Reviews:

Reviews from New Zealand

Joelle Thomson – Herald on Sunday
Forget about fresh cut grass, intense gooseberries and passionfruit flavours, this Wairarapa sauvignon blanc offers an entirely different taste. Its wild yeast ferment creates a rounded, full-bodied white.

Reviews from New Zealand

Joelle Thompson, Top Ten New Releases, Auckland Herald, September 2006
Here is an unusually full bodied Sauvignon Blanc, which will appeal as much to Chardonnay fans as to those who want a fresh new white wine. It has a fresh, youthful style and flavours that are subtle rather than over the top and fruity.

Reviews from New Zealand

Karl Du Fresne, Sunday Star Times
What evocative sensations should you expect from a Wairarapa wine - a hint of wool? A scent of freshly mown hay? You won't find that here, but you will get a very different and immensley likeable style of sauvignon blanc fermented in oak using wild yeasts. Slightly semillon-like, it has the complexity and palate weight that most tank-fermented sauvignon blancs lack.

Reviews from New Zealand

Graeme Barrow - The Northern Advocate
"Gooseberry, passionfruit and fresh herb aromas and flavours. The acidity is firm but not abrasive. Good balance and concentration, for now and the shortish term."

Peter Saunders - Food and Beverage Marketplace Magazine, November 2004
"Alive and sturmer apple with nice chunky overtones. A style nelson does well; just a bit different, still distinctly Sauvignon and ready as an aperitif and for tasty, tangy food courses."

Micheal Cooper, Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2005
"This skilfully crafted, nettley wine.. is a fresh, clearly herbaceous wine with smooth, vibrant melon and capsicum flavours, showing a touch of complexity, and a very good delicacy and depth."

Reviews from New Zealand

Jane Skilton MW, The Independent, 27 October 2004
The 2004 Matahiwi Estate Unoaked Chardonnay... with a strong aromatic character and a creamy, soft texture the wine is clean and vibrant.

Micheal Cooper, Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2005
"This is a summer-drinking wine, fresh and slightly off-dry with lively, peachy, citrusy flavours and good ripeness, depth and weight."

Graeme Barrow - The Northern Advocate
"Nelson wine, young, cheerful and fruity; soft, peachy and with a hint of yeast. Pleasant, balanced wine, well priced for early drinking."

Peter Saunders - Food and Beverage Marketplace Magazine, November 2004
"Good chunky food - friendly Chardonnay, young, still unfolding but already a good glass of hearty wine which will get better each month through 2005. Good value"

Reviews from Australia

Tim White – The Australian Financial Review
Pure currant and passionfruit, with some nettle and peel. Really smart. Attacks with juicy fruit, plenty of gooseberry, pear and peach, but tight and zesty at the back with a touch of finishing oak. Delicious. 93/100. Try Lassefers Best Cellars (Qld), Sackville Hotel (NSW), King and Godfree (Vic), Eaglehawk Inn (Tas).

$21

Reviews from New Zealand

Charmian Smith - Food and Wine writer, The Otago Daily Times
This label appeared last year with some deliciously good value wines. Holly, named after Alastair Scott's daughter, is the premium Pinot Noir - spicy with a hint of smokey, chocolately oak, a good mouthfeel, a lively hint of cherryplum and a satisfying finish.

3 stars out of 5

Reviews from Australia

Jeff Collerson - The Daily Telegraph, New South Wales
Matahiwi is in NZ's Wairarapa region, just north of the renowned Pinot Noir producing district of Martinborough. This is among the top five Pinot's I've tasted this year, and certainly the best at under $30. It shows deliciously funky, ripe Pinot characters on the nose while the medium-bodied palate has balance and complexity with a hint of smoky oak. Try it.

$28

Reviews from United Kingdom

Jane Macquitty - The Times Online, UK
I recommended the Matahiwi sauvignon blanc in the summer, but it deserves another tickle now that it is joined by its red screwcapped brother - this gorgeous, leafy, game and spice-laden red that will give Burgundians nightmares.

£8.99

Reviews from United Kingdom

Jancis Robinson from her website JancisRobinson.com, 19 November 2005
New Zealand Pinot in lunchtime form. Lots to get your teeth into. Screwcap of course. I prefer this to the red version.

£7.49

Matthew Jukes - wine matches with Indian food, he matches the Matahiwi Rose with a classic Balti dish
Classic baltis like a bit more depth of fruit in the glass, and the colour of the wine changes from white to lighter reds. Having said that, I prefer more macho rosés for this job, and Matahiwi is a United Kingdom début dreamboat. With strawberry and red cherry scented nuances, it glides across the palate dousing the spice and not stepping on the toes of the tomato and onion! You will not believe this match!

£7.49

Reviews from New Zealand

John McGrath - Dominion Post, December 2004
"After the present opening its time to munch on dried fruit and nuts while spending quality family time. Matahiwi Estate Rosé will go well with this.Made in the Wairarapa, the Matahiwi winery also produces Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. The Rosé, served cold, of course, is dry-ish, fresh and at its drinking best now. This wine should come with a health warning - it might lead to being hung over and sunburnt by only 4 o'clock."

Micheal Cooper - Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2005
"This delicious 2004 vintage is a blend of estate-grown Pinto Noir (82 percent) and 18 percent bought-in Merlot. Harvested at an average of 23.4 brix, it is bright pink/red, full-bodied, fresh, vibrant and smooth, with loads of plummy berryish, dryish flavour and strong drink-young appeal."

Graeme Barrow - The Northern Advocate
"Wairarapa wine, off-dry Pinot and Merlot blend, fruity with cherry aromas and flavours - easy, short term drinking."

Peter Saunders - Food and Beverage Marketplace Magazine, November 2004
"Fresh and easy with just a touch of sweetness; a light and very approachable Rose, the perfect summer drink with nibbles or elevenses."

Reviews from United Kingdom

Jane Macquitty - The Times Online, UK
The jury is still out on screwcaps, but for those who have given up wrestling with corks, this smart, steely, flowering currant and gooseberry-charged white is what you should be cracking open.

£7.49

Reviews from New Zealand

Graeme Barrow - The Northern Advocate
"New Kid on the block, and from across Cook Strait. Passionfruit and freshly cut grass aromas and flavours, with some gooseberry, and steeley acidity. Strong and a touch austere."

Peter Saunders - Food and Beverage Marketplace Magazine, November 2004
"Nicely tangy and well-balanced, a dry Sauvignon Blanc from the home territory. A racy style with enough grip to add appeal."

Jane Skilton MW, The Independent, 27 October 2004
The Matahiwi Estate Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc is open and expressive, with an attractive intense grassy, strongly varietal character.

I believe the approach taken by Matahiwi Estate is a good example of what New Zealand wine producers should be doing. The wines are good, honest examples of their type. The packaging and presentation is classy and they aim at the sector of the market showing the strongest growth.

Micheal Cooper, Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2005
"Grassy aromas lead into a fresh, smooth palate with good body and strongly herbaceous flavours, smooth and lively."

Tim Harris - New Zealand Herald, 8 January 2005
"Matahiwi Estate Sauvignon Blanc Wairarapa 2004 captures the appeal of the dry, ripe sauvignon. It is 12 percent - i.e. low-alcohol and dry and tight, taut, tart and tangy with a grassy note. It tastes of gooseberries and sweet peppers. Matahiwi also has a sauvignon from Nelson, broader of flavour, and again, beautifully dry."

Reviews from New Zealand

Karl Du Fresne, Sunday Star Times
Matahiwi, located on the stoney plains west of Masterton, is one of the bigger Wairarapa wineries. Jane Cooper is the winemaker and this pinot, named after the daughter of winery owners Alastair and Gina Scott, is the top wine in the range. From the vines that are still young, it's a middleweight style that offers lots of pleasantly spicy, plummy flavour.

Reviews from New Zealand

New World Wine Awards 2009

Top 50 and Silver  Medal New World Wine Awards 2009

3 1/2 stars, Michael Cooper, August 2009

Sam Kim - Wine Orbit   4 stars

Ripe and sweet scented on the nose displaying dark cherry, plum and cured meat characters. It's brightly fruited on the palate showing good intensity, gentle acidity and supple tannins. A well balanced Pinot with generosity and appealing flavours. At its best: now to 2012.