Leah in the Spotlight

With the official start of winter this week in New Zealand, we have been hunkering down fireside with winter fare and plenty of pinot. Apparently we're not the only ones - our 2009 Leah Pinot Noir has been featured in several publications around the world recently. We think it's absolutely delicious at the moment - and so does UK wine writer Jane MacQuitty (The Times):


‘New world wines, including the Kiwis, do age. Named after Michael Seresin’s daughter and made from grapes grown in all three Seresin vineyards, this delicious 2009 is the entry level wine for the estate. But you’d never know, as this French oak barrique-aged pinot noir bursts with the sort of juicy, spicy, strawberry-laced fruit that Côte d’Or worshippers adore. Enjoy this lively, 14 per cent pinot noir now with big food, or keep it in the cellar for a few years.’

And speaking of big food, Gourmet Traveller magazine have matched Leah with this Fish and Prawn Pie in their May issue. I can't wait to try it out once the winter vegetables in the Seresin garden get a little bigger!


Fish and Prawn Pie
Prep time 40 minutes, cook time 45 minutes (plus cooling).
Serves 4

4 salad onions, halved
25ml extra virgin olive oil
1 leek stalk, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 thyme sprigs
1 fresh bay leaf
1 garlic clove, crushed
30ml Noilly Prat dry vermouth
15g butter, coarsely chopped
15g plain flour
250ml hot fish stock
200g peeled raw prawns (roughly 400g unpeeled), cut into 3 pieces
150g skinless snapper fillet, cut into 3cm dice
150g skinless blue eye trevally fillet, cut into 3cm dice
Finely grated zest of one lemon
1 small bunch each finely chopped dill and flat leaf parsley
375g sheet butter puff pastry
1 egg yolk for brushing

1. Blanch onions until tender (3-4 minutes). Drain, refresh the water, drain again, and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, celery, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and blanched onion and stir occasionally until tender (5-6 minutes). Add vermouth, simmer until evaporated (1-2 minutes), then remove herbs and discard. Add butter, cook until melted, then add flour and stir until smooth and combined. Gradually add fish stock, a ladle at a time, stirring continuously until smooth, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches a thick sauce consistency. Cool for 30 minutes, stir in prawns, fish, lemon rind, dill and parsley and season to taste. Transfer to a 1.25L oval pie dish, spreading evenly, then cover and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 200C. Cut pastry into an oval big enough to cover the top of the pie dish with a 2.5cm overhang, place pastry on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Brush with yolk, season to taste with sea salt, sprinkle with a little cold water, then bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 190C, place pie dish in oven and bake pastry and pie (separately) until pastry is golden and cooked through and pie mixture is hot (15-20 minutes) Remove baking paper from pie dish, top with pastry.

Serve hot with a green salad dressed with Seresin olive oil and a glass of 2009 Leah Pinot Noir.

2008 Seresin Pinots' "so evocative of Burgundy"

The April issue of Decanter magazine has just arrived at the winery, bringing with it a review from Steven Spurrier of our range of 2008 Pinot Noirs which he recently tasted. Here's what he had to say about them and their evocation of Burgundy:

Needless to say, we're thrilled with his reviews!

While some of the 2008 Pinots he reviewed have sold out, there are still small amounts of the Single Vineyard wines here at the winery - send us an email if you'd like to get your hands on any of them.

The Peacock's Tail

This morning our copy of the latest Gourmet Traveller Wine arrived at the winery, with this glowing review from Bob Campbell MW of our 2007 Raupo Creek Pinot Noir:

'96 points, 5 stars. Concentrated, yet delicate wine showing surprising power and flavour length. Layers of cherry and berries, floral and savoury fruit flavours create a peacock's-tail effect on the finish. Very classy and attractive wine indeed.'

And the Sydney Morning Herald are running a feature on Huon Hooke's Top 50 wines for

Summer, and in his Sauvignon Blanc selection, the 2009 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc was the only New Zealand Sauvignon featured in a line-up of 6 international examples.

'93 points. A powerful sauvignon blanc that's a far cry from your typical Marlborough offering, with 14 per cent alcohol and rich, mouth-filling flavours. It has satisfying depth and complexity of character. Subtle barrel influence adds dimension. More, please!'

Huon suggests pairing the wine with Snapper and red capsicum puree. Delicious!

Fair Weather Blends

Small is beautiful, according to wine writer, Neal Martin. Check out his article on three boutique New Zealand wineries (including Seresin) who "beat the odds to develop praise-worthy wines in fragile micro-climates."

Joanna Simon on Wine

UK Wine writer, Joanna Simon, recently tasted our 2008 Leah Pinot Noir.

She described it as "very pure, very impressive and still young. This is fragrant with roses and summer berries and has a palate of sweet red fruits, savoury mineral flavours, polished oak, a fine acid structure, length and intensity. The hand on the label signifies hand-grown, hand-picked and hand-made (which includes wild yeast fermentation and 11 months maturation in French oak barrels). Drink over the next four years. Gives red burgundy a run for its money."

For more from Joanna check out her website here.

Pinot Noir 2010

This week, lots of the Seresin team are in Wellington for Pinot Noir 2010. It's a 4 day celebration of Pinot Noir - lots of tastings, culinary events, speakers, and thought-provoking discussion. It's also a great chance to meet and catch up with other Pinot-philes from around the world; wine writers, winemakers and consumers alike. One such bunch we caught up with was the lovewine team, who spoke to our winemaker Clive about our Pinot Noir. Check out the video here.

Someone else we caught up with was Jamie Goode, the blogger behind WineAnorak. He has written a wrap up of Pinot Noir 2010, Day 1. See if you can spot anyone from Seresin, or the lovely things he has to say about our wines...

Celebrating Seresin and NZ Wine

It seems fitting to celebrate the first day of summer (even if we are welcoming it in with plenty of rain!) by reflecting on all the good things we have going for us here in Marlborough. It seems there has been a fair bit of doom and gloom floating around the world of late, and it's a breath of fresh air to have such a positive light shed on things... We recently hosted Curtis Marsh here at Seresin - the New Zealand born Singapore-based writer has over 30 years experience in all things food, wine and travel - and he has written a few glowing words about the NZ wine industry and his visit to Seresin. To see his Wandering Palate blog post, click here.

Thanks Curtis, for making us smile so much on the first day of summer!

Marama a 'Sauvignon Blanc like No Other'

Over the Marlborough Anniversary weekend, we celebrated in style with the Marlborough Wine Weekend. Visitors from around the world attended the event, which showcased the best the region has to offer. As well as a Gourmet Dinner, Garden Party, and a Sparkling Cruise through the Marlborough Sounds, guests had the opportunity to learn more about, and taste a number of the varieties produced in Marlborough. While we tasted through the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir flights here in Marlborough, TasteLive (a US-based company which organises online tastings in conjunction with real-time tastings) had arranged some wine media to taste the same wines live on twitter. One of these tasters was Grace Hoffman - aka CellarMistress. Grace, a self-professed 'walking encyclopaedia of wine', was rather smitten with the 2007 Seresin Marama - one of only four Marlborough examples appearing in a line-up of international Sauvignons. To see what she has to say about the Marama, and the other Sauvignons tasted, take a look at her blog...

...and if you'd like more information on the Marama, the tasting notes are available on our website.

One Man's Vinious Musings

Aussie wine blogger Andrew Graham had a good look through all the wines shown at a recent NZ Winegrowers tasting of newly released New Zealand wines. He made special mention of the 2007 Seresin wines - 'extraordinarily good' he reckons! Check out his blog for more...

Jancis Robinson's top NZ Wineries

We enjoyed a visit from top UK wine writer Jancis Robinson back in February, during a whirl-wind tour she made of New Zealand.

She has just published a list of her top four New Zealand wineries, including Seresin Estate.

Here is what she had to say about Seresin and some of the wines she tasted:

"SERESIN Film director Michael Seresin's estate, a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture in Marlborough with buried composts and cow horns and all sorts of not-obviously-Kiwi accoutrements. The bright young winemaker Clive Dougall arrived in 2006 and used to work for London brewers and wine retailers Fullers. I asked him if he ever deacidified (a common necessity in these parts) and he claimed he didn't even know how to.

Seresin Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough 17, Drink 2009-11
Slightly gassy. 40% wild yeast (not 100% out of fear because Sauvignon Blanc is so commercially important). 5% barrel-fermented Semillon. 10% of the SB is also old-barrel fermented. Honeyed nose with definite wild yeast nose. More mouthfeel than most NZ SBs - with real richness. Long and very different from the regular Marlborough SB. Real mouthfeel and substance. 13.5%

Seresin, Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough 17.5
[This wine was tasted in Sep 09 London.] Very restrained crop (three tonnes/ha) from the 17-year-old vines on the Home vineyard. Lifted, lively nose - rather flirtatious - more so than the first vintage, the 2007. Complete. Lifted nose. Lightly smoky with just a hint of oily pungency. Very racy and impressively long. Perhaps not as concentrated as the 2007 Reserve - and it could be more useful for it.

Seresin Pinot Gris 2008 Marlborough 16.5 Drink 2009-10
Very heady and focussed nose. Lovely clean bright fruit and not alcoholic. Quite full and finishes dry. Transferred to old barriques after stainless steel fermentation. 6% RS. Not amazingly complex but lovely texture. Quite long. Bravo! 14.5%

Seresin, Chiarascuro 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2009-10
Very unusual wine for Marlborough - a blend inspired by Jermann's Vintage Tunina of Friuli! Pale pear juice on the nose and quite round and appley....Interesting! Full and zippy.

Seresin, Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-14
17-year-old vines. Crimson, very luscious and fully ripe. All 115 clones. What's not to like? Loose and yet satisfying. Dry finish. Appetising. Fruit in the middle.

Seresin, Rachel Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-14
From a special parcel in Raupo. Very luscious almost black cherry aroma and much finer and more refreshing than the Tatou - more succulent.

Seresin, Sun and Moon Pinot Noir 2007 Marlborough 17 Drink 2010-15
80/20 Raupo/Home. This is meant to be special. Finishes dry and lively. Good tension. Palate filling. Long. Quite fine and very savoury. Drive! "

Wine for the Weekend - Seresin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

The folks at Esquire magazine are enjoying our 2008 Sauvignon Blanc as much as we are. They say: "Now well-established as a quality operation which plays up its organically grown grapes and pursuit of wine-making the old-fashioned way, the results can be seen in this 2008 vintage of their flagship Sauvignon Blanc - crisp and creamy with a subtle nutty note from the oak barrels, and a strong citrus finish combine to elevate it above the rest of the sauvignon Marlborough pack."

Pinot Gris

Writing in MindFOOD, we enjoyed Joelle Thomson's tip of the hat to the 'Southern Man' ad campaign, when describing the 2008 Seresin Pinot Gris:


‘It's a hard road finding the perfect pinot gris and here is one of the very few that stands out from the crowd in style, body, taste and sheer drinkability. This is a stunner from cinematographer Michael Seresin's Marlborough vineyard, which is steadily being converted to biodynamic. It's worth every cent. Ignore the others.’


If you don't want to take Joelle's advice to 'ignore the others', some recommendations from Seresin winemaker, Clive Dougall, include Pinot Gris from Escarpment in Martinborough (for a big wine) and Aurum and Lamont from Central Otago as nice examples in a more delicate way.

Please email us if you want advance notice of a special Pinot Gris we made in 2008 - less than 300 bottles made, to be released in October 2008.

Summer Wines (in Winter)

While Johnny Ray is recommending the 2008 Seresin Gewurztraminer as one of his top 50 wines for the English summer, the same wine is also receiving compliments in the middle of New Zealand's winter.

Writing in Hawke's Bay Today, Yvonne Lorkin describes the wine as "Ginger, pot pourri, citrus blossom, jasmine, concentrated and semi-emotional I think. Just a sensational wine from winemaker Clive Dougall and the team of organic champions at Seresin. It’s perfectly balanced, beautifully put together."

Whether its summer or winter we hope you enjoy this wine - even if you don't see the English summer and New Zealand winter being all that different anyway ...

Summer Wines

While it's far from summer here in Marlborough (minus 4 overnight, frosts and cool clear days), our friends in the Northern Hemisphere are thinking about which wines to enjoy in their warmer days and evenings.

Writing for The Telegraph in England, Johnny Ray recommends 50 summer wines. The 2008 Seresin Gewurztraminer makes the list as "a worthy rival of anything Alsace has to offer." Johnny recommends the wine is enjoyed "well-chilled as a stylish aperitif or partner to Thai food."

'If only all pinot gris was this interesting'

Our Pinot Gris received a couple of nice reviews from 'across the ditch' over the weekend.

Huon Hooke selected the wine as his Best Import in the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘If only all pinot gris was this interesting. But it’s not everyone’s cuppa. Very rich and multi-dimensional, it’s opulent, powerful and loaded with flavour. Barrel-fermented, high alcohol (14.5%) and heavily worked.' 95/100

Writing in Sunday Life, Sally Gudgeon had this to say.

‘A rich Marlborough gris with striking fruit purity and length. The vineyard is biodynamic and six months in old oak adds impressive texture. Serve it with Thai Fish cakes.’

Can Savvy be Serious?

The Wine Anorak site has a fascintaing article about a tasting of Sauvignon Blanc from around the world, involving leading wine critics, as part of a project to create a new 'icon' Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2007 Seresin Marama was one of the wines tasted blind and was given one of the highest scores in the tasting (92/100) with the following comment:"Intense minerally, toasty nose. Rich, concentrated and complex with powerful ripe fruit flavours and some smoky herbal notes. The palate has an amazing array of flavours: green herbs, toast, minerals and fresh citrus. There’s noticeable oak here but lots of fruit, too. An amazing wine that’s weird but really good."

Sophisticated Sauvignon

Writing for the New Zealand Listener, Michael Cooper had some lovely things to say about our Sauvignon Blanc. "A sophisticated wine, Seresin is one of the region’s most satisfying and subtle sauvignon blancs, with indigenous yeasts, barrel fermentation and lees-ageing adding richness without swamping its pure, penetrating fruit flavours. It drinks well for several years and top vintages can mature solidly for up to a decade." For more on Marlborough Sauvignon and the trend towards a more subtle textural style of Sauvignon read the full article online.

2008 Seresin Sauvignon Blanc

At the New Zealand Winegrowers' Annual Trade Tasting in London (early Jan 2009), Julia Harding MW had a marathon tasting of 75 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs fr0m the 2008 vintage. Tasting and writing for jancisrobinson.com, Ms Harding described the vintage as "on the whole not terribly exciting", but found some good wines which "tasted dry and showed pure fruit characteristics that persisted right across the palate as well as showing a mineral character, in flavour or texture, to add depth and complexity."

The Seresin 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was one of 2 wines awarded Julia's highest score for the tasting. Grapes for this wine came from our 3 different vineyards, and were whole bunch pressed before being fermented in small portions, each treated differently. This gave us a wide range of flavours, textures and characteristics and we used 29 different portions to create the final wine which includes 6% semillon with 40% of the blend naturally fermented with wild yeast and 15% in aged French oak barriques for complexity, structure and texture.

Seresin's 'Sexy' Sav

Writing in the latest issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller, Max Allen has selected our 2008 as one of 20 'Sexy Sauvignon Blancs'. He writes: "Seresin's Marlborough vineyards are certified organic and run along biodynamic lines. As well as the trademark regional savvy characters - attractive herbaceous aromas, crisp acidity - there's also an uncommon depth of grape-pulply texture and satisfaction."



Meanwhile, Ralph Kyte-Powell gave the same wine 4.5 stars in The Age newspaper (Epicure, Uncorked, 6 January 2009). "Does a light veneer of nutty oak work with sauvignon blanc? Only when it's very subtle, and Seresin shows the way. With 15 per cent fermented in old oak and 40 per cent made with wild yeasts, the result has complexity, length and presence. Herbaceous and tropical fruit is woven through with nutty, almondy notes, and there's a lovely savoury aftertaste."

A Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc

Warren Barton's Christmas Wine Guide is early awaited by readers each year - not just as a signal of the impending festive season, but also as a quick and easy guide to some of the country's most highly regarded wines. We're always interested to see what makes Warren's Top 100 wines for the year. Last year our 2007 Memento Riesling was in the line-up. This year our 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is one of only 10 Sauvignon Blancs in the Guide.

Warren writes, "Seresin has always dared to be a little different, even in its approach to sauvignon blanc. This one is partly fermented using wild yeast, a portion of it in oak casks to provide more weight, texture and complexity. No mistaking where it comes from though."