Te Mata Estate Awatea Cabernets Merlot 2020 $40 If I were in a hostage situation and the gunman said “Somebody better tell me what’s the greatest local Bordeaux-style red wine that I can buy for under fifty bucks, in the next five seconds or the granny gets it!” I would be hollering “Te Mata Awatea … Read More
merlot
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec 2021
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec 2021 $25 One thing will become super-obvious when inhaling the scent of this Bordeaux blend from Hawke’s Bay’s famous Gimblett Gravels region. Meatiness. It’s rich, savoury and roaring with roasting pan juices on the nose. Combine that with dark blueberry, plum, pepper and bay leaf layers, black olive … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019 $22 Holy berries Batman! Those Paskers really know how to blend. This absolutely champion combination of Cabernet Sauvignon 43.8% Malbec 18.8%, Merlot 16%, Cabernet Franc 6.8% is super-stylish, spice-dusted and saturated with ripe plums, leather and cocoa layers and a dusting of liquorice. 2019 was a sensational vintage for Hawke’s … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2019
Pask Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2019 $22 Wow! Prepare for an instant hit of tobacco, sweet cedar, cocoa-dusted plums and bouquet garni herbs which will sail up your nostrils and morph into fabulous flavours on the palate. Grown in one of the holy trinity of vintages (2019/2020/2021) it’s a stunningly ripe, spice-saturated merlot with a long … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2020
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2020 $22 If there’s a range of wines that consistently, crowd-wowingly over-delivers for the money, it’s the Mills Reef Reserves. 2020 is fast being written into the stone tablets of wine bibles as being an exceptional year for Hawke’s Bay reds and this plump, plush, mouthcoatingly rich and cocoa-crammed … Read More
Tironui Above & Beyond Hawke’s Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet 2020
Tironui Above & Beyond Hawke’s Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet 2020 $39 Deeply glossy in the glass, magenta-black, and heaving with smoked blueberry, plum, and blackberry notes on the nose and palate, this wine is dense, delicious, and dangerously sexy to sip. Tironui sits atop Napier’s Sugar Loaf Hill, and its stunning terraces capture sun all … Read More
Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Merlot Cabernet 2019
Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Merlot Cabernet 2019 $34 Three years on from harvest and this soothing, saucy Bordeaux-style blend is soothing, lithe, cocoa and coffee-edged. A saucy blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec and cabernet franc, it was aged in French oak for 18 months (25% of the barrels were new) which encouraged the wine … Read More
Norfolk Rise Mt Benson Merlot 2020
Norfolk Rise Mt Benson Merlot 2020 $17.99 Grown in the cooler climes of the Adelaide Hills, this merlot is saturated with bay leaf, minted chocolate, blackberry and buckets of spice. Soothing, smooth, pepper-sprinkled and dangerously easy to drink. It’s the kind of easy, velvety, fruity wine you’d devour with Margherita pizza. Powerhouse Wines
Alpha Domus Beatrix Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé NV
Alpha Domus Beatrix Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé NV $21 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you’re nuts about all things rose-gold, then this super-pretty sparkler will deliver you directly to the sanatorium and, because it’s fizzy, then it could completely send you sideways. Crafted (unusually) from merlot by winemaker Barry Riwai, … Read More
Zorzettig Friuli Merlot 2019
Zorzettig Friuli Merlot 2019 $26.10 Italian merlot is not a common thing, but after tasting this, I wish it was! Juicy and cherry-driven, its a gentle, berry and plum-packed example with mid-palate smoothness and sweetness, a spicy edge and softly structured length of flavour. CSI Wines NZ