Reviews - Puriri Hills Reserve
2010 Puriri Hills Reserve
SEEING RED – Michael Cooper LISTENER February 4 20175 Stars - Just released, this outstanding red is sturdy (14% alc/vol), with blackcurrant, plum, spice and nut flavours, dense and lush. Showing lovely richness and harmony, it’s still unfolding but already it’s hard to resist.Michael Coopers Buyers Guide 2017
Michael Cooper’s Online Buyer’s Guide to NZ Wines: 2015Designated Classic. “The 2010 (5*) is outstanding – richly fragrant, ripe, densely packed, supple and very ‘complete’.”Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2010 - 5 starsMerlot (61%), Cabernet Sauvignon (14%), Carmenere (14%), CAbernet Franc (7%) and Malbec (4%). More intense and richer than the Estate label - this is certainly a step up in quality from a very serious red. Seamless wine with a silken texture and extraordinary lengthy finish. Blackberry, plum, anise/spice and a hint of wild flowers are just a few of the more obvious flavours. Accessible now but will age well. Top wine from an outstanding vintage. 21/1/2015Gourmet Traveller Wine (Apr/May) 2015
97 points. “This is a seamless wine with a silken extraordinary lengthy finish. Blackberry, plum, anise and a hint of wild flowers are the obvious flavours. Great now but will age well.
2009 Puriri Hills Reserve
Decanter Magazine 2018 Reviews by Rebecca Gibb 93 points. "Puriri Hills is truly different from New Zealand producers, releasing its wines five to eight years after the vintage. The newly launched vintages are ready to drink upon release like this Reserve (renamed Harmonie du Soir from the 2012 vintage). It is savoury, with hints of tobacco, pencil lead and herbal tones and offers up an elegant and fresh expression with a dry, savoury conclusion; fine tea-leaf-like tannis coat the palate."SEEING RED – Michael Cooper LISTENER February 4 20174.5 Stars - Still fairly youthful, this deeply coloured, graceful red is fragrant and full-bodied (13.5% alc/vol), with blackcurrant, olive and herb flavours, smooth and generous. Drink now or cellar.Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2009 5 starsMerlot (46%), Cabernet Franc (27%), Carmenere (20%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%). A big jump in quality on the Estate label from this vintage with greater concentration, more pronounced fruit flavour and a richer texture. Stylish wine with berry, cherry, plum, spice and floral/violet flavours. Moderately complex wine that delivers power with consummate subtlety. 21/1/2015
2008 Puriri Hills Reserve
SEEING RED – Michael Cooper LISTENER February 4 20175 stars - At the peak of its powers, this beautifully perfumed, savoury, nutty red is weighty (14.1% alc/vol), concentrated and complex, with an enduring finish. Grab it while you can.Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2008 5 starsntense and still locked in but with great potential. Ripe berry with spice and savory characters. Firm, fine tannins restraining flavor but it's still possible to see impressive laying and the lengthy finish is easy to appreciate. 5/12/2010Weinwasser Magazine, 25 June 2012 - Translation of article by Stephan Reinhardt Distinctively fruit intense, mature and sweet in the nose, nevertheless lucid and fresh, with peppery notes, ripe cherries, roast-juice, Cassis. Tender on the palate, supple, distinctively full-bodied and powerfull, but with velvety texture, terrific freshness and liquorish spice (seasoning). Appears easier and smoother, through it’s generous fruity dominance (black cherries, mulberries, Cassis), also less distinguished and with less finesse than the Pope, is more clearly defined in the tannins. Peppery seasoning, Liquorice and clove aromas, dark berries, fine slightly dry tannin, fresh from the backdrop here also, despite it’s intensity, no fat. Distinct Cassis character. Round. Intense reverberation. Very fruit dominant. 17/20, drink -2020Gourmet Traveller Wine (Aug/Sept 2012)95 points. “Intense and still locked in but with great potential. Ripe berry, with spice and savoury characters. Firm, fine tannins restraining flavour but it’s still possible to see layering of fruit and savoury flavours while the lengthy finish is easy to appreciate.” Drink now – 2021Falstaff September 2012 - 94 pointsMerlot dominated blend of the classic Bordeaux varieties. Medium ruby with violet reflections, bright color. Fine nuances of cherries, backed by dark berry confit, mineral nuances. Juicy, elegant texture, extract, fine supporting tannins, great finesse and length. (Falstaff Favorite)Michael Cooper - Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2012 5 stars “Invitingly fragrant, with strong, beautifully ripe blackcurrant, plum, herb and spice flavours, seasoned with nutty oak, it is a complex, very fresh and youthful wine with a seductively silky texture. It should flourish with bottle-age; open 2013+.”"Pomerols of the Pacific" - The Denizen 2012”The 2008 Puriri Hills Reserve is impressively fragrant showing the ripe berry and spice of Merlot and floral high notes of the Malbec with a graphite like austerity of Cabernet Franc. There is a solid base of sweet succulent fruit showcasing Merlot at its best with a beautiful freshness coming from both the Carmenere and the Cabernet Franc which, along with a dose of ripe Cabernet Sauvignon, contribute to a concentrated core of ripe tannin which is deceptively fine. Overall a stunning wine of concentration and elegance with a finely honed structure leaving the palate fresh and thirsting for more.”
2006 Puriri Hills Reserve
Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2006More intense than the regular label with impressive richness and savory characters. Weightier and quite complex with a great texture. Good length. Lovely floral character on the finish plus hints of spice and chocolate. 5/12/2010Gourmet Traveller Wine (Apr/May 2011)96 Points This is more intense than the regular label with impressive richness and savory characters. It is also weightier and quite complex with a great texture. It has good length, a lovely floral character on the finish, plus hints of spice and chocolate.Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines 20105 Stars “Dark, rich and supple, it is lush and finely textured, with blackcurrant, spice, herb and plum flavours, showing lovely richness and roundness.”
2005 Puriri Hills Reserve
Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2005 - 5 StarsAn unusual blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Carmenere that might have existed in Bordeaux toward the end of the nineteenth century before phylloxera signaled the decline of Carmenere. This is a classy and exciting red from Clevedon’s top producer. It’s an intense wine with powerful berry and oak flavours together with subtle spice/anise and and wild herb influences. A wine of great elegance and potential 5/6/2007Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2008 “Grown at Clevedon, in South Auckland, the very stylish 2005 (5 Star) is a blend of Merlot (40 percent), Carmenere (21 percent), Cabernet Franc (17 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (10 percent) and Malbec (12 percent). Very dark, with a spicy, nutty fragrance, it is lush, plump and silky, with blackcurrant, herb and spice flavours, deliciously soft and rich. Revealing great concentration and complexity, it’s a star vintage.”
2004 Puriri Hills Reserve
Bob Campbell Online Reviews 2004 - 5 StarsOwner/winemaker Judy Fowler held back the 2004 vintage for release after the more forward (and in my view slightly better) 2005 vintage. Still tight and youthful with restrained savoury, berry and wild herb flavours, this is a very stylish wine with much time ahead of it. Classy wine from a great, and as yet largely undiscovered, producer 11/6/2008Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine - (Aug/Sept 2008) 5 Stars - 2004 Puriri Hills Reserve – “Judy Fowler held back this 2004 vintage for release after the more forward 2005. Still tight and youthful, with restrained savoury, berry and wild herb flavours, this is a stylish wine with time ahead of it. Classy wine from a great, and as yet largely undiscovered, producer.”
2002 Puriri Hills Reserve
Michael Cooper’s 2007 Buyer’s Guide to NZ WinesGrown at Clevedon, in South Auckland, the very stylish 2002 vintage () is a blend of Merlot (50%), Cabernet Franc (42%) and Malbec (8%), matured for 21 months in French oak barriques (75 percent new). Densley coloured and highly fragrant, it has a lovely mouthfeel and texture, with an array of plum, spce, herb, leather and chocolate flavours, good supporting tannins and excellent harmony. It’s a sensuous red, savoury and silky.