The 2007 Aviator is beautifully perfumed with florals and spices and it’s an extremely elegant wine, like a little sister of the 2009. However he and Kate appeared nervous as we sipped, but they needn’t have worried because the room was collectively wowed.

“Since the beginning we’ve always strived to improve but this year we’re incredibly happy with how the wine has emerged” says Paul. It has just been selected by NZ Winegrowers to be included in their First Fifteen wine tasting in England where it’ll be put up against fifteen top reds from Bordeaux. With 2009 being touted as the red vintage of the decade we were eager to taste the new Aviator. These ‘red gravels’ are responsible for producing some of New Zealand’s most sought-after wines, wines from the likes of Sileni, Ngatarawa, Bridge Pa Vineyard and Te Mata Estate. Situated in the Triangle district of the western Heretaunga Plains, the soils are similar to those of the neighbouring Gimblett Gravels but they also have a distinct red topsoil layer above the stones. The company name is an anagram of the family members names Anthonius and Leonarda (the parents) followed by Paulus, Henrikus and Anthonius. The Ham family were horticulturalists who purchased their 20 hectare block on Maraekakaho Road back in 1989 and they began planting over the following four years. Isn’t that more important than having an ordered shelf in your cellar?” This is inevitably met with much eye-rolling and muffled “whatever’s”. You know that wine is going to create memories and make an impression as soon as you open it. “Making our best wines only in the best years is a guarantee of quality. “We like to make it easy” I tell my foreign friends. “All the great producers in Bordeaux make their top wines each year regardless – why can’t you kiwis?” Having to constantly monitor which years were good or bad especially when you’re paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a bottle just seems like a huge pain in the jacksie. Serious collectors, (particularly from overseas) like to see unbroken lines and they just can’t get their heads around our attitude. This insistence by producers of New Zealand’s top wines to only make them when the fruit is perfect gives fine wine collectors no end of grief. As a consequence there was no 2008, 2006, 2004, 2003 or 2001, nor was there one produced in 1997. Yet this wine is only produced in years when the fruit is exceptional. A traditional ‘Bordeaux blend’ this wine can be a melange of any or all of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and cabernet franc depending on the vintage. Even waiting as little as 48 hours from tasting to harvest can mean the difference between success and failure”.Īlong with a group of Wellington-based wine enthusiasts I’ve joined Kate and her boss, General Manager Paul Ham at Duke Carvell’s Emporium, to taste for the first time a vertical collection of their flagship wine, The Aviator. I definitely think this is where we have the advantage over larger wineries, particularly in really challenging vintages like the one we’ve just had. “I love being able to walk outside directly into any of our vineyard blocks to check on how the fruit is tasting. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.“Having our winery right in the middle of the vineyard is the best thing for me as a winemaker” says Kate Galloway of Hawke’s Bay’s Alpha Domus wines. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.Ĭhardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels.

Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet.

Alpha domus