The 2014 Single Vineyard Seddon Pinot Gris has a pretty floral perfume of peach blossoms and honeysuckle with a spiced pear and golden delicious apple undercurrent. Medium-bodied and dry with just a touch of sweetness in the mouth, it has nice harmony and plenty of spice in the finish.

The 2011 Single Vineyard Seddon Pinot Gris has aromas of warm apples and honeyed white peaches with hints of baking bread and orange blossom. A medium bodied, off-dry style (8.5 grams per liter of residual sugar), it has a good amount of apple and pear flavors, crisp acid and a long honeyed-peach finish. Drink this one now through 2014. Importer: Ste Michelle Wine Estates, Woodinville, WA

The 2009 Seddon Pinot Gris has a very aromatic, again, almost Viognier-like bouquet with honeysuckle, nectarine and jasmine aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, spicy and viscous, very -worked- but lacking the requisite acidity to lend it freshness and tension towards the finish. Still, this is a pretty Pinot Gris but it just lacks a little tension. Drink now-2012. The clement weather during the 2009 vintage meant that Villa Maria's winemaking team faced a 20% above average crop. Bearing in mind the pitfalls of over-production in 2008, strict yield controls were imposed on each winery, with many lopping off a whole cane. Villa Maria continues to produce a strong diverse portfolio that embraces entry-level varietals to limited bottlings of single vineyards. As mentioned in previous reports their Pinot Noirs remain their Achilles heel in an otherwise impressive, diverse range. In particular, I feel that their Syrah are really coming into their own. I have included wines from Vidal and Esk Valley that are under the same umbrella, but treated separately. Importer: Ste Michelle Wine Estates, Woodinville, WA; tel. (800) 267-6793

The 2008 Seddon Vineyard Pinot Gris has a lovely, almost Viognier-like nose with good definition: honeysuckle, beeswax and orange-blossom. Medium-bodied palate, good acidity, rounded texture, very aromatic, perhaps almost too much with touches of brioche and ginger towards the finish. Good weight. This is a Pinot Gris with ambition. Villa Maria continues to serve as the great ambassadors to New Zealand wine, appealing to both supermarket consumers and connoisseurs. Importer: Vineyard Brands Inc., Birmingham, AL; (205) 980-8802

I was smitten with the outstanding 2007 Seddon Pinot Gris with complex aromatics precipitated by high winds that cause late ripening. A delightful, floral nose with touches of ripe peach and apricot, the palate has natural balance, zesty acidity with hints of dried apricot and wax resin on the long finish. Villa Maria is perhaps the most recognized names in New Zealand, founded in 1961 by George Fistonich who showed his wines at their impressive new facility located in an extinct volcano just outside Auckland airport that opened in 2005. Although they are one of New Zealand’s major producers, they remain family-owned and their philosophy has more in common with the boutique wineries than the major brands. They also own Esk Valley, Thornbury and Vidal whose notes can be found elsewhere. At the moment I find their Pinot Noirs rather forced and over-extracted but that is compensated by some outstanding Syrahs Importer, Vineyard Brands Inc., Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802; fax (205) 980-0408