Browse Tag

villa maria

I once drank a wine named Maria

Villa Maria 2001 “Noble Late Harvest” Riesling (Marlborough) – 375 ml. Mixed apples, honeydew, and spikes – powerfully-hammered spikes – of acidity. Which are necessary, because the wine is intensely, almost neon-sweet, in a showily botrytized fashion. I think this is a really extraordinary wine when it’s fully mature, which this is probably a decade or more from achieving. (10/11)

Buyer & Cellar

[bottle]Villa Maria “Cellar Selection” 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – Lemon-lime, grapefruit, grass…all ripe, clean, and vibrant, with balanced acidity and just enough persistence. A little crystalline minerality as well, though this is a fruit-dominated wine, for sure. (7/09)

Villa Maria “Cellar Selection” 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – See above note, crediting the consistency of the closure. (7/09)

Sounds!

Villa Maria “Private Bin” 2008 Chardonnay (Marlborough) – Ripe orange and fig with a hint of butter. Big, clean, and nice. This is what cheap chardonnay should taste like. (3/09)

Bin there, done that

Villa Maria “Private Bin” 2007 Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon (Hawke’s Bay) – Herbed blueberry and blackberry. Simple, clean, and good according to the nose. But the palate? Baked. And the finish is horrid. (3/09)

Peter Cellars

Villa Maria “Cellar Selection” 2007 Riesling (Marlborough) – Ultra-clean and “perfect,” but it lacks the additional intensity and/or complexity it would need to achieve higher realms. Long, dry, and mineral-overwhelmed (mostly because there’s not much else), with little future indicated. Still, a good enough wine for early drinking. (3/09)

Private dancer

Villa Maria “Private Bin” 2008 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – Electric green fuzz, clean green apple skin. Tight. Classic, but stretched thin. Not bad. (3/09)

Private dancer

[vineyard]Villa Maria “Private Bin” 2007 Riesling (Marlborough) – As the years have passed and the need to shave margins to maintain a price point on the incredibly popular “Private Bin” sauvignon blanc have slowly chipped away at the value proposition of that wine, this has become Villa Maria’s secret budget star. No, it won’t put you off your Ürziger Würzgarten (or even your Pegasus Bay), but it will bring you exactly what the grape promises: clear light shone on rock, pristine apple, a nice bite of acidity, and a little fillip of stony/acidic bitterness on the finish. It’s simple and direct, and one could – and frequently will – do far, far worse. (3/09)

I once knew a girl

[vineyard]Villa Maria 2006 Sauvignon Blanc “Private Bin” (Marlborough) – Simpler than it used to be, with clean, basic tart citrus and apple flavors, a touch of gooseberry, and a very minor crunch. Nothing’s amiss, but… (6/08)