Innovative, maverick, walking to the beat of their own drums... these wines and their makers stand on their own extremely strong merits as my best wines of the year. It has been a privilege to taste all of them (and more) and as I write this column on the eve of a new year, it is with a sense of both awe and dismay. The awe is at the adventurously innovative integrity and insightfulness that have gone into making these wines. The dismay is the fact that many people on the planet don't have any water right now, let alone wine.
For those of us lucky enough to have both and who are as inspired by great wine as this writer, the following list has an unabashed New Zealand slant. The top two wines of the year are both European and reflect the exceptional wines that cross my path as both a wine writer and as a wine lover. The vast majority of wines on this list are from New Zealand and, for a change, I am not giving ratings in this list. These wines stand on their own merits.
I hope you enjoy the read and the wines, where and when they are available. Some, such as Big Ted Pinot Noir, are pretty easy to come by while others, such as Schoenenbourg and Pfarrwingert are not only challenging to pronounce but difficult to find. Nevertheless, they are worth sharing for their beauty and the inspiring harmony in taste that their producers bring to every succulent sip.
Wine of the year
2016 Schoenenbourg Marcel Deiss Alsace Grand Cru RRP $150-ish
Schoenenbourg is one of the revered south facing vineyard sites in Alsace and this seductively smooth field blend is made from grapes that are all picked together, fermented together and bottled as an expression of the site. There is typically a little botrytis and the wine is dry in taste with a lushness that suggests a touch of residual sugar. The balance is impeccable. An absolutely beautiful wine, which I enjoyed with a friend who has been cellaring it for years, ever since bringing it back from Domaine Marcel Deiss in Bergheim, Alsace. Layers of harmony and smoothness make ever sip a seductive experience in this pure and beautiful field blend from biodynamic maestro and family, Marcel Deiss. Riesling is queen in this wine, carrying honeyed tones that are seamlessly intermingled with the gentle spice of Gewürztraminer, the plushness of Pinot Gris and pure grapey aromas of Muscat. Biodynamically certified.
2014 Weingut Meyer-Nakel Pfarrwingert Spätburgunder GG RRP $180-ish
This is the best Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) that I have tasted from Germany and it comes from the Ahr Valley; ironically, the country's northernmost wine region and one of its smallest with 529 hectares of vines. The tiny Ahr Valley has the highest proportion of Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) vines of all Germany's wine regions with 60%+ of its 529 hectares of total vineyard area being devoted to this great red grape. Grapes in this complex, savoury wine grew on precipitously steep, slate dominated vineyard slopes in the Ahr. Savoury aromas of gently smoked cedar, stony purity and beautifully fragrant red fruited scents are seamlessly integrated in every sip. This wine presents Spätburgunder at its best; unfined, unfiltered and pure. Organically certified and a member of the VDP.
2021 Pegasus Bay Minuetto Sauvignon Semillon RRP $39.99
Minuetto is the newest addition to Pegasus Bay's reserve range of wines and 2021 is the first vintage. It was released in 2024 following the winery owners' and team's collective dedication to giving great wines the lengthy period of time they need to put their best foot forward. This wine is modelled on the great whites of Bordeaux, which typically makes up about five per cent of that region's production but shines a seductively different light on Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. This wine does too with its nuances of creamy texture, vibrant lemongrass, grapefruit and ripe citrus flavours all captured in an incredibly ageworthy wine. Minuetto is a powerful new addition to Aotearoa's wine scene.
2020 Olga Raffault Les Barnabes Chinon RRP $38.99
Weighty, dry, silky and complex. This Cabernet Franc comes from arguably the most respected winery in Chinon AC, an appellation in the Loire Valley, France, where Franc is famed for its freshness and flavours of bright cherries, which are captured here in a smooth and structured red to drink now or to age for seven to eight years. Olga Raffault was founded by Olga and her husband Pierre, who worked the estate together until he died unexpectedly in 1947. Olga ran the business with the assistance of employee Ernest Zenninger, a German prisoner of war who later became the winemaker and worked closely with Olga's son Jean Raffault, who has now taken over winemaking. Biodynamically certified.
2023 Big Ted Pinot Noir RRP $95
Organic, soft, supple and, yes, now available in new innovative packaging - a two litre, round bag in the box format with a tap. Central Otago Pinot Noir needs no introduction but to create this quality and have the courage to present it to the market in a pale pink round box with exceptional artwork on the cover is, well, maverick to say the least. It's also delicious. An earthy taste profile with a red fruited core of ripe cherries, plums and delicate acidity carrying each sip. The grapes are all estate grown, destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts with ageing in French oak. Organically certified and vegan friendly. For those counting the cost, two litres equates to 2.67 bottles, which equates to $35.58 per bottle, or less at some retail stores.
2023 Dicey Syrah RRP $49
Preparing for climate change or responding to it? Either way, this dark fruit scented Syrah represents an outstanding addition to the Dicey wine stable. It is the first vintage of Syrah under the Dicey brand and was made with spontaneous fermentation with 21 days on skins and 10 months in seasoned oak. The wine is unfined and unfiltered, allowing elegant, dry and weight dark fruit flavours to shine.
2016 Maude East Block Riesling Central Otago RRP $32
The Maude wine brand turned 30 years old this year and while Pinot Noir leads production and the focus, this is the wine that spoke the clearest to me in a retrospective tasting of the great range from this producer in Wanaka. Pristine, purity and youthfulness shine in this complex aged expression of Riesling with limes and ripe baked apples showing the potential of Otago to make great whites. Every sip has a succulent clarity and memorable deliciousness.
2022 Dog Point Marlborough Pinot Noir RRP $60
Dog Point Vineyards' owners and winemakers have etched an elegant reputation for their great whites and for their Pinot Noirs. This wine encapsulates the outstanding beauty, weight, silky texture and supple expression of Pinot Noir from the sun drenched clay hill slopes of Marlborough's Southern Valleys. Aromas of fresh red fruits, bright fresh acidity and a well matched medium body all suggest a long life ahead for this new release Pinot Noir.
2022 Tony Bish Skeetfield Vineyard Chardonnay RRP $80
Skeetfield Vineyard is home to many of the greatest Chardonnays ever made in Aotearoa New Zealand and its old vine dry-farmed Mendoza Chardonnay vines are a key reason for this. Tony Bish is also a Chardonnay devotee and the only person to have devoted a winery entirely to this great white grape, so it's no surprise he produces this exceptional wine. Hand picked grapes were whole bunch pressed with minimal settling and 100% barrel fermentation followed by maturation in 60% new Taransaud French oak. Smooth, textural qualities on the palate are captured in a wine with pure freshness, powerful weight and a long finish. Drinking beautifully now and can age.
2022 Craggy Range Aroha RRP $165
Aroha means love in Māori and plenty of that went into this beautiful Pinot Noir from a very challenging vintage. The 2022 year was relatively wet and yet has still produced this seductively perfumed red fruit scented wine. Notes of savoury spice are captured in a medium bodied expression of Pinot Noir from Te Muna Valley - the easternmost vineyard area in Martinborough where the high winds, stony soils and elevation of about 400 metres above sea level all contributed to impressively structured Pinots. Despite the tough vintage, winemaker Ben Tombs says there was never a consideration not to make Aroha.
Two other wines that blew my mind this year come from Colli Tortonese in Piemonte and the Eden Valley in South Australia. There have been many northern Italian reds, southern Italian reds from Mt Etna and German Rieslings that I adored this year but for innovation and surprise factor, these two wines have found their way onto my Best Wines of 2024 list, alongside the top 10, featured above.
2021 Sons of Eden Cirrus Riesling RRP $39-ish
Winemaker Corey Ryan began his working life as a pilot, then studied microbiology and became a winemaker. He has never looked back. That's good news for Riesling devotees and lovers of elegant Shiraz. Ryan and an old school friend founded Sons of Eden and they make this wine from vineyards situated at 520 metres to 550 metres above sea level in the Eden Valley, South Australia. Spontaneous yeast fermentation in 100% stainless steel tanks followed by a year's ageing in tank and another in the bottle all bring youthfulness with a touch of softness to the palate in this lime zesty expression of Southern Hemisphere Riesling.
2021 La Colombera Derthona Timorasso RRP $48.99
Timorasso is one of the world's great white grapes and was originally the heart and soul of Gavi DOCG prior to phylloxera all but wiping it out. In the past couple of decades, it has made a comeback thanks to the pioneering work of Walter Massa, an unsung white wine hero in the world of wine today. Timorasso has all the alluring attributes of dry Chenin Blanc and Riesling, with the weight of outstanding Chardonnay and the depth of Verdiccio but with its own flavour spectrum of flintiness, a hint of citrus (which blossoms with 10+ years in the bottle) and great savouriness, fresh acidity and a lingering finish.
Try it. Try them all.
Happy New Year... bring on a time when we all have water and wine.
