Wine Reviews
Earlier Vintages
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 2004:
i-winereview.com - Report #7 New Zealand's Exciting Pinot Noirs - July 2007
87/100
"Ruby coloured with a brick orange rim, this delicious Pinot Noir offers aromas of cherry, mushroom and cedar. On the attack it displays tart cherry flavours in a medium body frame with notes of vanilla prominent on the mid-palate and on the finish."
Charmian Smith - Otago Daily Times, 26 July 2006
* * * * 1/2
"Elusive at first, this wine opened slowly to reveal rich savoury, spicy characters, a hint of smoke and mineral, mushrooms behind the lovely sweet ripe fruit. It's a stylish well-made wine with a silky texture and firm finish. There is lots to savour here."
Glenda Neil - "Vinote Wine Cellar Notes - www.vinote.com", 17 July 2006
"Foxes Island is one of my favourite wineries. You won't find their wines on a supermarket shelf but more likely in a specialist wine shop or restaurant. Smooth succulent and elegant wine with ripe cherries, earthy mushroom flavours and soft ripe tannins, about $40 in NZ."
Len Sorbello - "Winewise Magazine", June 2006
"Rich, plummy aromas with cedary and strawberry hints, quite complex - very finely structured palate on which the flavours dance in harmony with the long ripe tannins and elegant acidity. A wine of great finesse."
Peter Saunders - "Winestate Magazine", July/August 2006
* * * * 1/2
"Lovely rich fruit and texture, the nose strong and welcoming, the pinot fruit characters quite generous. Still a young wine with lots of strength, life and development ahead; another couple of years will see this improve further."
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 2002:
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar - www.wineaccess.com
87/100
"Good full red. Plum, raspberry, earth and nutty oak on the nose. Round and supple, with flavours of plum, raspberry, smoke and earth, sweetened by sexy oak. Finishes with light, fine tannins and lingering spice."
Wine Spectator Online - www.winespectator.com - 2005
87/100
"Smooth, with a tart edge to the ripe cherry fruit and meaty, spicy character. Has depth and firm tannins that need time to soften. Best from 2006 to 2010. 90 cases imported. (HS)"
Wine & Spirits Magazine, USA - February 2005
88/100
"The black and funky aroma takes on a black pepper spice with air, adding an edge to the soft cherry fruit, placing the wine with duck confit."
Glenda Neil, Next Magaine - January 2005
"A concentrated, ripe, succulent wine with rich black cherry flavours. Smooth and beautifully textured."
Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2005
* * * *
"Showing significant quality advances in recent vintages, John Belsham's Marlborough red is grown in the "Home Block" at Rapaura and matured in French oak barriques (60% new). The elegant, full-coloured 2002 vintage has a fragrant, gently oaked bouquet. It's a mouthfilling (14% alcohol), graceful wine with smooth, ripe cherry, plum, raspberry and spice flavours, finely balanced and supple. An elegant wine with good complexity, it offers excellent drinking now to 2006."
Michael Franz - The Washington (USA) Post, 17 November 2004
"Very showy stuff, with pure black cherry notes accented with lots of vanilla and wood smoke."
Peter Saunders - Food & Beverage Marketplace Magazine, November 2004
"Nicely textured Pinot, showing some depth and the gains of low-cropping and an extra year in the bottle. Still youthful but opening out well, a warm soft fruit character will grow further through summer. Best late 2005-07. In a word: Lovely texture, youthful fruit but showing the gains of low crops and an extra year. Soft Pinot still unfolding."
Geoff Kelly Wine Reviews - www.geoffkellywinereviews.co.nz, September 2004
18/20
"Big ruby for Pinot, a touch of carmine and velvet. Initially opened, there is a cherry/bacony oak-related character on bouquet, but this soon dissipates. It becomes soft, rich and generous, in this sub-set of Pinots arguably the one best reconciling florals against fruit. The fruits are very ripe, but the wine stops short of the plumminess of merlot. There are violets and boronia florals, black cherry and blackboy fruit, and fragrant oak. The palate is plush, yet still Pinot, sweetly fruited and concentrated, with the length in the mouth to imply a conservative cropping rate. Tannins are beautifully ripe, unlike a number in this batch, and despite the initial bouquet, it is not too oaky. this is distinctively New Zealand Pinot, a little deeper and riper than is optimal maybe. It will be interesting wine in cellar, for 5 - 12 years."
Keith Stewart - Sommnet Website - www.sommnet.com, 27 September 2004
7/10
"Deep carnelian/cerise. Energetic bouquet has soft berryfruit aromas and a hint of fresh dill, with smoky, chocolatey oak and enough feral to be interesting. Very fine impact is supple and glossy with a tense manner that holds together through the mid-palate and on into a carefully crafted finish of suave tannins and lingering fruit. Oozes class and elegance, with depth and a slight wild side that keeps it warm as well as fascinating."
Winestate Magazine - November/December 2004
* * * * 1/2
"Nicely textured Pinot, showing some depth and the gains of low-cropping plus an extra year in the bottle. Still youthful but opening out well, a warm, soft fruit character expanding each month and will grow further through summer. Best late 2005-07."
2004 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, Australia - August 2004
Highly Recommended
"A soft, approachable style crammed with plums and cherries. More primary than secondary, but for drinking over the next couple of years, that's no problem."
Bob Campbell & The Dream Team, NZ Home & Entertaining - Sept/Oct 2004
88/100
Lifted dark cherry flavours provide a strong fruit focus, allowing generous oak influence. Firm drying tannins prevent any suggestion of cloying. Stylish Marlborough Pinot Noir that places this producer in the first division, at least within its home region."
TiZWine Website - www.TiZwine.com - September 2004
18.5/20
"Earthy, Black Doris plum aromas lead to a flavour profile that is chunky and suprisingly big for this variety. Not a classic style, but who cares? We loved it!."
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 2001:
Wine Enthusiast Magazine, USA - August 2004
"A delicately flavoured, yet impressively plush wine, with scents of woodsmoke, black cherries and mushrooms echoed on the palate with added notes of sous bois and plum."
Restaurant Wine Magazine, USA - April 2004
"Intensely fruity in style, supple, full bodied, and very long on the palate, with layers of flavor (raspberry, baked cherry, blueberry, nutmeg, toast); crisp, persistent finish. Best Pinot yet from this winery."
Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2004
* * * * 1/2
"Showing significant quality advances in recent vintages, John Belsham's Marlborough red is grown in the "Home Block" at Rapaura and matured in French oak barriques (60% new). The 2001 has excellent concentration, ripeness and complexity. A very graceful wine with full, bright colour and a fragrant, smoky bouquet, it possesses strong, sweet, cherry and plum fruit flavours, finely balanced oak and a solid foundation of tannin."
Pippa Mackay - The Christchurch Press, 4 September 2003
"There are not too many Marlborough pinots that really have the Mmmmm! factor for me, but this luscious example certainly has. It has wonderful fungal forest-floor characters as well as vibrant fruit. Fat ripe cherries and raspberries abound and are beautifully balanced in this wine that has it all. Owner and winemaker John Belsham spent 10 years in France. That experience, and his choice of pinot clones, make this wine sumptuously Burgundian. Pricey? Perhaps, but less than many Martinborough or Otago pinots, and about what you have to pay now for a good Kiwi pinot."
Peter Saunders - Top Ten, Food and Beverage Marketplace, August 2003
"Marlborough label of John Belsham, based on the name of an 'island' because the elevated vineyard site last century could be surrounded by flood water. A delicious Pinot Noir, excellent fruit definition and some elegance and class. Still improving also.
In a word: excellent Marlborough Pinot Noir characters with elegance and class."
Keith Stewart - The New Zealand Listener, 16th August 2003
"A quartet with too many instruments, this wine has the grace of chamber music and the delicacy of a harp, but with such a swarm of detail as to be quite fascinating. Soft, too, in a satin-like way, with a sleek departure that is as moreish as it is stylish, making for a most impressive wine that will be extremely appealing to those who practice the ancient art of self-indulgence. The real pleasure is in its careful balance between feral urge and sophisticated craft. Get some now."
Charmian Smith - Otago Daily Times Newspaper, 6th August 2003
* * * *1/2
"There's lots of everything in this wine - spicy toasty oak, lush ripe fruit, nuttiness, chocolate, coffee, cherries, mint - but winemaker John Belsham manages to keep everything in harmony and has produced a powerful but impeccably balanced wine with an aftertaste that lingers for a long time. It's a deliciously fine wine and will develop over several years."
Keith Stewart - Sommnet Website - www.sommnet.com, 25 July 2003
8/10
"Moderately dark young red. Aromatic, soft, slightly shitty bouquet flashing with fruit highlights. Very sophisticated and appealing. Fresh, suave, fine impact quietly develops a soft fruit intensity that fills the mid palate with a wall of fruit, part cherry, part red berry, flickering with spice, earth and wildness. Lovely texture from beginning to end, with the tannins ripely soft and rich. Very stylish wine, still a little on the quiet side, but with promise. Drink from 2005 to 2010."
Winestate Magazine, May/June 2003
* * * *
"Good, rich colour. Ripely fragrant wine with good fruit sweetness, savoury/spicy characters, French oak complexity and a supple, lingering finish."
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 2000:
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (www.wineaccess.com)
87/100
"Good full red. Plum, raspberry, earth and nutty oak on the nose. Round and supple, with flavours of plum, rapsberry, smoke and earth, sweetened by sexy oak. Finishes with light, fine tannins and lingering spice."
Patty's Pinot Closet Newsletter 1-2 (www.pinotnoirs.com), November 2003
92/100
"Aromas of cherries and blackcurrant with spicy earthy mushroom tones. Well-balanced with a velvety feel in the mouth and a nice aftertaste."
Vic Williams - The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide 2003
* * * 1/2
"The bouquet is savoury and spicy, with suggestions of mushrooms and cherries. It's a gentle wine on the palate, nicely fruited but quite understated. The finish is sweet-edged and moderately long."
Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2003
* * * * *
"John Belsham's Marlborough red is in great form from the 2000 vintage. Matured in French oak barriques (50 percent new), it is promisingly deep in colour, full-bodied, concentrated and warm, with sweet-fruit delights and rich, plummy, spicy flavours. Complex and supple, it is a beautifully proportioned wine, for drinking now or cellaring."
Winestate Magazine September/October 2002 - Michael Cooper
* * * * *
"This is clearly the best Pinot Noir yet from John Belsham. Promisingly deep in colour, it is full-bodied, concentrated and warm, with sweet fruit delights and rich plummy, spicy flavours. Complex and supple, it is a beautifully proportioned wine, for drinking now or cellaring."
New Zealand Sunday Star Times 28 July 2002 - Michael Cooper
* * * * *
"STUNNING PINOT NOIR - The best Pinot Noir yet from winemaker John Belsham - concentrated, supple, delicious."
The Listener July 13-19 2002 - Keith Stewart
"In his dotage, John Belsham should look back on this wine with pride, as an important moment in Marlborough's evolution as serious pinot country. Fragrantly fabulous, it has the glistening glamour of a film star, dripping succulence and flavour, while beneath the chic is a raunchier rumble, darkly promising, moody, a bit bad - lookin' for a good time. Definitely leather-not-vinyl, probably fine-when-old, absolutely pinot-as-sex-symbol.
AVAILABLE - how common are real stars?"
Food & Beverage Marketplace June 02 - Peter Saunders
"A change from the lighter and elegant Foxes Island style of the past, this vintage more assertive, stronger and demanding attention. Still youngish, showing the strawberry and cherry stage but already pleasant and enjoyable for that. More complex stage will evolve over the next 18 months.
In a word - Stronger, more assertive Marlborough Pinot, young but already showing delicious fruit tones."
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 1999:
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2002
* * * 1/2
"John Belsham's Marlborough red is in good form from the 1999 vintage. Barrel-aged for 10 months, it is full-coloured, sturdy and firm, with strong cherry, raspberry and spice flavours wrapped in quality French oak. Fleshy and vibrant, it's still youthful and should reward cellaring."
Vic Williams - The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide 2001/2002
* * * *
"There's a touch of chocolate on the nose - think chocolate-coated cherries and you'll be close. The flavour profile is smooth, ripe-fruited and very elegant. Smart stuff!"
James Halliday Website - February 2001
92/100
"Medium red-purple; there are complex, spicy, savoury edges to soft, plummy fruit on the bouquet; the palate has excellent texture and structure, with sweet, spicy plummy fruit supported by soft tannins. By far the best Pinot yet from Foxes Island."
Foxes Island Marlborough Pinot Noir 1998:
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2001
****1/2
"John Belsham's Marlborough red has generally lived in the shadow of its Chardonnay stablemate, but the 1998 vintage is the finest yet. Oak-aged for 10 months, it shows good colour depth, with a complex, savoury, spicy bouquet. Drinking well now, it's a rich mouthfilling wine, firm yet supple, with strong, sweet cherry/raspberry fruit flavours wrapped in quality French oak."
Wine Spectator, Nov 15 2000
88/100
"Ripe, spicy and generous, a lovely mouthful of cinnamon and nutmeg-scented black cherry flavours that linger impressively on the round finish. Drink now through 2004. 750 cases made." H.S.
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 2004:
Huon Hooke - "Good Living Magazine" - The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 March 2006
"Very complex, with the book of winemaking tricks thrown at it by the skilful John Belsham. Roast hazelnut, low-level sulfides and stone fruits. Deep, rich, full-bodied and multilayered, with sweet ripe fruit and creamy texture. An absorbing drink."
Huon Hooke - "Good Weekend Magazine" - The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age,
28 January 2006
"The chardonnay (A$38) is multi-layered, with roast hazelnut and subtle "matchstick", Burgundy-like aromas - full-bodied and deep, rich and fruit-sweet."
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines 2006:
* * * * 1/2
"This richly flavoured, skilfully balanced Chardonnay is produced by John Belsham, a senior wine judge and vastly experienced winemaker. The 2004 vintage (* * * * 1/2) was fully fermented in French oak barriques (40 percent new). Bright, light yellow/green, it is richly fragrant, mouthfilling and very harmonious, with a creamy-smooth texture and peachy, citrusy flavours, ripe, delicate and deep."
Winestate Magazine - Nov/Dec 2005:
* * * * *
"Deliciously toasty and leesy style with a backdrop of oak fermentation. Very tasty wine, showing good spine and a texture that reflects the weight of the fruit and low-yielding vines. A delight, still youthful but very approachable now, with a big future."
Bob Campbell, New Zealand Home & Entertaining Magzine - Nov/Dec 2005
93/100
"A strong mealy, nutty and sizzled butter influence adds a burgundian character to this concentrated wine. Rich, soft-textured Chardonnay with stylish oak and a fruit character that reminded one judge of "stewed apple and whipped cream".
Keith Stewart, Sommnet website - www.sommnet.com - September 2005
7/10
"Light lemon yellow. Smoky, spicy, complex nose is elegant and sophisticated. Cool impact has immediate delicacy and fine flavours. Firm but supple texture with a tight acid backbone and smoky spice flavours that seem oak related. Nut kernel and meal character rise at the finish, which trails off nicely. Stylish wine with a bright nature and oodles of mellowing tones."
Peter Saunders, Food & Beverage Marketplace Magazine - September 2005
"Deliciously toasty and leesy style with a backdrop of oak fermentation. Very tasty wine, showing good spine and a texture that reflects the weight of fruit and low yielding vines. A delight, still youthful but very approachable now, with a big future over the next two or three years at least."
Charmian Smith, Otago Daily Times - 24 August 2005
"Closed and understated when first opened, this young wine (perhaps too young) blossomed on the second day, developing attractive suggestions of peach, melon and citrus fruit backed by nutty, buttery creaminess and lots of classy oak. It is a complex wine with a lingering aftertaste and another year or two bottle age will allow it to develop its full potential."
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 2002:
Wine Spectator Online - www.winespectator.com - 2005
85/100
"Deep yellow, distinctly spicy and oaky in aroma and flavor, brightly spiked with citrusy acidity against the buttery finish. Drink now through 2008. 100 cases imported. (HS)"
Restaurant Wine (USA) - Issue #104
* * * *
"Screwcap. Excellent Chardonnay: ripely flavoured, lightly oak, full-bodied, and long on the palate, a wine with roasted nut, lemon peel, toasted oak, and tobacco aromas/flavors. [2005-2006]"
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2005
* * * * 1/2
"This richly flavoured, skilfully balanced Chardonnay is produced by John Belsham, a senior wine judge and vastly experienced winemaker. The 2002 vintage was fully fermented in French oak barriques (60% new). Rich, creamy and rounded, it's a mouthfilling tightly-structured and yet highly approachable wine with vibrant, peachy, citrusy, biscuity flavours showing lots of barrel-ferment complexity and a distinct touch of butterscotch. There is no 2003."
Bob Campbell, Gourmet Traveller WINE - Summer 2004
89/100
"This is big, complex wine offering strong white peach and toasty oak flavours. It is a weighty and almost chewy chardonnay with a silken texture."
Winestate Magazine - November/December 2004
* * * *
"A gutsy developed wine, quite strong in characters including lees, fruit and malo-lactic underlined by almost three years of age. A potent, mouth-filling Chardonnay, different, full of interest and very food-friendly. Ready."
International Chardonnay Challenge, Gisborne, New Zealand - October 2004
Silver Medal
2004 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, Australia - August 2004
Recommended
"Fresh and clean with lean melony fruit, some complexing overtones and good acidity."
Bob Campbell & The Dream Team, NZ Home & Entertaining- Sept/Oct 2004
89/100
"Big, rich and oily wine, with strong peachy flavours and equally strong oak. Seductive Chardonnay with masses of flavour and a silken texture."
TiZ Wine : New Zealand Wine Website - September 2004
18.5/20
"All-Bran and a touch of butterscotch start things off well. A beautifully balanced wine, boasting weighty fruit edged by well tuned acids. The finish is long and faintly citric."
Wine Enthusiast Magazine, USA - August 2004
"Solid straightforward Chardonnay, with a toasty, buttery veneer over tropical fruit. Medium-weight and picks up tasty notes of vanilla cream and citrus on the finish."
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 2001:
Restaurant Wine Magazine, USA - April 2004
"Fine Chardonnay, in a full bodied, complex, if somewhat subtle style. It is round, fruity in flavor (pear, apple, pineapple), with overtones of roasted nut, vanilla, toast, and oak. Long finish."
Bob Campbell & The Dream Team, NZ Home & Entertaining- Feb/Mar 2004
86/100
"This is a fleshy, creamy wine with great mouth feel - it's altogether a stylish Chardonnay with nicely integrated oak and lees. Subtly complex."
Geoff Kelly's Wine Reviews @ www.regionalwines.co.nz = Nov 2003
18.5/20
"Elegant lemon. In the blind tasting, mealy malolactic fermentation characters in a pleasant way are the first thing to strike the taster, behind which there are white stonefruits, baguette crusts, and subtle oak. Palate complexes the bouquet considerably, with an intriguing mealy and limestone minerality developing on rich fruit and subtle oak. Higher apparent malolactic fermentation flavours are not uncommon in Marlborough chardonnays - presumably some at least of the base wines are higher in malic acid that the average of Hawkes Bay. This wine will improve greatly with a couple of years in bottle, and gradually become more modern-European in style Cellar 5-10 years."
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2004
* * * * 1/2
"This richly flavoured, skilfully balanced Chardonnay is produced by John Belsham, a senior wine judge and vastly experienced winemaker. The 2001 vintage was hand-picked and fully fermented in French oak barriques (40% new). Still developing, it has fragrant, toasty oak and ripe-fruit aromas. Full-flavoured, with crisp acidity, vibrant peach and melon characters, French oak complexity and a tight, rich finish, it's a very elegant and harmonious wine that should richly reward cellaring."
Keith Stewart, New Zealand Listener - 22-28 November 2003
"Lime blossom and vanilla fragrance, with a touch of soy and minerals, give this sinuous young wine a lovely line of fascination to complement its brisk, keen character. Details are starting to show in the mouth, too, where the first touches of creamy meal are coming through the pure, intense fruit and razor-sharp finesse. Definitely in need of a rest for a year or two before you twist it open, then it should be entrancing."
TiZ Wine : New Zealand Wine Website - November 2003
"Pale coloured but with a rich, pronounced nose of toasty oak and creamy, ripe fruit. Medium-weight palate with good flavour backed up by oak and a touch of acidity."
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar - Sept/Oct 2003:
88/100
"Musky aromas of lime, dusty stone and nutmeg. Offers good body and fat, but remains bright and dry, with cool flavors of lime, ginger, spices, talk and fresh herbs. Pliant but dry and classic. Subtle, tactile, building finish."
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 2000:
USA Restaurant Wine Magazine - Issue #94
"A generous, fruit style of Chardonnay. It is supple, full bodied, mildly rich, and well balanced, with a smooth long finish. It tastes of tropical fruit, vanilla, peach, and lemon peel."
Vic Williams - The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide 2003
* * * *
"Sweet oak sits behind aromas reminscent of super-ripe lemons.It's impeccably focused, with clean fruit in straightforward surroundings. If you like chardonnay with grunt it's not for you, but if you appreciate elegance, seek out a bottle."
TiZ Wine : New Zealand Wine Website - February 2003
"A full-bodied wine true to the varietal. Rich from a wonderful balance of oak and ripe, sweet citrus fruit. Lovely smooth texture and a favourite among the panel."
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2003
* * * * *
"This richly flavoured, skilfully balanced Chardonnay is produced by John Belsham, a senior wine judge and vastly experienced winemaker. The outstanding 2000 vintage was hand-picked and fully fermented in French oak barriques (50 percent new). Weighty, harmonious and complex, with deep grapefruit-like flavours, buttery, mealy, nutty and long, it's a highly refined wine with a lasting finish. The best wine yet under this label, it offers top drinking from now onwards."
International Chardonnay Challenge, Gisborne, New Zealand - October 2002
GOLD MEDAL
Wine Spectator - Oct 15 2002
88/100
"Bright, juicy and immensely appealing for its lively apple, citrus and caramel flavours, which last nicely on the finish. Drink now through 2004."
Michael Cooper, Winestate Magazine - Nov/Dec 2002
* * * * *
"This is a beautiful, highly refined wine, weighty, harmonious and complex. Hand-picked, whole bunch pressed and fermented in French oak casks (60% new), with full malolactic fermentation, it is light yellow, with deep grapefruit-like, nutty, mealy flavours and a rich, slightly buttery finish. Delicious drinking now onwards."
James Halliday, Winepros website - 16 August 2002
92/100
"Medium yellow-green; complex cashew, oak and melon fruit aromas lead into a medium-bodied palate with precisely the same flavours; the toasty oak is well balanced."
Pippa MacKay, The Press, Christchurch - 08 August 2002
"This truly beautiful Chardonnay comes from a small family-owned vineyard in Marlborough.
...John Belsham created this fine, beautifully balanced wine with lovely stonefruit intensity, gentle butterscotch from full malolactic fermentation, and firm acids promising some longevity. ...I loved this wine with it's restraint and complexity - try some. And while you're out shopping, find some of their Foxes Island Pinot Noir 2000 which is also a seriously wonderful drop.
Available in September from fine wine shops."
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 1999:
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2002
* * * *
"Drinking well now, the 1999 vintage was fully fermented in French oak barriques (45% new), with 90% malolactic fermentation. Light-medium yellow, it possesses a toasty bouquet leading into a weighty, finely balanced wine with delicate citrusy/melon flavours, nutty oak, good complexity and a dry rounded finish."
Vic Williams - The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide 2001/2002
* * * * *
"Oak spice and cracked wheat aromas sit behind the ripe fruit on the nose. The texture is appealingly creamy, and the peach-like flavours are nicely edged by citric acids."
Cuisine April/May 2001
86/100 * * * *
"Elegant, supple Marlborough Chardonnay with rich, almost chewy flavours and a lingering finish. Well-made wine with good cellaring potential."
Wine Star - Chardonnay Highlights Edition - May 2001
* * * *
"Good now, this fully barrel-fermented wine is a weighty, beautifully balanced wine with delicate citrusy/melon flavours, finely integrated nutty oak and a dry, rounded finish."
Winestate Magazine May/June 2001
* * * *
"Light - medium yellow. Toasty nose, with substantial body, ripe grapefruit flavours, good complexity and a creamy texture. Fully French oak-fermented and lees-aged, with 90 percent MLF."
James Halliday Website - February 2001
94/100
"Bright green-yellow; the bouquet ranges through melon, citrus and stonefruit with contrasting hints of mineral and cashew; as ever, the palate is intense but tight, with stonefruit and citrus to the fore, the malolactic and oak influences under tight control, good acidity providing the seal to a first class act."
Foxes Island Marlborough Chardonnay 1998:
Wine Star - Chardonnay Highlights Edition - May 2000
* * * * 1/2
"Lovely drinking from now onwards, John Belsham's barrel-fermented wine is generous, smooth and mouthfilling, with delicate citrus and tropical fruit flavours, balanced oak, a hint of butterscotch, complexity and a long tight finish."
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2001
* * * *
"This rich-flavoured Marlborough Chardonnay is produced by John Belsham, formerly of Rapaura Vintners and before that, Hunters and Matua Valley. The 1998 vintage is an immaculate, savoury and complex wine, fermented in French oak barriques (40 percent new). A weighty wine with ripe citrus/melon flavours, a hint of butterscotch and a creamy-soft finish, it's maturing well; drink 2001+."
Vic Williams - The Penguin Good New Zealand Wine Guide 2000/2001
* * * * *
"Grapefruit and ripe lemon aromas make up the bouquet. It's nicely textured, smooth in the middle but with enough grunt to hold your attention. The acids are clean-cut and fresh."
Cuisine April/May 2000
91/100 * * * *
"Elegant and complex Chardonnay with attractive barrel-fermentation characters, a nutty lees influence and attractive smoky oak. A strong winemaking influence has subdued the fruit but nonetheless has helped to produce a stylish and attractive wine."
James Halliday Wine Companion 2001 Edition
94/100
"Light to medium yellow-green; a sophisticated and subtle bouquet with cashew, melon and citrus is followed by a particularly well-focused and balanced palate in which the barrel-ferment and malolactic-ferment inputs have been handled with great finesse."
Wine Spectator, Nov 30 2000
87/100
"Crisp and zingy, with hints of citrus, peach and lots of mineral notes. Honey and vanilla notes linger on the finish. Drink now through 2005. 1,800 cases made." H.S
Foxes Island Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006:
Matthew Jukes & Tyson Stelzer - Taste Food & Wine 2008
"If you could bottle the essence of classic Marlborough Sauvignon, it would taste and smell pretty much like this. Foxes is bubbling with crunchy gooseberries and and it displays a pleasing absence of the tinned fruit characters so common in lesser Kiwi Savvy. This is a serene Sauvignon, controlled and restrained, much like its master, John Belsham, whose experience in Marlborough wine dates back two decades, virtually to when the first vines were planted in this region."
Bob Campbell - Gourmet Traveller WINE, June/July 2007
* * * * 93/100
"There are plenty of gooseberry flavours, with a suggestion of red capsicum, but also a pleasing and subliminal oak influence adding interest. Dead-dry wine with Marlborough character and a nod in the direction of Sancerre."
Michael Cooper - Winestate Magazine, February 2007
* * * 1/2
"Fresh and flavoursome, with good texture and crisp melon and green capsicum characters that linger well."
Foxes Island Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005:
Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines 2007
* * * *
"The 2005 vintage was estate-grown in the Awatere Valley, fermented in tanks and a small percentage of new French oak, and lees-aged for six months. It's a freshly scented wine with good weight, gooseberry/lime flavours showing some steely, green-apple notes, leesy touches adding complexity, and a crisp, dryish (4.5 grams/litre of residual sugar) finish."
Len Sorbello - "Winewise Magazine", June 2006
Outstanding
"Sensational nose, fresh complex aromas - quince, pear, gooseberry - very fine. Similar flavours on a finely textured palate with understated intensity and some minerality - lingering fresh acidity carries through to the finish and beyond."
Foxes Island Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004:
Huon Hooke - "Good Weekend Magazine" - The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age,
28 January 2006
"The sauvignon blanc (A$26), is awesomely concentrated, with vibrant gooseberry, mineral and passionfruit characters; tangy and crisp but also smooth and balanced. It's more complex and interesting than most Kiwi savvies."
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines 2006
* * * *
"The 2004 vintage (* * * *) was almost entirely handled in tanks, but 5 percent of the blend was fermented in new French oak barriques. Lees-aged for six months, it has ripe fruit aromas and a full-bodied palate, showing good mouthfeel and texture. A finely balanced wine, it offers ripely herbaceous, slightly minerally flavours, with good acid spine and a dry, rounded finish."
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar - www.wineaccess.com
90/100
"Aromatic, nuanced nose combines white nectarine, peach and flowers. Bright, fruity, intense and round; at once mouthfilling, ripe and gripping. The stone fruit and lime flavours offer lovely inner-mouth aromatic character. Balanced, nicely delineated, complex and long. An excellent showing."
Peter Saunders - Winestate Magazine, March/April 2005
* * * 1/2
"Soft, nicely subtle Marlborough tones, not as racy as some yet holding the gooseberry and asparagus characters we know. Very good drinkability' ready."
Bob Campbell MW - Gourmet Traveller Wine, Autumn 2005
87 * * * *
"John Belsham, winemaker/owner of Foxes Island, is a senior wine judge with a nose for good sauvignon blanc. This attractive wine has lifted passionfruit and gooseberry flavours with assertive acidity. A hint of spritzig character adds freshness and may help maintain the wine's youthful, fruity flavours. This is a tangy, vibrant wine with a quality the French describe as nervoisite, which I interpret to mean the sort of edgy nervousness that you might find in a thoroughbred racehorse."
Mark Wilson - The Christchurch Press, 3 February 2005
"All the reasons why we love Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc are well represented in this Foxes Island offering - colour the palest straw, an explosion of lime and gooseberry flavours from the first sip, and a flinty but not astringent finish. And for those who note such things, a healthy 13.5 percent alcohol. The tastes develop as the wine sits in the glass, and if you are like me you will drink this not too chilled, so as to get the most from all those mouth-filling flavours."
Charmian Smith - Otago Daily Times, 8 December 2004
* * * * * Wine of the Week
"Of the 15 Sauvignons I tasted in this round, the Foxes Island was the one I kept coming back to. It had all the lovely, pungent herbs, passionfruit, lime, capsicum and grassiness you expect from good Marlborough sauvignon, but what set it apart was the beautiful balance, intensity and lingering aftertaste. It did not punch you in the face like some of the more aggressive versions, nor was it a watery shadow that promised but did not deliver like some of those I've tasted this year. It was simply delicious."
Peter Saunders - Food & Beverage Marketplace, December 2004
"Drinking very well as a traditional Marlborough style, softer, not as racy as some but with the gooseberry and asparagus tones we know and enjoy. A user-friendly wine that won't overpower but allow subtlety to speak.
In a Word - Softer, nicely subtle Marlborough tones yet holding the gooseberry and asparagus characters we know. Ready."
Joelle Thomson - VIVA, New Zealand Herald, 1 December 2004
"This fleshy, ripe-tasting Sauvignon Blanc is a perfect example of a later-than-usual release, blooming with a smooth, full-bodied style Screwcap."
TizWine website - www.tizwine.com - November 2004
"The nose is classic, with impressions of cut grass and dried pineapple. There's some good fruit through the middle, supported by keen but integrated acids. Not a "biggie", but pleasant."
Keith Stewart - Sommnet Website - www.sommnet.com, 8 November 2004
8/10
"Light straw. Gently ripe, aromatically fruit with a dash of herbs and sweat. Clean, slightly minerally. Fresh impact is ripe with sweet fruit, a tinge of lime and herbs, and a passing hint at sweat. Pure, fresh mid-palate is lively, slightly tropical in character and bright all the way to the finish, which has a twist of lingering dryness. Smart wine, very fresh.
Drink From: 2004 to 2007."
Foxes Island Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2003:
Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide to New Zealand Wines - 2005
* * * * 1/2
"The characterful 2003 vintage was mostly handled in tanks, but 10% of the blend was oak-aged. Finely scented, its a full-bodied, finely textured wine with strong, ripe-melon, gooseberry and capsicum flavours, a touch of complexity and a well-rounded finish. A wine of individuality, it's delicious now."
2004 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, Australia - August 2004
Recommended
"Herbal and tropical aromas with good flavour balanced by the fresh acid."
Bob Campbell & The Dream Team - NZ Home & Entertaining - April/May 2004
85/100
"Fresh gooseberry and capsicum flavours are evident in this drying and crisply acidic wine. This wine proved to be an elegant Sauvignon Blanc that could benefit from greater concentration."
TiZwine Website - www.TiZwine.com - March 2004
17.5/20
"With a sweaty bouquet and lashings of sweet-fruit flavours, this is classic Marlborough sauvignon. Freshness and a zingy finish make it an immediately appealing drop. A must with Bluff oysters."
Geoff Kelly's Wine Reviews - www.regionalwines.co.nz - March 2004
18/20
"Superb lemongreen, exceptional. Clearly sauvignon in the understated way that speaks of full, even overfull, ripeness, scarcely any capsicum and what little there is very red, plenty of black passionfruit skins, and at this stage rather much hessian aromatics from (presumably) French oak. The wine smells about as ripe and oaky as sauvignon should be without veering towards Australian anonymity. Varietal qualities increase on palate, where flavours are rich, dry, the depth of fruit and black passionfruit remarkable, less autolysis building up body. This should cellar magnificently, the oak on bouquet marrying away nicely, and all ending up with some of the style of premium Graves. Cellar 3-15, if you like mature sauvignon."
