The
wines of Jackson
Estate, Marlborough,
New Zealand
Jackson Estate,
22 Liverpool Street, Riverlands Estate RD4, Blenheim, Marlborough,
New Zealand
Tel: 64 3 579 5523 Fax: 64 3 579 4423
E-mail: info@jacksonestate.co.nz
Website: www.jacksonestate.co.nz
Part of the secret of the success of
New Zealand
wines in the
UK
marketplace is consistency. It has typically been quite difficult to
find a bad bottle of New Zealand
wine, and relatively easy to find one that delivers. Jackson
Estate follow this pattern: this is a consistently very strong range:
you can’t go too far wrong here. Availability in the UK
is good with these wines making regular appearances on the shelves of
supermarkets and high street wine shops.
The details? Founded in 1988, Jackson Estate has 42
hectares of vines; they supplement this by buying in some fruit. They
are part of the SWNZ (Sustainable Winegrowing New
Zealand) programme; they were one of the first to join this back in 1995. All
the wines are sealed with screwcaps.
Jackson Estate Riesling 2002
New Zealand Riesling is sometimes a bit unconvincing, but this is
a good one. The nose is fine delicate and limey with a little
sweetness, too. The palate shows nice balance – there’s some
richness of fruit, a limey, spicy edge and some acidity. Good balance
here with a little minerality, too. 3 g/litre residual sugar, which
isn’t a lot. Very good/excellent 90/100
Jackson
Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2003
They describe this as their flagship wine. Very intense
blackcurranty nose is fresh and herby, with some gooseberry fruit.
Quite rich and intensely grassy on the palate. Good depth of fruit
with nice purity and good acidity. Attractive in the classic
Marlborough
style. Very good/excellent 90/100 (The 2004 tasted recently is also
impressive)
Jackson Estate Unoaked Chardonnay 2002
You have to work unoaked Chardonnay a bit to give it complexity,
and Jackson Estate do this by stirring lees and allowing partial
malolactic fermentation. This appealing wine has a nice spicy, nutty
nose with good fruit density. The palate shows nice tropical fruit
character with some subtle nuttiness. Very good/excellent 91/100
Jackson Estate Chardonnay 2002
I like this a lot. Complex, rich, nutty toasty nose. The bready,
nutty, toasty palate is brilliantly expressive with good depth and
vivid acidity. Very good/excellent 92/100
Jackson Estate Pinot Noir 2002
Vivid spicy berry and dark cherry fruit nose. The palate has a
good density of spicy, cherryish fruit: quite structured and with good
ripeness. An appealing, nicely made Pinot that I find quite delicious.
Very good/excellent 91/100
see
also: tasting notes of New Zealand wines
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