Waiheke Wine Selected for Paris Book Launch Tasting

A Te Motu Vineyard-produced wine is one of 15 top international wines chosen for tasting at the Paris launch of a book entitled, Wine Explorers: The First Tour of the World of Wine. The book is the culmination of an unprecedented project by its author, Jean-Baptiste Ancelot who over a four-year period visited 88 countries and more than 500 wineries “in pursuit of the hidden treasures of unknown wine regions”.

The wine chosen by Ancelot to represent New Zealand wine at the book launch is the Waiheke Island vineyard’s flagship bottle, Te Motu 2005.

Beginning in 2014, Ancelot visited every wine producing country around the world, including New Zealand, Namibia, Palestine, Bulgaria, Thailand and Azerbaijan, tasting each region’s top wines. The preface to the book is written by the owner of legendary Bordeaux winery, Chateau Petrus, Jean Moueix.

Te Motu’s managing director Paul Dunleavy will be in Paris to present the wine to 200 leading wine writers and connoisseurs.

The wine, produced at the acclaimed Onetangi Valley estate, Te Motu (which translates as “the island”) is a cabernet sauvignon dominant blend with merlot and cabernet franc, hand-harvested from low-yielding vines. The 2005 vintage is described on Te Motu’s website as: “A full and voluminous nose with ripe blackberry, plum and currant aromas, harmoniously entwined with earth and savoury secondary undergrowth and dried herb nuances. Fine-grained tannins with flavours of cassis, herbs, plums and spice along with earth and game. A rich, full body with great concentration of flavours. This wine can age well into 2022+.”

The original vines of Te Motu Vineyard were planted in 1989 and the first vintage of Te Motu was produced in 1993. In 1994, Te Motu’s second vintage won a gold medal at the International Wine Awards.

Ancelot graduated with a Masters and MBA in Wine and Spirits Business from the INSEEC Wine & Spirits Institute in Bordeaux, France.