Barons & Potter started very much as it means to go on – with great friends over a few fine wines!
Take Angela & Chris Barons – dedicated owners of the beautiful County Hotel, Napier, host-extraordinaires and devotees to the cause of bringing together loved ones over the best NZ wine and food (not forgetting the great music). Having also launched the fabulous New Zealand Wine Centre into the Hawke’s Bay wine mix in 2008, the creation of a premium wine collection was a natural progression that has seen Angela and Chris working in collaboration with the unique, family-owned wineries and talented winemaker friends they have met along their special journey so far...
Add Barb & Roy – Very best friends of Angela & Chris and highly industrious and innovative business owners. As the masterminds behind multiple highly regarded companies spanning from furniture and beauty, to groceries and racehorses, Barb and Roy bring invaluable experience of NZ and international markets to the Barons & Potter Dream Team. Many years of chief wine tasting duties (namely alongside Angela and Chris) has seen Barb and Roy become proven wine aficionados with a speciality in, but clearly by no means limited to, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
And so Barons & Potter has friendship at its heart. This proud wine family is all about handcrafted wines created by boutique wineries and cutting-edge winemakers, but, most importantly, those who are our close friends.
With a collection guided by exceptional vintages and what this means for production across the diverse NZ winegrowing regions, we’re very ready to spread the Barons & Potter love. Our handsome little family is most certainly set to grow...
This elegant chardonnay deserves an equally elegant companion and a creamy shrimp fettuccine alfredo pairs beautifully. Both softly textured, complex in their own rights, an exquisite harmony found.
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"As the name suggests, The Count is a stylishly elegant wine. Violet and red berry aromas captivate the senses. Rich plum, cassis, with a touch of spice characteristics lead to a full bodied and vibrant wine with a well textured and layered finish."
Wine Maker – Hamish Jardine.
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The Marquis is a wonderful expression of a beautifully fruity Waipara Pinot Noir. The 2016 Pinot Noir displays ripe berry fruit aromas, supported by a hint of oak. The palate is beautifully textured, rich and balanced with a rounded finish.
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Brilliant salmon-pink in colour, the 2016 Saignée Pinot Noir Rosé is refreshing and full of flavour. Food friendly, vibrant though gentle, this summertime rosé delivers a gorgeous explosion of sunshine with a touch of sweetness in the mouth. The nose is packed with light aromas of strawberries, citrus, and a touch of minerality. The palate is dry with light strawberry and mineral flavours. The wine ends with a refreshing mouth feel and light acidity.
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"Richly aromatic, Empress is classically Marlborough. Vibrant tropical fruit characters on the nose, passionfruit and mango. Textured and elegant on the plate, herbaceous with fresh acidity, finishing beautifully long and succulent. This is Sauvignon Blanc in all her finery. "
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92/100 (B&P Reserve Chardonnay 2014)
"A rich, moderately weighty Chardonnay with a creamy texture and white peach, ripe apple and nutty oak flavours. The wine has good weight and a pleasing mouth-feel. Drink 2016 to 2021."
Master of Wine
91/100 (B&P The Empress 2016)
"This is elegant yet flavoursome and vibrant, displaying lifted aromas of stone fruit, green rockmelon, feijoa and sweet basil on the nose. The palate is succulent and rounded, and offers pristine fruit flavours together with fine texture and refreshing acidity, finishing long and zesty. The wine offers lovely mouthfeel and harmony. At its best: now to 2019. "
Wine Orbit
17/20 (B&P The Empress 2016)
"Bright, very pale straw colour with slight green hues, near colourless on the rim. This has a softly full and gentle nose with a harmonious amalgam of gooseberries and passionfruit, with nuances of tropical fruits, melons, fresh herbs and cut grass. Dry to taste and medium-bodied, the palate features bright and lively fruit flavours of gooseberries and passionfruit with melon, herbal and lifted cut grass elements. The fruit is up-front and accessible and guided by fine, grainy phenolic textures, and fresh, lacy acidity providing a thirst-quenching mouthfeel. The wine carries to a refreshing, zesty, dry finish. This is a bright and harmoniously flavoured Sauvignon Blanc with gooseberries, passionfruit, herbs and cut grass on a fresh, grainy, dry finishing palate"
Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
17.0+/20 (B&P Reserve Chardonnay 2014)
"Bright, light, golden-hued straw-yellow, paler on the rim. The nose is soft and full with aromas of fresh yellow stonefruits interwoven with notes of ripe citrus and tropical fruits and integrated nutty nuances. The nose has an underlying freshness. Medium-bodied, bright and fresh flavours of white and yellow stonefruits and citrus fruit are the feature on the palate. The mouthfeel is lively and vibrant with a soft-textured core and nuances of creamy barrel-ferment.
Lacy acidity carries the wine to a long, soft, finish with creamy oak suggestions. This is a fresh, bright Chardonnay with stonefruit and citrus fruit flavours and subtle creamy and nutty notes, and soft textures. Match with seafood, poultry and pork dishes over the next 3+ years. Fruit from the ‘Crab Farm’ vineyard from 10 y.o. vines, stainless-steel fermented to 14.0% alc., the wine aged on less with partial barrel maturation in French oak."
Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
89/100 (B&P Reserve Chardonnay 2014)
"A supple red with raspberry, plum, violet, herb and pepper flavours plus a seasoning of spicy, varnishlike oak. A pleasant red in an accessible style. Drink 2016 to 2020."
Master of Wine
93/100 (B&P Reserve Chardonnay 2014)
"It is generously expressed on the nose showing yellow peach, mandarin, fig and subtle toasted almond characters. The palate delivers succulent fruit flavours, enhanced by creamy texture and bright acidity. It is richly fruited yet finely poised and balanced with a persistent finish. A gorgeous chardonnay filled with appealing flavours. At its best: now to 2018."
Wine Orbit
16.5/20 (B&P Cab Franc Merlot Malbec 2014)
"Dark, deep, black-hued red colour, with light ruby on the edge. The nose is softly full and gentle in expression, showing aromas of savoury red berry fruits, tobacco, dried herbs and earth, all harmoniously integrated, unfolding fresh herb and curranty detail with aeration. Medium-bodied, lively flavours of earthy red fruits are entwined with savoury dried and dark herbs, tobacco and currants, and form a moderately dense core. The mouthfeel is balanced with soft, supple tannins and enlivened by fresh, underlying acidity.
The wine carries smoothly to a gentle, earthy finish. This is a soft, but lively and savoury red-fruited Cabernet Franc blend with dried herb and earthy flavours. Match with casseroles and game meats dishes over the next 4 years. A blend of 50% Cabernet Franc from the ‘Crab Farm’ vineyard, 20% Merlot from the ‘Shingle Pit’ vineyard, with 20% Malbec and 10% Syrah, from 10 y.o. vines, fermented to 13.0% alc., the wine aged 18 months in barrel."
Raymond Chan Wine Reviews
87/100 (B&P Cab Franc Merlot Malbec 2014)
"The lifted bouquet shows dark plum, blueberry, spice and dried herb characters with subtle floral lift. It is elegant and brightly flavoured on the palate displaying attractive fruit weight, fine texture and chalky tannins. A nicely balanced and structured Bordeaux-style red designed to partner flavoursome meat dishes. At its best: now to 2019."
Wine Orbit
Mail: info@baronsandpotter.co.nz
PO Box Address: PO Box 345, Napier
Contact Phone Number: +64 6 835 5326
