Media Release

2012 vintage wines possess “richness and volume”

GIMBLETT GRAVELS® 2012 Annual Vintage Selection revealed

13th August 2014

GIMBLETT GRAVELS WINE GROWING DISTRICT®
Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

On concluding a tasting of GIMBLETT GRAVELS® red wines to select the top twelve wines to represent the 2012 vintage, Andrew Caillard MW applauded the winemakers who rose to the challenge of one of the most difficult vintages ever to produce “fragrant expressive” wines.

The fifth year of this initiative from the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association (GGWA), the Annual
Vintage Selection serves as a unique snapshot of a particular vintage and helps to chart the evolution of
GIMBLETT GRAVELS® wines on a vintage by vintage basis.

Based in Sydney, Andrew Caillard MW has been the independent selector for all five vintages, 2008-2012,
inclusive. Highly respected, he is internationally recognized as a leading wine critic.

In making the selections for the 2012 Annual Vintage Selection, Andrew commented that although 2012 was a challenging vintage, “there were many fragrant expressive wines with generous fruit complexity and underlying savoury nuances” and that the very “best wines possessed mid-palate richness and volume”.

Chairman of the GGWA, Tony Bish commented “the ability to pull through quality wines from such a difficult year is a credit to the sub-region. The Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association has the opportunity to quieten some critics who have judged the vintage before the wines themselves, further strengthening our sub-region’s unique capabilities and quality reputation”.

The 2012 Annual Vintage Selection will comprise the following wines (in alphabetical order):
Blended reds (Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon dominant):
Alluviale Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon
Babich The Patriarch
Babich Irongate
Unison Selection Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
Villa Maria Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

Syrah:
Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Vineyard
Mission Estate Reserve
Sacred Hill Deerstalkers
Squawking Magpie Stoned Crow
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels
Unison
Villa Maria Reserve

ENDS

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