Wines of Hans Herzog, Marlborough

A special tasting of Hans and Therese Herzog’s wines presented by Andrea Martinisi, recently returned from helping with Vintage 2025.

Hans Herzog does everything in the vineyard. In looking after the vines, Hans treats the vineyard as his personal garden, checking, nuturing and growing. In the winery, Hans take a minimal intervention view to allow the clean, ripe grapes to ferment in ways that show off their true qualities.

The selection of handmade wines:

Arneis 2019 – a white grape is from Piedmont in northwest Italy

Viognier 2021 – the outstanding white grape from the Northern Rhone, near Cote Rotie

Mistral 2021 60% Marsanne, 20% Viognier, 20% Roussanne

Red wines

Zweigelt 2017 is from Austria and a crossing of the grapes St Laurent and Blaufrankish

Nebbiolo 2018 - the noble grape of Piedmont in northwest Italy

Spirit of Marlborough 2017 – a Bordeaux blend with long aging ability. The blend varies each year and in 2017 it was 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Cabernet Franc, 31 Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot & Malbec.

The gastronomic canapés were prepared by Level 4 Cookery students of the New Zealand School of Food and Wine under Chef Finn Gybel and served by the Level 4 Hospitality students under the guidance of Franck Laurelle.

With the following pairing:

Arneis 2019 with Smoked salmon with spinach and grilled lemon vinaigrette

Viognier 2021 with Confit of chicken spring roll, Pumpkin chutney and sour cabbage

Mistral 2021 with Potato croquette with onion compote and bacon sticks

Zweigelt 2017 with Beef tartare with quail egg and crisp potato

Nebbiolo 2018 with Braised short rib on Puccini rösti with watercress

Spirit of Marlborough 2017 Polenta with oyster mushroom and tapenade

Something sweet to finish: Pear and panna cotta in filo with meringue kisses