Villa Maria Cellar Selection Albariño 2020
2020
£15.50
Availability: 94 in stock
Villa Maria Albarino
The aromas of this unique and charming Villa Maria Albarino wine are intriguing with a fresh scented array of lime, peach, apricot and honeysuckle characters. The palate features bright fruit and tangy acidity, leading the wine to a delicate and dry styled finish with excellent length.
WINE PRODUCER
A family owned New Zealand winery, founded in 1961 by its current owner and Managing Director, Sir George Fistonich. ‘Villa Maria’ is arguably the most well recognised and successful award winning New Zealand winery around.
History of Villa Maria
George Fistonich established ‘Villa Maria’ in 1961 at just 21 years of age. He did this after buying 5 acres of land from his father. In 1962 the world was first introduced to ‘Villa Maria’.
The 1960’s
During the 60’s George worked on his own, to grow, harvest and bottle wine. Sourcing grapes from all over the Auckland region, George was making dry red and white wines. Over the years George’s team slowly grew, as he employed staff, he gained traction and his wines grew in popularity.
The 1990’s
During the 1990s, They made the decision to introduce Stelvin screw cap closures across all ranges. ‘Villa Maria’ was the first major wine company in the world to declare the winery a “cork free zone”. George believes the consistency of wines under screwcap is one of the contributing factors to the company’s incredible success recently.
The 2020’s
Today, they employ over 250 people and exports wine to over 50 countries worldwide. Their people have an unrelenting passion to produce quality wines. Realising that it takes more than just good winemaking to produce quality, a passion to succeed begins in the vineyard.
Improving Vineyards
Astute site selection by Villa Maria’s vineyard experts is followed by superior vineyard management and then complemented by expert winemaking. A strong focus on regularly improving the vineyards is considered by ‘Villa Maria’ to be an incredibly important. An especially important factor in quality winemaking.
Wine Portfolio
Their wine portfolio is extensive, with all your favourites a part of the mix. From Sauvignon Blanc, to Syrah and Pinot Noir. An honourable mention is their Lightly Sparkling Sauvignon which embodies clean, fresh and exciting tasting notes!
For more information on Villa Maria and their wines, visit their website.
WINE REGION
Our Gisborne Wine Region Collection
Often overlooked, Gisborne is a powerhouse for New Zealand wine, contributing to roughly a quarter of the nation’s output. Gisborne is not only blessed with being the first place in the world to see the light of a new day it also boasts a rich history such as being the first location in New Zealand that Captain James Cook set foot back in 1769.
A Brief History on Gisborne’s Wine Region
Over 80 years later in the 1850s, the first vines were planted in the region’s predominantly loam, silt, and clay soil. In the early 1980’s Gisborne weathered the phylloxera outbreak New Zealand experienced, managing to damage via a mass of replanting. The region’s soil favours aromatic varietals such as Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer, complemented by the regions remote easterly location and long sunshine hours making ‘Gizzy’ a favourite.
Find out more about the history of Gisborne here.
Gisborne’s Subregions
Gisborne is comprised of three subregions; Patutahi, Manutuke and Ormond. Each region is quite distinctive from the others.
Patutahu
This region is notably warmer because of its geographic location, being further inland, the region retains more of the day’s warmth and experiences relatively low rainfall and great drainage due to the sloping terrain and soils with heavy clay content.
Manutuke
This region is more coastal, its sandy silt-soils (with the heavier complex Kaitai clay in the hills to the west) still benefit from fantastic drainage making it well suited for Chardonnay.
Ormond
Ormond sits further north of the town. The slopes with high clay content and sandy topsoils made the subregion the top candidate for Gisborne’s first commercial planting, as well as set the stage for the production of the regions top Chardonnays.
The hills surrounding Ormond provide such effective shelter from the elements the Chardonnay ripens up to 6 weeks before their southern counterparts, however, the hills don’t always act in favour on the grapes. If conditions are particularly wet, vintners may experience problems with keeping the crop free of rot or disease.
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