I recently attended The Wet Jacket Wine Experience tasting at The Hour Glass wine bar in New Plymouth, presented by Dan Kral. Attendees were treated to 6 excellent wines matched with six delicious & complementary morsels to enjoy.
WET JACKET
Dan, a most knowledgeable and entertaining presenter, led a very interested group of about 30 attendees through tasting the wines, intertwined with the stories and history surrounding the Wet Jacket brand, and the Putangi Conservation fundraiser, for Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound habitat and endangered species conservation.
The history goes back to when Captain Cook was exploring the far reaches of the Fiordland National Park, especially around the Dusky and Breaksea Sounds in 1773, recording ocean floor depths and Celestial Mappings. The Wet Jacket Arm name was chosen by Cook due to the sodden nature of the crew’s jackets after days in torrential rainfall there.
He also talked about the first real conservationist in New Zealand, Richard Henry who arrived on Pigeon Island in 1894, and over 14 years save some of our rarest birds, relocating them to predator free Resolution Island.
Wet jacket is the brainchild of Greg Hay, ex Chard Farm & Peregrine wines in Central Otago. Greg is passionate about this, the remotest, wettest, farthest from and actual vineyard place in NZ. He had an epiphany when visiting the Wet Jacket Arm on the MV Pembroke back in 2015 – fell in love with the place, and Wet Jacket Wines was born.
Dan also talked us through each of the wines, answering questions as we tasted.
You can read more in detail about the history, the stories and Greg’s vision for Wet Jacket Wines on the website – you can also buy and try the wines for yourself. https://www.wetjacket.nz/
THE VENUE
The Hour Glass staff provided a delicious dish with each wine, so many thanks to Jenna and her team for a great venue and brilliant service. Pours were generous and the food was beautifully matched as you can see below.
THE WINES
2023 Wet Jacket Rose – Pretty with raspberry blossom, strawberry, peach and pomegranate. Bright with white peach, mango, raspberry, strawberry and ripe grapefruit. Finely textured with nice minerality, fresh acidity and good persistence.
2024 Wet Jacket Pinot Gris – Aromatic with orange blossom, white nectarine and apricot. Rich and velvety with ripe pineapple, white peach, mandarin and lemon custard. Well balanced with fresh acidity and good weight. Finely textured with a long mineral finish.
2023 Wet Jacket Chardonnay – Fragrant with ripe pear, white stone-fruit, apple pie, caramel and hints of vanilla.Well rounded on the palate with brioche and hazelnut. Medium bodied with bright acidity and lovely textural phenolics. The finish is long with notes of honey and almonds.
2023 Putangi Pinot Noir – Perfumed with blueberries, plums, and red berries with hints of dried herbs, cloves, and vanilla. Pretty and juicy on the palate with red berries, coffee, chocolate, and tobacco notes. Medium-bodied and well-balanced with fine grain tannin and a long finish showing a lovely subtle spiciness.
2012 Wet Jacket Pinot Noir – Fragrant with black cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant, black pepper, nutmeg and violets. Well balanced with fine grain tannins. Concentrated blackberries and hints of tobacco, chocolate and Christmas cake. A long finish with notes of mocha and black cherry. (2023 is the current vintage)
2021 Wet Jacket Aurora Legacy Syrah – Aromatic with violets, dark plum, white pepper, blackberries, blueberries, dark chocolate and a hint of cardamom. A bright rich red fruit entry with blackberry, fruitcake, spiced plum and delicate florals. Concentrated and dense with silky tannins and a long velvety finish of berries and dark chocolate.
NB. Tasting notes from the Wet Jacket Website
For me personally, the wines were all of excellent quality – I scribbled a few notes for my own interest, but I’d love to actually sit down with each wine and review it without the distractions. i.e. Lovely chatty and engaged wine lovers, asking questions and thoroughly enjoying the experience.
So many thanks to Dan and the Hour Glass team for an informative, entertaining and delicious event – I hope there will be many more – I’ll be there. Cheers, JB.
