Ataahua Wines were featured as our New Zealand Wine Website of the Week back in January and since then it has been a pleasure working with Stephanie, initially with having her present at The New Brighton Wine Club and more recently on assisting her with promoting Ataahua via The New Zealand Wine Directory.

I first tasted Stephanie’s wines at the Ohoka Farmers Market and liked them so much that I knew our club members would appreciate them too. Here I review the 2011 Savvy and 2009 Pinot, with reviews of her other wines to come…

Ataahua 2011 Waipara Sauvignon Blanc
Made completely from grapes grown in the Waipara Valley – bright straw gold, a tropical nose with citrus passion-fruit, nice weight on the palate, initial sweetness on the palate, great depth of fruit with lovely tart “gooseberry’ acidity that gets the juices flowing, nice length that lingered long after the wine had gone… 88 pts

Ataahua 2009 Waipara Pinot Noir
Although difficult to grow and manage in any wine region, Pinot Noir seems well suited to the Waipara soils and warm climate and the resulting wine from Ataahua is a great example of what can be done. The wine was a bit cool so I decanted and let it stand to breathe & warm before pouring back into the bottle for serving – Medium cherry red in the glass, black cherries & berries with a hint of earthiness on the nose, fresh acidity, velvety fine tannins and ripe fruit on the palate, nice oak influence from 12 months in French Oak, a dryish finish but it had great great length… 90 pts

Ataahua 2010 Waipara Chardonnay
A great Waipara chardonnay, Golden straw in the glass, stonefuit, citrus, nutty oak on the nose leading into a wonderfully textured wine on the palate with French oak ferment (a portion malolactic)  and aging providing a creamy, intense, complex and succulent wine.  I love a complex chardonnay and is is way up there with my favourites… 89.5 pts

To find out more about Ataahua Wines and purchase some of these and their other fabulous wines, visit the Attahua Wines Website or like their Facebook page to receive some great discounts and tips.