Dancing Water Tier Garden Chardonnay Waipara 2009
“The 2009 Tier Garden Vineyard Chardonnay presents pronounced notes of ripe apricots and guava over toasty oak, meal, cashews and preserved ginger. Full bodied, concentrated and with a silken texture, it offers an abundance of ripe, exotic fruit flavors with crisp acid cutting through the richness, finishing long and toasty. Delicious now, it should continue to cellar to 2016+.”
91+ points Wine Advocate October 2011 issue
Dancing Water Kakara Pinot Gris, Waipara 2009
This has a full. rich and broad nose with complex layered aromas of ripe yellow stnefruits, nutty barrel work, and flinty lees elements. Dry to taste and full-bodied, this is full-flavoured with rich yellow stonefruits, nutty barrel work, and flinty lees elements. This is densely textured with a concentrated, but round mouthfeel, the winemaker input growing in the glass. The finish is robust and long with a full range of complex flavours. This rich, concentrated and solid Pinot Gris shows the winemaker’s hand. Match with rich Middle Eastern and Meditterranean inspired fare over the next 3-4+ years. Omihi fruit indigenous yeast fermented to 14.8% Alc and 6g/L rs and aged on lees in seasoned French oak barriques.
17.5/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Oneuku Riesling, Waipara 2009
Vibrant and orangy, with punchier fruit and a tangy apple skin quality. The palate seems very dry, a pithy lemon fruit and acidity and a bit of real phenolic punch. Needs food, in a Austrian style, very punchy and powerful.
90/100 Tom Cannavan 2011
Dancing Water Tauhou Scheurebe, Waipara 2008
“The 2008 Tauhou Scheurebe has a beautifully floral nose of white rose petals and orange blossom over orange peel, grapefruit and white peach. Medium-sweet with a good backbone of crisp acid, it has a medium body, satiny texture and long, purely fruited finish. Delicious now, it should cellar to 2015.”
90 points Wine Advocate October 2011 issue
Dancing Water Kamaka Riesling, Waipara 2008
“Bright, pale straw-yellow with light green hues, pale on rim. This is beautifully delicate and elegant on bouquet with aromas of white florals, limes and lemons, green apples and nuances of savoury greengages. Slightly sweet to taste, the delicate floral and citrus fruit flavours are enriched by notes of honey, with a lusciousness that builds. Lively and lacy acidity provides excellent freshness and subtly drives the palate to an off-dry, pure and crisp finish. This has good length. A delicate, slightly- sweet Riesling with delicacy and clarity, this will continue to develop interest over the next 4-5+ years. Serve as an aperitif or match with Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine. Fruit hand-picked and WBP, indigenous yeast fermented to 9.8% alc. and 28 g/L rs.”
18.5/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Reka Riesling, Waipara 2008
Hand-picked fruit with 50% botrytised, WBP fermented to 9.5% alc. and 101g/l rs. Bright, full and even, light-golden yellow colour. The bouquet is tightly bound but showing concentrated savoury citrus fruits with notes of minerals, honey and marmalade forming a complex amalgam. Sweet to tatse, the flavours are initially restrained, but grow to reveal savoury lemon-curd, marmalade and honey. Sweet and sour notes with complex creme caramel and botrytis characters add to the range of flavours. The richness is balanced by crisp, cutting acidity which lends a firmness to its mouthfeel. The wine finishes with densely packed, long and lingering citrus and honey notes. Match this rich and concentrated, complex flavoured dessert Riesling that will develop with greater interest over the nxt 5-6 years.
17.5/20 Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Kakara Pinot Gris, Waipara 2008
Waipara is making some of the country’s most impressive pinot gris, which like this focused dry example from relatively new winery Dancing Water, combine intensity with freshness. This is elegant and creamy textured with notes of quince, coffee spice and mineral.
Jo Burzynska, The New Zealand Herald 2010
Dancing Water ‘Oneuku’ Riesling Waipara 2009
“Fermented naturally and aged for 12 months on lees in seasoned French barriques, the 2009 Oneuku Riesling has moderate to pronounced aromas of lemon tart, lanolin, honeyed almonds and peach blossom over a whiff of wet pebbles. The dry, medium to full bodied palate has a good amount of honeyed peach flavor with just enough high acidity to enliven and a long harmonious finish. Drinking nicely now it should continue to develop and drink to 2016”
90 Points Wine Advocate October 2011 issue
Dancing Water Tier Garden Sauvignon Blanc, Waipara 2010
“Organically grown fruit from 18 y.o. vines from the ‘Tier Garden’ vineyard, hand-picked and fully barrel-fermented in old oak by wild yeasts with high solids to 13.5% alc. The wine was aged 11 months on lees. Bright straw-yellow colour with depth. The bouquet is soft and ethereal with interwoven notes of savoury gooseberries, grass and cut herbs and nuances of smoke and barrel work. Dry and medium-bodied, subtle and restrained fruit flavours of gooseberries, fennel and grass build with intensity and gently fill the palate. The textures are soft and rounded, but there is good freshness from underlying acidity which adds a degree of juiciness. The wine finishes with a gentle blossoming and array of floral and herbal flavours. This is an ethereal and smooth textured Sauvignon Blanc with plenty of nuance. Serve with Asian seafood and vegetable dishes over the next 2-3 years.”
17.0+/20” Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Tier Garden Sauvignon Blanc, Waipara 2010
“Organically grown fruit from 18 y.o. vines from the ‘Tier Garden’ vineyard, hand-picked and fully barrel-fermented in old oak by wild yeasts with high solids to 13.5% alc. The wine was aged 11 months on lees. Bright straw-yellow colour with depth. The bouquet is soft and ethereal with interwoven notes of savoury gooseberries, grass and cut herbs and nuances of smoke and barrel work. Dry and medium-bodied, subtle and restrained fruit flavours of gooseberries, fennel and grass build with intensity and gently fill the palate. The textures are soft and rounded, but there is good freshness from underlying acidity which adds a degree of juiciness. The wine finishes with a gentle blossoming and array of floral and herbal flavours. This is an ethereal and smooth textured Sauvignon Blanc with plenty of nuance. Serve with Asian seafood and vegetable dishes over the next 2-3 years.”
17.0+/20” Raymond Chan 2012
Floating Mountain Riesling, Waipara 2007
“The bouquet is very fine, delicate and elegant, with detailed lime and floral fruit aromas revealing nuances of honey and minerals. Slightly sweet to taste, pure flavours of white florals, limes and minerals are presented with crisp, cutting acidity forming excellent drive and energy. A thread of phenolic texture supports the palate line, leading to a long and sustained racy finish with mineral and floral notes. This off-dry Riesling has purity and finesse and has the textures to match seafood dishes over the next 5-6+ years. Wild yeast fermented, 15% in old barrels to 11.0% alc. and 27 g/L r.”
18.0-/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Floating Mountain Riesling, Waipara 2007
“The bouquet is very fine, delicate and elegant, with detailed lime and floral fruit aromas revealing nuances of honey and minerals. Slightly sweet to taste, pure flavours of white florals, limes and minerals are presented with crisp, cutting acidity forming excellent drive and energy. A thread of phenolic texture supports the palate line, leading to a long and sustained racy finish with mineral and floral notes. This off-dry Riesling has purity and finesse and has the textures to match seafood dishes over the next 5-6+ years. Wild yeast fermented, 15% in old barrels to 11.0% alc. and 27 g/L r.”
18.0-/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Floating Mountain Chardonnay, Waipara 2009
Single vineyard wine, the fruit indigenous yeast fermented in stainless-steel to 13.8% alc., the wine aged on lees for 8 months with no oak contact. Bright straw-yellow colour with some lemon-green hues, this has a complex nose of citrus and stonefruits with nuts and flinty-earthy reductive notes. Full-bodied, this is mouthfilling with an array of dry stonefruit flavours along with nuts and minerals and some reduction adding interest. Some alcohol is noticeable, but is carried by bright and brisk acidity which carries to a long flinty finish. This is a funky, European-styled Chardonnay with reductive complexities and the weight to match with seafood and poultry over the next 3-4 years.
17.0-/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Floating Mountain Vin Gris Waipara 2009
Single vineyard wine saigneed from Pinot Noir, indigenous yeast fermented in barrel to 13.3% alc., the wine aged on lees 5 months. Bright, full, peachy-pink with orange hues to the colour. The nose is complex with interwoven aromas of yellow stonefruits, subtle berry fruit, smoke. flint and herbs which unfold in layers. Dry and full-bodied, the palate is one of weight, depth and texture, with intriguing, complementary savoury and sweet stonefruit, floral and nutty elements. Some oak and reductive flintiness is noticeable adding interest. The wine finishes crisply with good clean acidity. This is a complex, and textured rosé to match with antipasto and charcuterie over the next 2-3+ years.
16.0+/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Reka Riesling, Waipara 2008
Hand-picked fruit with 50% botrytised, WBP fermented to 9.5% alc. and 101g/l rs. Bright, full and even, light-golden yellow colour. The bouquet is tightly bound but showing concentrated savoury citrus fruits with notes of minerals, honey and marmalade forming a complex amalgam. Sweet to tatse, the flavours are initially restrained, but grow to reveal savoury lemon-curd, marmalade and honey. Sweet and sour notes with complex creme caramel and botrytis characters add to the range of flavours. The richness is balanced by crisp, cutting acidity which lends a firmness to its mouthfeel. The wine finishes with densely packed, long and lingering citrus and honey notes. Match this rich and concentrated, complex flavoured dessert Riesling that will develop with greater interest over the nxt 5-6 years.
17.5/20 Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Oneuku Riesling, Waipara 2009
Vibrant and orangy, with punchier fruit and a tangy apple skin quality. The palate seems very dry, a pithy lemon fruit and acidity and a bit of real phenolic punch. Needs food, in a Austrian style, very punchy and powerful.
90/100 Tom Cannavan 2011
Dancing Water Kakara Pinot Gris, Waipara 2009
This has a full. rich and broad nose with complex layered aromas of ripe yellow stnefruits, nutty barrel work, and flinty lees elements. Dry to taste and full-bodied, this is full-flavoured with rich yellow stonefruits, nutty barrel work, and flinty lees elements. This is densely textured with a concentrated, but round mouthfeel, the winemaker input growing in the glass. The finish is robust and long with a full range of complex flavours. This rich, concentrated and solid Pinot Gris shows the winemaker’s hand. Match with rich Middle Eastern and Meditterranean inspired fare over the next 3-4+ years. Omihi fruit indigenous yeast fermented to 14.8% Alc and 6g/L rs and aged on lees in seasoned French oak barriques.
17.5/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Floating Mountain Pinot Noir, Waipara 2010
Dark, deep ruby-red with black hues to the coloue, showing some light purple on edge. This has a softly full nose of ripe black and dark red berry fruits infused with mushrooms and earth, but also with a dark floral and violetty lift. A little dustiness and oak is present. Medium-full bodied, restrained flavours of black fruits, earth, mushrooms and oak cedar are presented with concentration. The density of fruit is framed by firm, dry tannins, but balanced by fresh acidity providing the palate with good tension and liveliness. Strong, savoury dark fruit, earth and mushroom flavours linger on the finish. This is a full, weighty and densely packed Pinot Noir in the dark-fruited and earthy spectrum. Match with coq au vin and hearty Mediterranean fare over the next 4-6+ years. A barrel selection. Clones 115, 667, 10/5 and 5, fruit from the ‘Blacks Avenue’ vineyard, indigenous yeast fermented to 14.0% alc., the wine aged 18 months in 25% new French oak.
17.0+/20, Raymond Chan 2012
Dancing Water Tier Garden Pinot Noir Waipara 2009
Pale to medium ruby-purple colored, the 2009 Tier garden Vineyard Pinot Noir has fragrant black cherry and rose petal aromas over damp earth and lavender. Medium bodied, it has plenty of fleshy fruit over taut structure of crisp acid and medium level finely grained tannins, finishing long and pure. Drink this one now to 2016+
90 points, Lisa Protti-Brown, Wine Advocate 2011
