The Winemaker.
My first memory of wine being on the radar was at my grandparents place, Christmas dinner, when I was ten. Papa always fancied a drink, his martini’s and G&T’s were the stuff of legend. He also loved entertaining, big dinners, a bottle or two of special wine on the table. There was always a story that went with it. Great wine is all about that.
I spent nine years as winemaker at Vidal Estate in Hawke's Bay and was awarded New Zealand Winemaker of the year in 2006. I left later that year with a few ideas about what Hawke's Bay wines could be like, where the great ones would come from, and started Rod McDonald Wines Ltd to prove it. The plan was consult to a few leading producers and launch a family of wines, No.8 - all about making Hawke's Bay’s best Syrah, 1/4 Acre – capturing the kiwi dream, and One Off - wines less ordinary.
I make wine for Frizzell Wines, a creative and winemaking collaboration with New Zealand artist Dick Frizzell and consult to a number of top Hawke’s Bay wineries including the Matariki Group, Bridge Pa Vineyards, Osawa Estate Wines and Cypress Wines.
Keeping in touch with what's going on is important. I'm the current Chairman at the Hawke’s Bay A & P Wine Awards, a Senior Judge at the New Zealand International Wineshow and spent six years as Chairman of the Hawke's Bay Winegrowers Association, helping establish us as one of the great winegrowing regions of the world.
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News, Reviews And Tastings.
NEWS.
ONE OFF GOES OFF
The latest addition to the RM Wine range is the just released 'One Off' label. Kicking off with The Sticky, the idea behind it is to try and get people drinking late harvest style wines. I drink them with cheese, with dessert, with my mates at the end of the night. It's that easy, something to extend the night before the coffee comes out.
WHAT'S IN THE BARREL?
Next out of barrel and into bottle will be the 2010 No.8 Wines Limited Syrah. It's turned out to be another cracking Syrah vintage. Just take a look at some of the chat about it around the place - newspapers, shows, blogs - they're all starting to get excited about 2010 Syrahs from Hawke's Bay...we reckon we have a little beauty on our hands too. Watch this space.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG, THE BUDS HAVE BURST...
And now it's time to start dodging frost again.... Nothing like being up at 4am in the morning nursing coffee, a chocolate bar and making the freezing half hourly circuit around the vineyard to check all the frostlights.....so romantic....don't think so!
REVIEWS.
Jeremy Oliver Website on No.8 Wines 2007 Syrah:
This wine, his own, pips them for sheer complexity and unadulterated sensual pleasure. Black as pitch, with an intense aromatic compote of black berries and satsuma plum, laced with wood spices, cinamon and sechuan pepper. The palate is long and silky with an elegant tannin profile adding balance to the fruit. Nothing is out of place; the acid giving a verve to its step whilst the overall sensation is akin to taking your taste buds on a exotic joy ride that never seems to end. 97/100
TASTINGS.
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No.8 Wines Limited.
THE NO.8 WINES STORY...
The thing about living in a wine region and talking with your winemaking mates about what kind of wines we all want to drink and make, you start to imagine the perfect storm where everything comes together. Variety, vineyard, fruit, the way it’s made and matured, the combination of all these things make a wine.
For me, in Hawke’s Bay, it’s Syrah that tastes most like where it comes from, most like how it’s made, most like how we were thinking and feeling when we made it. It’s that simple. It suits the place, it suits me and I love drinking and making it.
2007 Syrah (100%)
The wine is deeply coloured with some attractive purple and crimson edges.
Typically spicy white pepper and thyme aromas lead into a palate that is full and rounded. The acid and tannins are well balanced and provide structure for this attractive and mouth filling wine.
Download full tasting notes here
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One Off Wines.
ONE OFF STORY...
Here's a few wines that don't quite fit with the others in the 'hood'. This time it's a sweetly scented sticky from the barrels at the back of the winery, but next time it could be some pre-Christmas bubbles we've been mucking around with, or even a bizarre grape varietal from Botswana - that's One Off. Unique. Never to be repeated. When it's gone, it's gone.
2010 LATE HARVEST SEMILLON
Wines like this are enjoyed all around the world, before, during and after dinner. The smell of sweet golden straw, lemons, honey and natural sweetness from a late harvest, along with a little botrytis for complexity, are balanced by a bright natural acidity.
Download full tasting notes here
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The Wines.
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Our Vineyards.
WHERE OUR GRAPES ARE GROWN.
We've chosen to grow our grapes in vineyards all over Hawke's Bay from coastal to inland sites. The region has a hugely diverse landscape, which means we have the ability to do a number of varieties and wine styles well. That's why we love growing grapes and making wine here.
Out on the coast is where we grow our Chardonnay and Viognier. It means nice bright acidity and pure, mineral flavours in the palate. Inland and at a little altitude is where our Sauvignon Blanc comes from. It's because of the elevation we can achieve the diurnal range - the difference between daytime highs and night time lows - making for punchy, unctuous Sauv Blanc.
Our reds are a combo of the ash, limestone and clay soils of Havelock North and the free draining alluvial gravels running alongside the Ngaruroro River. High daytime temperatures and warm nights result in grapes of complexity, flavour and ripeness.
THE 2011 VINTAGE.
The most important thing about harvest time is the weather. 2011 was the kind of vintage where low yielding, free draining vineyard shone. We had a pretty good spring with only a few frosts through October. Summer was hot and dry, which set up the vineyards perfectly to produce grapes of great flavour and ripeness. Autumn is without doubt the season which ultimately matters most. With some rain through March and April, inspired picking decisions were critical to deliver grapes to the winery in perfect condition.
We handpicked everything this year. It meant we were able to slip in and pick small blocks as they came to ripeness. It also meant we were able to sort fruit while we picked ensuring only grapes in perfect condition made the picking baskets.
We had some great fun, met some great pickers working their way around the country and also worked our arse's off. A typical harvest really.....
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Buy Wines.
HOW TO ORDER.
Add the wines you'd like to buy to your Wine Cart. If you have a super special code, you'll be asked to type it in part way through the process.
Please make sure the total number of bottles in your Wine Cart is a multiple of 6.
For example 6, 12, 18... bottles are all valid amounts.
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Where to Buy.
WHERE TO BUY IN NZ.
Advintage. 4 Donnelly Street / Havelock North / Hawkes Bay. Freephone 0800 111 660. advintage.co.nz
WHERE TO DRINK IN NZ.
Prego Restaurant. 226 Ponsonby Road / Ponsonby / Auckaland. Phone +64 9 376 3095. prego.co.nz
Ponsonby Road Bistro. 165 Ponsonby Road / Ponsonby / Auckland. Phone +64 9360 1611. ponsonbyroadbistro.co.nz
Mollies Restaurant. 6 Tweed Street / St Mary's Bay /Auckland. Phone +64 9 376 3489. mollies.co.nz
Hilton Queenstown Hotel. Kawarau Village / Peninsula Road / Queenstown. Phone +64 3 450 9400.
NEW ZEALAND DISTRIBUTORS.
Kemp Rare Wine Merchants. 143 Carlton Gore Road / Newmarket / Auckland / NEW ZEALAND. Phone +64 9 529 0935. kemprarewines.co.nz
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Resources.
Click on the desired image below to download hi-res image suitable for print and promotional material.
One Off
Late Harvest Semillon 2010
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1/4 Acre
2010 Viognier
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1/4 Acre
2010 Sauvignon Blanc
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1/4 Acre
2009 Merlot Malbec
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