VILLA MARIA SINGLE VINEYARD SEDDON PINOT GRIS 2020

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"This Pinot Gris is sourced from our iconic Seddon Vineyard on the southern bank of the Awatere River. This is a rich, textural wine with a creamy palate from spending extended time ageing on yeast lees. Aromas of fresh honeycomb intermingle with juicy summer peaches, the fleshy palate is framed by soft but balanced acidity with a lingering, textural finish."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
"One of the country's top Pinot Gris, this Awatere Valley wine is estate-grown and partly barrel-fermented (in 2020, 32 per cent of the blend was fermented in seasoned oak barriques; the rest was fermented and lees-aged for nine months in tanks). Currently delicious, the 2020 vintage is highly fragrant, weighty and rich, with notably concentrated, stone-fruit flavours, a slightly oily texture and a dryish (9 grams/litre of residual sugar), well-rounded finish."

5 Stars & 94/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, September 2021 (2020 Vintage)
"It's fabulously fruited and fragrant on the nose showing rockmelon, poached pear, subtle spice and potpourri aromas, followed by a lush palate that's juicy and mouthfilling. Generously expressed yet with elegance and poise, offering terrific drinking. At its best: now to 2026."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, September 2021 (2020 Vintage)
"Pure, ripe white fleshed fruits, floral, a fine lees tension and mineral core present the bouquet. An excellent texture on the palate with a fine chalk powder feel, a core of white fleshed fruits from green pear to golden apple, nashi pear to ripe citrus peel. A fine lees and spice layer builds in complexity and breadth. Balanced, lush, fruity, fleshy and well made with a warm, generous finish. Best drinking from purchase and through 2025."

94/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, September 2021 (2020 Vintage)
"Rich, almost luscious pinot gris with ripe peach, tree fruit, mixed spice, floral, honeysuckle and brioche flavours. An initial hint of sweetness helps promote a silken and sumptuous texture, although the wine finishes dry."

Reviews for the 2019 vintage below…

5 Stars Yvonne Lorkin, January 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"So beautifully balanced it’s like a ballerina tiptoeing in pointe shoes across your tongue on a tightrope. Aromatically it delivers fresh nashi and yellow plum perfume in spades, while the cleansing, juicy, white nectarine notes wash soothingly over the palate and leave a lengthy, textural finish. Slightly less sweet than previous vintages, but it’s still luxurious to sip."

5 Stars & Top 10 Cuisine Pinot Gris Tasting, February 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"A very poised and precise example. Crab apples with spice and apple blossom are present both on the nose and palate, with good texture and chewy crumble and sweet ginger-pastry base characters that add intrigue. Great acidity and generous tannin spice in a luscious framework. Quite a complete and relaxed wine."

Metro Magazine Top 50 Wines for 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Villa Maria’s Seddon vineyard sits in the lower Awatere Valley. While Marlborough is usually synonymous with the Wairau Valley (where most of the province’s wineries and vineyards are located), the Awatere sits just over the Wither Hills, to the south. It’s cooler here, and the wines from this sub-region tend to show it — which is all to the good for a grape like pinot gris, which loves to drop its refreshing acidity like it’s going out of fashion. And it’s this acidity that really lifts this wine above others in the category. “Wet wool, lanolin, mineral, saline, tickling tannins and great balance,” said Dale."