Villa Maria - "best in the world"?

Who the hell is Michael Franz?

Quick googling finds some references. But the ones to Villa Maria DON'T say its the best winery in the world, just his featured "producer of the year"

The Villa Maria group is certainly impressive operation. Apart from wines bottled under their own name, they also own a number of other smaller producers such as Esk Valley (who IMO makes even more impressive wine than the parent winery). Top producer? Who knows what that even means?

Mark Lipton

I find their wines to be pedestrian at best. If that is his opinion OK but does not mean much to me. I use them for cooking wines.

"Lawrence Leichtman" wrote .....

One of the problems in making such sweeping statements is the fact that the Villa Maria Group encompasses three separate wine labels (Villa Maria; Esk Valley [as Mark Lipton remembers, having visited in '02] and Vidal Hawkes Bay Estate).

Furthermore, each winery, has separate (quality driven) classifications.

The basic Villa Maria label is "Private Bin"; the step-up is the "Cellar Selection" range; followed by the "Reserve" line-up - topped off with the "Single Vineyard" selection.

Confused? Even I as a local devotee is forced to take a second look.

Esk Valley's "The Terraces" is IMNSHO NZs best Bordeaux blend, while the Vidal "Soler" Syrah is also a brilliant Rhone styled red (as opposed to an Australian styled Shiraz!)

I imagine that the vast majority of exported wines would fall under the "Private Bin" label - whereas the wines which Mr. Franz singles out would be a scarce commodity in the US (or anywhere else outside of NZ).

As Mr. Axis von Beagle has previously noted the VM Single Vineyard Viognier is the best I have ever encountered outside of Condrieu.

If you ever have the chance to encounter Graf Hardegg's "V" -- a "table wine" (since the grape is not officially recommended) from northeastern Austria near the Czech border --, then go ahead and taste.

Even Condrieu producers admit its stupendous quality.

M.

Hi Michael,

Do you know if this is widely available in Germany (I live in the Cologne area)? I like Viognier in general; best I've had so far was a

2002 Condrieu "La Loye" by Michel Gerin. Would love to try Graf Hardegg's offering.

Dave

Note that two vintages are described (click to the right), 2005 and

2004.

M.

You're welcome.

No problem - gave me the opportunity to see their homepage for the first time ... ;-)

Just as an aside: the estate is on its way to be certified in biodynamics. Officially they are "Umstellungsbetrieb" now (conversion estate) as they have signed a "Kontrollvertrag" (control agreement) with Demeter.

M.