Thomas’s Treasure Dessert Riesling 2008

Dessert

Thomas’s Treasure Dessert Riesling 2008

Our first and only dessert wine is named after our son Thomas. Bottled in 2012, you’ll find honey and sweetness inside, just like in the young lad himself.

When he was five, he helped pick the tiny bunches of noble rot and sampled the ‘nectar’ directly from the press as the juices flowed into the Thomas barrel, a small acacia barrel imported from Slovenia. Good work Thomas!

 

$69.00 NZD

Tasting Notes

An explosion of treacle, Manuka and pine nut flavours is backed up by a succulent texture, juicy acidity and tremendous length – slightly decadent!

Download Tasting Notes
6 year old Thomas Schwarzenbach is running down the rows of the Pinot Gris vineyard in early summer.
3 year old Thomas Schwarzenbach leaning over a grey bin full of botrytised Riesling grapes. He is wearing a bright orange jersey and a red woollen hat. In the background we see the yellow canopy of the Riesling vineyard.

First and only dessert wine

The dessert Riesling is named after our son Thomas. He was just five years old when he helped picking the tiny bunches of noble rot, sampled the “nectar” directly from the press and helped his Dad filling the Thomas barrel, a 120 litre acacia barrel imported from Slovenia.

He patiently observed the slow, natural fermentation and the three years barrel ageing before his "Treasure" was finally ready for bottling in 2012.

Reviews

96/100 Bob Campbell MW, therealreview.com

An extraordinary dessert wine.

The colour of a 30 year-old tawny port. Still relatively fresh but with good bottle development. Honeycomb, caramel, toffee flavours with a strong botrytis influence.

6-year old Thomas proudly stands next to the 120L Acacia barrel containing the Blackenbrook Thomas's Treasure Dessert Riesling. He's smiling shily. In the background you can see the concrete wall of the barrel hall at the Blackenbrook Winery.

Reviews

5 Stars Michael Cooper, michaelcooperwines.com

Still on sale, the 2008 vintage, released in 2013, is indeed a ‘treasure’ – one of the most striking sweet wines ever produced in New Zealand.

Only 309 bottles were produced – but what a wine! The bouquet is immediately arresting, with an exceptional intensity of apricot and honey aromas, showing real complexity. A wine of great beauty, it is oily and sweet, almost syrupy, with honey, apricot and tea flavours, good acid spine and exceptional depth.

The season

Excellent spring weather resulted in almost perfect pollination. A warm summer brought along healthy canopy growth.

Just before harvest we received a major rainfall causing a difficult vintage with botrytis affecting most varieties.

Owners Daniel and Ursula Schwarzenbach walking over a dry paddock. They are smiling and looking at each other. In the background their is dark blue sky.