Wolf Blass launches ‘Blass’ wines for Hong Kong & Macau

Wolf Blass has debuted its terroir-driven ‘Blass’ noir range of wines in Hong Kong and Macau, with chief winemaker, Chris Hatcher, calling the Chardonnay the “star” of the Wolf Blass portfolio.

Chris Hatcher, chief winemaker at Wolf Blass, at today’s masterclass held in Cafe Deco in Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong

The range is comprised of three wines – a Shiraz, a Chardonnay and a Cabernet. At the Wolf Blass Hong Kong masterclass today, chief winemaker Chris Hatcher presented only the latest 2014 Blass Noir Shiraz and 2015 Blass Noir Chardonnay to Hong Kong trade members at Café Deco in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The 2015 Blass Noir Chardonnay is “a jump in quality” from the winery’s lower range whites, such as the White Label Uncorked Chardonnay, said Hatcher.

The wine is made from higher altitude vineyards in Adelaide Hills from 500 to 600 meters above sea-level. “This is the star of Wolf Blass Chardonnays,” said Hatcher, admitting Chardonnay is his favourite grape variety. “To me, this is what good Australian Chardonnay looks like. It has beautiful depth but not big and heavy.”

The wine is also the result of the winemaker’s pursuit for better terroir expression. After returning from a trip to the UK, the winemaker enlisted help from winemakers at the Burgundian Domaine Marc Colin, who consulted on the winery’s icon Chardonnay project that allowed them to experiment with wines in different regions of Australia in order to make more expressive Chardonnays. “The thing they taught me is it’s all about the vineyard, not the winemaker,” Hatcher told the Hong Kong crowd. “The key thing for us is to express what the vineyards gave us in the finished wine.”

Another wine from the Blass Noir range, the 2014 Blass Noir Shiraz is an elegant, refined and contemporary Shiraz, aged in French oak. In order to make more balanced wines, avoiding bitter and harsh tannins in wines, the winery started using open fermenters and a pneumatic press to “softly extract the tannins in the grape skins,” explained Hatcher.

During the masterclass, the winemaker also presented a 2012 Gold Label President’s Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2014 Silver Label Chardonnay as well as its legendary Black Label Shiraz from 2006 vintage. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec, its Black Label Shiraz has won countless domestic and international awards including the Jimmy Watson’s Awards.

Released in Hong Kong and Macau today (22 November), the Blass range is available only at Summergate, the official importer and distributor of Wolf Blass wines in Hong Kong and Macau, following the two’s partnership announcement in September.