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March 2007 |
Fromm
Chardonnay Brancott Valley 2005
Rating
92
This striking wine is beautifully balanced between generosity
and austerity, as it is a bit more ample in flavor and
more rounded in texture than a top Grand of Premier Cru
from Puligny or Chassagne in Burgundy's Côte de
Beaune, but drier and more reserved and mineral than almost
any New World Chardonnay you'll encounter. Interesting
accents of toast and spices and fresh bread dough are
notable but subtle, letting the pure fruit notes retain
center stage. Fruit, acidity and wood are seamlessly integrated.
Impressive!
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winereviewonline.com
Michael Franz |
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March 2007 |
La Strada Chardonnay 2004
- Rating 91
This label is associated with Fromm Winery, which makes
some of New Zealand's most classy, European-style wines.
In that vein, this is significantly leaner, drier and
more mineral than most New Zealand Chardonnays, which
are in turn far more stylish and acidic than most of their
counterparts from Australia, California or South America.
The overall package is very bright and fresh, but given
that this is nearly three years old, it also shows lots
of little nuances of aroma and flavor. Accents of bread
crust, roasted nuts, lemon rind and subtle woodsmoke work
very nicely with a core of fruit that recalls citrus fruits
and green apples. Impressively persistent and symmetrical
in the duration of its aftertaste, this is an outstanding
wine. 91 Michael Franz Mar 6, 2007
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winereviewonline.com
Michael Franz |
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August 2006 |
Fromm Clayvin Vineyard
Pinot Noir 2004
Rating
90, 4 stars
A dense and quite complex wine in a lean Burgundian style.
Red cherry, plum, briar and reasonably strong oak. Fairly
austere at this stage, through wines from this hillside
vineyard have a proven record of ageing very well. Good
drinking now or in the next 6 years.
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Gourmet Traveller Wine
Bob Campbell MW |
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June/July 2006 |
La Strada Malbec Reserve
2004
Rich, warming and spicy – a classic malbec with
juicy fruit flavours and a welcome cut of vibrant acidity.
Spicy, peppery characters and classy oak add extra appeal.
A full-bodied malbec in a cool-climate style. Drink now
or in the next 6 years
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Gourmet Traveller Wine
Bob Campbell MW |
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Winter 2006 |
Fromm Clayvin Vineyard
Chardonnay 2003
Powerful fruit with essence-like concentration, lots of
bright melon and a light peppery spicy side below mealy
complexity, showing the full array of barrel ferment,
wild yeast and more. The palate is super integrated, starting
savoury, it fleshes out in waves of lime citrus, progressing
in distinct phases before turning through cashew nut and
nougat to finish. A terrific soulful wine.
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Australian Sommelier
Nick Stock |
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April 2006 |
Fromm La Strada Chardonnay
2004
Rating 95, 5 stars
I’ve spent many sleepless nights agonising over
which winery makes the country’s best Chardonnay.
Neudorf wins (marginally) in the long-term, but Fromm
can breast the tape well ahead of the field in favourable
vintages – 2004 being a prime example. A lovely,
weighty, tight and powerful wine with masses of mineral,
white peach and grapefruit, and a hint of matchstick.
It’s classically Burgundian and I love it! Cellar
8 years. (pdf 76 kb)
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Gourmet Traveller Wine
Bob Campbell MW |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
Fromm Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004, 5 stars
Winemaker Hatsch Kalberer describes this majestic Marlborough
red as ‘not a typical new World style, but the truest
expressions of terroir you could find’. In the Fromm
vineyard near Renwick, in the heart of the Wairau Valley,
11 clones of Pinot Noir are close-planted on a flat site
with alluvial topsoils overlying layers of clay and free-draining
gravels. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts
and matured in Burgundy oak barrels (10 to 15 per cent
new). In a vertical tasting of the 1996 to 2003 vintages,
held in early 2005, the wine showed great consistency.
But needs at least four or five years to unleash its full
class. Deepley coloured and perfumed, the 2003 vintage
(*****) is densely packed and tightly structured, with
an authoritative palate showing rich, sweet fruit flavours,
braced b firm tannins. Drink 2007-2014
|
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm Clayvin
Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004, 5 stars
This powerful, muscular but not tough Marlborough red
is grown at the hillside Clayvin site in the Brancott
Valley. Matured for 16 months in French oak barriques
(20 per cent new), and bottled without fining or filtering,
the 2003 vintage (**** ½) is deeply coloured, with
fresh, dark-berry and spice aromas. Fleshy, rich and rounded,
it has plum, cherry and spice flavours and gentle tannins.
It’s forward in its appeal (or as Fromm put it,
‘open and approachable’).
Drink 2006-2012
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
La Strada Pinot Noir 2004, 4.5 stars
The Fromm Pinot Noir style is distinctive – powerful,
warm, meaty and firm. Grown at two side (one is the Clayvin
vineyard in the Brancott Valley of Marlborough and matured
for 16 months in French oak cask (only 10 per cent new),
the 2003 vintage (**** ½) is fresh, full-bodied
and smooth, with cherry, plum and spice flavours, slightly
earthy and savoury, ripe and dens. It’s already
drinking well. Drink 2006-2011
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm La Strada
Syrah Reserve,
4.5 stars
Still youthful, the 2003 vintage (
4.5 stars) was estate-grown in the Fromm
vineyard, on Marlborough’s Wairau plains, and matured
in French oak barriques (25 per cent new oak). It’s
a distinctly cool-climate expression of Syrah, with bold
colour and a powerful, peppery fragrance. Fresh and vibrant,
weighty and expression of Syrah, with firm tannins and
a rich, slightly chewy finish, it should live for many
years. Drink 2006-2014
|
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
La Strada Merlot Reserve 2002 5
stars
The robust 2002 vintage (*****) is massively concentrated
Marlborough red, matured in French oak barriques (20 per
cent new). Deeply coloured, it shows great density of
blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, warm and complex,
with hints of dark chocolate, herbs, nuts and coffee and
a powerful, firm but not grippy finish. Enjoy it over
the next decade.
Drink 2005-2010
|
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm La Strada
Marlborough Merlot/Malbec 2003
4 stars
The excellent 2002 vintage (**** ½) is a blend
of Merlot (45 per cent), Malbec 40 per cent) and Cabernet
Franc (15 per cent), grown principally in the Fromm vineyard
and matured for 16 to 18 months in French oak Barriques
(mostly old). Deep and youthful in colour, with a welcoming,
spicy fragrance it is concentrated, warm and complex,
with spicy, nutty, savoury, leathery characters and loads
of personality. It’s maturing well; drink now onwards.
Drink 2005-2008
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
La Strada Malbec Reserve 2004, 4
stars
Grown in Marlborough (which gives the wine a slightly
fresher, crisper feel than Hawke’s Bay Malbec) and
matured for 14 month in French oak cask (20’ per
cent new), the 2002 vintage (****) is a robust peppery
flavours showing excellent concentration and firm tannins.
Winemaker Hatsch Kalberer suggests drinking it with ‘a
large piece of wild venison”. Drink 2006- 2014
|
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm La Strada
Riesling Dry 2005,
4 stars
Typically a beautifully poised, delicate Marlborough wine
with citrusy, minerally flavours and a zingy, lasting
finish. The 2004 vintage (****) was grown in two vineyards,
in the Brancott Valley and on the Wairau Plains. Pale
lemon/green, it is full-bodied (13 per cent) and crisp,
tight and youthful, with fractional sweetness (5.4 grams/litre
of residual sugar) and strong lemon/apple flavours, woven
with tangy acidity.
Drink 2005-2015
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
La Strada Riesling Auslese 2004, 4
stars
This Marlborough wine is ‘sweet but never sticky’.
The 2004 vintage (****), grown at two sites, on the Wairau
Plains and in the Brancott Valley, is light (7 per cent
alcohol) and sweet (96 grams/litre of residual sugar),
with fresh, aplley aromas. Tangy, citrusy and appley,
it’s still very youthful, but minerally and intense,
with a burst of sweet fruit flavours. Drink now or cellar
long-term.
Drink 2005-2014
|
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm La Strada
Riesling 2005, 4
1/2 stars
The vivacious 2004 vintage (4 1/2) is ‘basically
our late-harvest style,’ says Marlborough vinemaker
Hatsch Kalberer. Light-bodied (7 per cent alcohol), it
was grown on the wirau Plains and in the Brancott Valley,
harvested without botrytis at 21- to 22 brix, and stop-fermented
with 95 grams per litre of residual sugar. Pale lemon/green,
it is tightly structured, sweet and crisp, with intense,
lemony, appley flavours, plentiful sweetness, racy acidity,
and lovely intensity and pise. ‘Drink it on a Sunday
afternoon, with a slight breeze from the sea,’ suggests
Kalberer. Drink 2005-2015
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
La Strada Gewürztraminer 2005, 4 stars
“A pet variety on the sideline”, is Marlborough
wine maker Hätsch Kalberer’s description of
Gewürztraminer, which occupies a tiny, 0.1-hectar
plot in the estate vineyard. The bond-dry 2004 vintage
(****) is powerful and robust (14.5 per cent alcohol),
with highly concentrated flavours of lychees and spice,
although the total absence of sweetness eposes a bit of
Gewürztraminer’s characteristic phenolic hardness.
Drink 2005-2010
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm La Strada
Marlborough Chardonnay 2004,
4 1/2 stars
The Fromm style is very different to the fresh, fruit-driven
style of most Marlborough Chardonnays. Hand-picked and
fermented with indigenous yeast in French oak cask (10
per cent new, to achieve a “modest” wood influence),
and barrel-aged for over a year, it is given a full, softening
malolactic fermentation. The 2003 vintage (****) was grown
at two sites (including the company-owned Clayvin Vineyard)
in the Brancott Valley. Pale straw, it is mouthfilling
and mealy, with grapefruit and apple, slightly minerally
flavours, a creamy texture, good complexity and a dry,
rounded finish. Drink 2006-2010
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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December 2005 |
Fromm
Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay 2004, 5 stars
Fromm’s premier Chardonnay, grown on the southern
flanks of the Wairau Valley, was previously labelled La
Strada Reserve, but since the 2001 vintage has been called
Clayvin Vineyard (the clay soils, says winemaker Hätsch
Kalberer, give ‚a less fruity, more minerally and
tighter character’). Tasted in 2005, the 1996 vintage
revealed exceptional weight, power and longevity. The
pale lemon/green 2003 vintage (**** ½) is steely
and intense. Fermented with indigenous yeast and matured
for 16 months in French oak Barrique (none new), it is
very youthful and fresh, with citrus, slightly biscuity,
almost floral aromas. The palate is crisp and bone-dry,
with racy acidity and deep grapefruit and slightly toasty
flavours, minerally and flinty. A strong candidate for
cellaring. Drink 2007-2012 |
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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February 2005 |
La Strada
Pinot Noir 2002, 4 1/2 stars
The Fromm Pinot Noir style is distinctive - powerful,
warm, meaty and firm. Grown at two sites in the Brancott
Valley of Marlborough and matured in French oak cask.The
2001 vintage (5 stars) ist arguable the best yet, and
superior to most producer's top labels. It's a very
weighty and generous wine with rich, complex flavors,
subtle oak firm but not grippy tannins and great mouthfeel.
It's less of a crime to drink this wine young than ist
stablemates, but it still shows obvious cellaring potential.
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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February 2005 |
Clayvin
Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002, 5 stars
This powerful, muscular but not tough Marlborough red
is grown at the hillside Clayvin site in the Brancott
Valley. Matured for 14 months in French oak barriques,
and bottled without fining or filtering, the 2001 (5
stars) is notable sturdy, warm and concentrated, with
rich red-berry and plum flavors, savory, spicy, nutty
complexities and firm underlying tannins. It's a wine
of great depth and structure, likely to reward lengthy
cellaring. |
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Michael Coopers Buyer's
guide to New Zealand |
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February 2005 |
Fromm
Vineyard Pinot Noir 2001, 5 stars
Winemaker Hatsch Kalberer describes this majestic Marlborough
red, first made in 1996, as "not a typical New
World style, but the truest expression of terroir you
could find". Estate-grown between Woodbourne and
Renwick, in the heart of the Wairau Valley, it ist matured
in French oak barriques. In a vertical tasting of the
1997 (labeled Reserve) to 2002 vintages, held in mid-2004,
the 1999 (5 stars) was a star - powerful and complex,
with very rich, firm coffee and spice flavors. Matured
for 16 months in French oak barriques the 2002 vintage
(5 stars) is still very youthful, with impressive weight
and spicy, savory, nutty flavors, dense and tight-knit.
Open 2006+ |
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Michael Coopers Buyer's guide to New Zealand |
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January 2005 |
2003
Fromm La Strada Dry Riesling, Marlborough
Tangy, fragrant and spicy, this sits halfway between
the crisp austerity of Australia and the floral fruitiness
of Germany |
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Australian Gourmet Traveller |
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2001
to 2004 weiter
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