Spotlight on... Moana Park Winery in Hawke’s Bay

Moana Park Wines By Joelle Thomson Moana Park Winery has a rare feather in its cap – it is one of New Zealand’s only 100% certified vegan wine producers. Other wineries make vegan friendly wines but everything made at Moana Park ticks that box. It also makes an incredibly diverse range of wines from full bodied reds to light bodied rosés and refreshing whites. That’s because it is in Hawke’s Bay, a region spanning an incredibly diverse range of climates from north of Napier to inland and south of Hastings. Hawke’s Bay is the biggest wine region in the North Island and the second biggest in New Zealand. It has 4771 hectares of producing vineyard land and four grapes vie for lead place, each of them with approximately 1000 hectares each. These are Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris. The Bay’s varied climate zones allow all of these different varieties – and more - to thrive in the specific areas they are grown in. This makes the region an exciting one when it comes to high quality and good value wines across the board. These wines of the week highlight just how delicious Hawke’s Bay wines can be. Star wine of the week 18.5/20 4.5 stars 2018 Moana Park Syrah Here’s a bold, powerful and spicy Syrah with depth in colour, aroma and flavour, thanks to the ripe, juicy grapes that went into this wine. Syrah is often described as a spicy red and this wine lives up to that description with its fresh pepper, clove and cedar aromas, a dry style, full body and succulent flavours of black fruit – berries and plums. Great value for money. 17.5/20 4 stars 2018 Moana Park Estate Series Rosé The grapes in this refreshing rosé were grown on Gimblett Road and fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel to an off dry style, which accentuates the sweet berry flavours. More colour in rosé tends to mean a little more tannin too and that gives this wine its dry crisp finish. Drink lightly chilled. 18.5/20 4.5 stars 2018 Whale Islands Hawke’s Bay Syrah Great vintage, great winemaking and a great region all combine to make this an absolutely stellar bargain; it’s made at Moana Park winery in Hawke’s Bay and comes from a very warm, very dry, early vintage. A fantastic red. Over delivers in every way. Delicious. 17.5/20 4 stars 2018 Moana Park Pinot Gris Light, fresh, soft flavours characterise this wine which tastes of refreshing nashi pears and ripe pineapple. It’s made in an off dry style, has a medium body and finish with a touch of residual sugar and time on lees to add complexity. This is very good value for money. American and French oak additions to add structure and smoothness. Joelle Thomson is a wine writer, journalist and author. She’s an avid lover of wine and currently writes for Capital magazine, Good magazine, NZ Winegrower, Drinksbiz, and her own site, www.joellethomson.com. She also teaches, works in radio, and more, so we've enlisted her help to sniff out our amazing value wines!