarily for the all-important and affluent American buyer, that seem to set the 'en primeur' prices (prices for buying the wine up to 2 years before release). A 95 to 100 point wine will be highly sought after and so the economics of supply and demand come into effect. The higher the score the higher the demand and the higher the price that the producer can set. It's interesting that prices are not set until the American writers' reviews are in.

But nobody really expects Chateau Margaux and the other First Growths to do badly, do they?

As for the lesser wines, is a 90-point wine just so much better an 89-point wine? No not really. It's an old debate yet points are what the majority of punters want, it seems. And 'punter' is such a relevant term when it comes to buying 'en primeur'. The better the score the better the investment, no matter what the price might be.

I agree with Jancis Robinson who says "Once numbers are involved, it is all too easy to reduce wine to a financial commodity rather than keep its precious status as a uniquely stimulating source of sensual pleasure and conviviality."

But should these reviewers really be applying points to such a degree (the 100-point reviewers I'm talking about now) when the wine is still in diapers - or in the barrel in this case. And are they meaningful? I don't think so. The wines are not finished, for god's sake.

I say this with authority because I have actually been to a barrel tasting. No it wasn't Bordeaux - that would be both rather exciting and rather daunting, the thought of hundreds of baby Bordeaux wines. No, it was actually here in New Zealand and held in Hawkes Bay.

It was the inaugural Hawkes Bay Vintage Review and Barrel Tasting in October of last year. Although there were only 77 wines in total, I now know what a difficult task it is to taste and review unfinished wines six months on from vintage.

Over 60 producers, whether resident in Hawkes Bay or not, had been asked to submit wines. In the end the wines of 29 producers took part and while some big companies such as the Villa Maria Group and Matua Valley participated, it was mainly the wines of the boutiques. And all tantalised the tasters by putting forward some of their best.

It was a diverse tasting with 18 grape varieties represented including the region's first-to-be releases of Verdelho, Tempranillo and Montepulciano. These were joined by samples of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay in the whites and Pinot Noir, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Zinfandel in the reds. A sweet wine was originally going to be included, but it hadn't finished its ferment.

Apart from the early release bottled whites, the majority of the wines were taken from the barrel. Yeast and malolactic fermentations were finished but the after effects of these necessities were still quite apparent, especially in some of the whites that were still on their yeast lees. The reds, in particular the Cabernets, Merlots and 'Hawkes Bay blends', were still so tightly wound up in their youthful tannins and heavily under the influence of oak. These were the premiums however, wines that will continue to be aged in barrel for another 6 months at least and perhaps up to 18 months in total. Follow this with a period of maturation in bottle before the wines are released to the trade and the earliest they will be on the market is likely to be after the middle of 2003, at least 15 months from harvest.

So I didn't score the wines. But I could get an overall feel for the vintage. And it is a definite 'thumbs up', that's for sure.

2002 in Hawkes Bay out as started as 'average', according to Nicholas Buck who convened the day. It was calm and settled at springtime budburst then a warm wet summer showed no real heat until the middle of February, which had the winegrowers a little worried for a while. But the much needed sun and heat had arrived. Autumn was warm and dry resulting in fantastic ripening weather, allowing in many instances the grapes to be picked on flavour rather than being hustled into the winery by constraints of the weather.

The wines were set out for tasting in a natural progression of style.

The bottled whites were clean and fresh although the few entries of Sauvignon Blanc were a disparate group, the range in styles not really representative of what Hawkes Bay can produce.

What excited me most was Chardonnay. Now I am not a great fan of chardonnay at any time. I find so many of them too heavily worked, perhaps to making up for deficits in the vineyard - as in 2001 when the northern growers experienced humid weather and rains causing half the crop to be dropped - or in other years when the grapes have been overcropped.

However, with these Hawkes Bay Chardonnays from the 2002 vintage I could be reconverted into loving this variety. I am convinced these are going to be some of the best ever seen. The fruit is just so good and the wines have flavour, they have phenomenal length and just about every wine tasted showed excellent balance of sugars to acid. I'll be waiting with anticipation for their releases when the wines are finished. Indeed some of the early Hawkes Bay Chardonnays that have come out in the last couple of months are confirming my prediction.

Syrah was the stand out variety of the reds and the 15 wines plucked from the barrel for tasting showed the variety is definitely the new great red hope for Hawkes Bay. It was only as recently as 1989 when Alan Limmer released the first Stonecroft Syrah and other growers watched with interest. Yet just six years ago people were still questioning the ability for Syrah to consistently ripen in the climate. But with successive good vintages and winegrowing experience to look back upon, those worries seem to be past. There are at least 25 producers of Syrah in Hawkes Bay now and 90% of the vines are 'young'.

At the discussion at the end of the tasting, some people said they could detect the difference in styles between the Syrah grown on the gravels and the Syrah grown on the clays. The former group was more aromatic while the latter were fleshier, they said. But I didn't use the notes provided to split out the growing regions - nor could I as the soil types were not stated in every profile. I just summarised my thoughts in my notebook. In general I found well-coloured, well-structured, weighty wines in a range of styles. The fruit was good judging by the comments in my notes. 'Really good fruit', 'ripe fruit', 'juicy fruit', 'lovely sweet fruit' were descriptions commonly used. Some of the wines had wonderfully floral aromatics while most had good definition of peppery spice. Tannins varied from rich, grippy and meaty to long and smooth.

Now all the producers need to do is make these wines affordable so the average Joe-drinker will be able to discover the delights of the 2002 Syrahs.

Pinot Noir was an excellent class - but Alpha Domus was the only one of the ten Hawkes Bay Pinot growers who submitted a wine for us to try. If the others are as doing as well as AD appears to be, Pinot Noir from Hawkes Bay could become rather interesting. This one was a well-balanced smoky wine with crisp black cherry fruit and firm ripe tannins. The potential is there and I wait for its release.

The Merlots, Cabernets and Hawkes Bay blends - that is blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and/or Cabernet Franc and/or Merlot and/or Malbec and/or Syrah and/or anything else that one wanted to add - were the hardest group to look at given the age of their development. I found most of them hiding behind excessive oak and tannin domination, which is not unexpected six months on from vintage. It made me wonder again, 'How on earth does Robert Parker assess wines at this age to the nth point?' When I taste the wines on release I'll have a better idea.

I found the 100 per cent deep dark red Merlots aggressively rich and tannic. Lots of smoky oak, grunty tannins, some still quite yeasty. Only a handful showed the potential of the underlying fruit and many had a green character. I was in Hawkes Bay in April 2002 as the red wine harvest got underway. I know there was some panic picking at Easter when a cool wet southwesterly blew through. Those who persevered and waited for the warm drying winds that followed will be best off.

I definitely preferred the 'blends' to the 100 per cent varietals of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines were more uniform, the quality was good as a whole and there were one or two quite sumptuous wines already. I was totally besotted with the Esk Valley Reserve Merlot Malbec, a consistently classy wine year in, year out and amazing integration even at this early stage. It set a benchmark, although rather late.

Modelled on the Bordeaux event, the Hawkes Bay Vintage Review gave the writers and key trades' people an excellent opportunity to capture the essence of the region in a day.

I found it good to be able to work at my own pace, to assess the wines without having a producer looking over my shoulder. "The first truly professional wine tasting in New Zealand", said Listener critic, Keith Stewart.

The overview of vintage gives everyone who attended a basis of knowledge to work on for the future.

But the question was raised "Is it valid to taste unfinished wines?"

The answer from those in attendance was a resounding "Yes, in the context of the day."

It was good to see the established names on the 'must watch list' being joined by relative newcomers, included in the latter the wines of Moana Park. I was impressed with this producer two years ago at the Wine Trade Fair and tip them again as a winery to watch out for.

With the established and new producers, the established and new wine styles and the quality of the wines in general, 2002 will be an excellent vintage to look out for. People should take advantage of new release tastings, find the wines they like and stock up on them, especially Chardonnay and Syrah. For the 2003 crop will be down thanks to successive spring frosts. Although it is not as bad as it was first thought to be, Chardonnay is definitely affected and some of the premium vineyards have lost up to 75 per cent.

© Sue Courtney
30 January 2003.