A trio of 2024 wines
Jules Taylor needs little introduction to wine lovers in Aotearoa New Zealand and for readers who may not be as familiar, Jules is one of the most experienced winemakers in Marlborough. She's as famous for experimenting with quirky wines such as Gruner Veltliner and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc and barrel influenced Sauvignon, to name just a few, as for mainstream ones.
This new trio represent the first wines off the bottling line this year, 2025.
Here are my reviews.
17.5/20
2024 Jules Taylor Wines Marlborough Pinot Gris RRP $26
Dry, fleshy and with pronounced lemon juice flavours lead into a medium bodied wine with fleshy texture in the mouth and a lingering finish. This youthful wine will mellow with time, gaining the feeling of more body and white pear flavours layered with spice.
17.5/20
2024 The Jules Rosé RRP $26
Bright bold summer berries and cherry aromas give the game away in this fruit forward rosé, which is made mostly from Merlot grown in Gisborne, supplemented with Pinot Noir from Marlborough, which accentuates the aromatic lift in this fragrant and refreshing wine. Dry in style and in taste, this wine has 2.8 grams residual sugar and the components of the blend are 82% Merlot and 18% Pinot Noir.
18/20
2024 Jules Taylor Wines Marlborough Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc RRP $36
Luscious liquid honey flavours lead the style of this late harvest Sauvignon Blanc, which was made from grapes that were hand picked on cool mornings in May and early June in 2024. The shrivelled grapes were crushed and pressed then returned to the press to allow their skins to rehydrate, to obtain a few more precious drops of this tropical scented nectar. A slow, cool temperature fermentation took four weeks to create a wine of great depth and body with layers of lusciousness.
This is a youthful wine that will benefit greatly with age in the bottle for at least 10 years.