By Cameron Douglas MS

One of the very first wines that helped to steer me into my profession as a sommelier was the Alwyn Noble Riesling. From the first mouthful, I was astounded by its quality and richness – to this day there is a bottle or two in my cellar.
There are some iconic wine brands in New Zealand that should be listed. In addition to quality, consistency and availability, Ngatarawa have a long history and a great story to tell and sell wine with – and they are great drinking.
Originally owned by a Maori princess, through marriage the Hawke’s Bay Ngatarawa farmland was turned into a stables, race track and homestead in 1890. It changed hands a few times before Howard Glazebrook bought the stables and farmland during World War Two. He continued the racetrack and farm, and made the decision to diversify into grape growing in the 1970s.
Ngatarawa Wines was established in 1981 when founding partners Garry Glazebrook and Alwyn Corban joined forces. The Corban family wine history in New Zealand is more than 100 years old and well documented.
The historic stables building, now over 115 years old, were converted to a winery and today’s front room is the tasting quarters and cellar door. The crest of a horse on the wine labels is in recognition of the horse racing past as are the Stables, Silks and Glazebrook brands. Alwyn is the top tier brand in the portfolio.
In 1999 the Ngatarawa brand became a wholly Corban owned enterprise. Alwyn Corban, the managing director and chief wine maker, is also a very familiar face at trade tastings.
The vineyards are in prime Hawke’s Bay wine country on the Western edge of the Heretaunga plains and situated on the ancient Ngaruroro riverbed. Part of the soil is deeply embedded fall-out from the 1800 Taupo eruption overlaid with free draining, sandy loam and gravel soils.
Restaurateurs could consider either the Glazebrook range with a regional focus or Alwyn range produced from small, but outstanding fruit parcels.
In the Glazebrook range varietals from the Bay include viognier, pinot gris, chardonnay and riesling for whites and merlot (my top pick), cabernet merlot and syrah (the one to watch) for reds. Pinot noir from Martinborough and sauvignon blanc from Marlborough are also included in the range.
If it’s available to you, the Alwyn range is very worthwhile – a small but high quality collection of chardonnay, merlot cabernet (my pick) and riesling.