Not Steve Croft

Stonecroft 2000 Gewürztraminer (Hawke’s Bay) – Dead cheese (not just rotten, but an actual corpse), celery, and stinky armpit. Blessedly short. A truly awful wine. (3/05)

Alexis, Joan

Kim Crawford 2008 “Unoaked” Chardonnay (Gisborne/Hawke’s Bay) – Sweet tropical candy. Dried fruit. Rainier cherry? Eh. (3/09)

Vodka Gimblett

Trinity Hill 2006 Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon Gimblett Gravels “The Gimblett” (Hawke’s Bay) – Chunky peanut butter, which melds with a gravelly texture. Incredibly rough. Uninteresting despite the terroir signature. (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)

By the bay

Oyster Bay 2007 Merlot (Hawke’s Bay) – Watermelon Jolly Rancher. In a merlot? No thanks. (3/09)

Three-top

Trinity Hill 2007 Syrah Gimblett Gravels (Hawke’s Bay) – Blueberry, bark, smoke, and dirt. Drinkable. (3/09)

Mills brothers

Mills Reef 2003 Sauvignon Blanc “Reserve” (Hawke’s Bay) – The wood here isn’t apparent on the nose or palate, but it files off all the variety’s signature edges, leaving a smoother, rounder core of greenish-yellow fruit. Which has, in turn, been diminished by age, leaving a pleasant and somewhat creamy layer of something a little more stone fruited in its wake. This is probably at the end of its useful life, and it’s definitely a low-volume wine, so proceed accordingly. (12/08)

Hannah

Montana 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (Hawke’s Bay) – Mixed cherries and dark berries, with herbal notes throughout. Innocuous, but I’m not sure the intention is otherwise. It’s as good as any mass-produced wine at this level, I guess, and maybe just a wee bit better. (3/05)

Boundary conditions (& the coriolis force)

Te Awa 2004 “Boundary” (Hawke’s Bay) – Blueberry soup with caramelization, yet oddly the dominant feature on the finish is the underripeness. There’s good structure despite the stew, but the wine is over-concentrated, gelatinous, and far too sticky. (2/08)

Not the guy who invented the computer

Babich 2005 Chardonnay “Unwooded” (Hawke’s Bay) – Under screwcap, and heavily reduced. It doesn’t much matter, however, because there’s just not much here to rescue; the mild, melony fruit is wimpy and generally useless. Babich is typically a very solid producer, even at the low end, so this performance is a little surprising. (8/07)