Leftfield The Hatchling Hawke’s Bay Red Blend 2019 $17.99 Paired with: Annabel Langbein’s Steak and kidney pie in Canvas Magazine NZ Herald Sat 4th June 2022 Boost your core-ingredient count from two (steak + kidney) to six by serving up a gloriously spicy glass of this blend of merlot, tempranillo, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. … Read More
merlot
Linden Estate Peacock Block Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2019
Linden Estate Peacock Block Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2019 $24.99 2019 kicked off what would become one of the most exciting triple-vintage runs Hawke’s Bay’s ever seen. A sequence of superb harvests where spiciness saturated every red grape. Designed for the cellar, youthful and tightly-coiled, this wine also opens up with decanting or swirling. Bay leaf … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016
Pask Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016 $22 Six years on from harvest and this merlot is entering its savoury, earthy phase. The acidity is still carrying freshness across the palate and the tannins still have good grip. The flavours are smoke-led and spicy, yet it’s fading from its best.
Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020
Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $24 2020 is proving itself to be an absolute smasher of a vintage for Hawke’s Bay reds and this merlot, at $24, is, I think, one of the best value examples on the New Zealand market right now. Grown in the Gimblett Gravels, in Trinity Hill’s Tin Shed vineyard, … Read More
Ataahua Waipara Merlot 2019
Ataahua Waipara Merlot 2019 $32 The meaning of the word ‘ataahua’ in Māori is ‘beautiful’ or ‘thing of beauty’ and that’s pretty much what you’ll find in this North Canterbury merlot. A beautiful drink. So whoever suggested that you couldn’t make magical merlot in the Southern climes, clearly has never had the pleasure of sipping … Read More
Brookfields Highland Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020
Brookfields Highland Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $44 Clothed in a platinum label with a ribbon of owner/winemaker Peter Robertson’s family tartan, the grapes for this vintage were grown in a tiny vineyard in Mere Road, in the middle of the famed Gimblett Gravels sub-region. 2020 is being touted as the ‘perfect’ vintage for Hawke’s Bay … Read More
The Greatest Te Mata Estate Coleraine Vintage Ever?
Te Mata Estate Hawke’s Bay Coleraine 2020 $130 2020 heralds the 36th release of New Zealand’s most famous red wine and the one that the Buck family are calling “the best in Te Mata’s history”. CEO Nick Buck said 2020 was “Simply perfect” and with tiny berries, alongside massive extract and tension, Te Mata’s winemaker … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016 $49 Six quiet, sleepy years on from vintage, this gorgeous Gimblett Gravels-grown merlot is awake and ready to roar. With cocoa-dusted boysenberry, plum and blackcurrant characters on the nose and palate, buckets of rich spices and edged with soft, smoky, caramelised oak tones, it’s a joy to drink. … Read More
19 Crimes Cali Red 2019
19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red 2019 $19.99 Grown in California, bottled in Australia and now on sale in New Zealand, this blend of petite sirah, zinfandel and merlot had just the right amount of booty for megastar rapper and red wine lover Snoop Dogg to get behind it and swap rhymes for vines and lots … Read More
Church Road 1 Single Vineyard Redstone Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2019
Church Road 1 Single Vineyard Redstone Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2019 $120 For a wine that hasn’t been fined or filtered, it’s deeply inky and glossy in the glass and the floral aspect is super-pretty. In addition to red rose, plum and boysenberry aromatics, classic Bridge Pa graphite and iron filings also unveil on the nose … Read More