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YVONNE LORKINA fan of all things fermented...Get in touchscroll down to read my latest reviews -
Co-Founder & Chief Tasting Officer WineFriend Owner/Executive Producer Thirsty Media Ltdscroll down to read my latest reviews
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Wine Writer NZ Herald CANVASscroll down to read my latest reviewsWine & Beverages WriterdishMagazine
I’m super-proud to be the co-founder and CTO (Chief Tasting Officer) of WineFriend, the greatest personalised wine delivery service in all the land. Founded in 2015, we match wine to people. We help our subscribers navigate the crazy-vast number of wines out there in the marketplace by pairing them with wines that only suit their individual tastes. Wines that are delicious, unique and definitely not seen in your average supermarket. Read more about WineFriend
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Matawhero Irwin Gisborne Chardonnay 2021
13 May 2025Matawhero Irwin Gisborne Chardonnay 2021 $60 Kirsten and Richard Searle choose only the absolute best quality fruit to go into this, their flagship Chardonnay, a wine named after Bill and Denis Irwin, the pioneering founders of Matawhero, men who put Gisborne fine wine on the international map. The 2021 Irwin roars with nectarine and grapefruit … Read More
Jules Taylor Late Harvest Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024
10 May 2025Jules Taylor Late Harvest Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024 $37 Energetic and incredibly aromatic, this wine roars with honeysuckle, passionfruit curd, creamed honey and caramelised peachy characters. Intensely sweet, but beautifully balanced and refreshing and finishing with zesty, candied mandarin and toffee apple notes. It’s a zesty, mango-tastic style. Jules Taylor
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Marsanne Roussanne 2024
10 May 2025Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Marsanne Roussanne 2024 $40 Over the last couple of decades, Trinity Hill have quietly been nurturing a few rows of these two Rhone Valley grapes and crafting tiny amounts of their own signature blend, and those in the know have been excitedly squirrelling each vintage away and appreciating it’s deliciously dry, … Read More
Yealands Single Vineyard Marlborough P.G.R. 2024
10 May 2025Yealands Single Vineyard Marlborough P.G.R. 2024 $29 This is one of my favourite blended whites of the moment. One of my favourites because of its crunchy-crisp, floral, apple and citrus-stacked aromas, its lacing of soft, musky spices and its fresh, lychee-laden mid-palate textures. This bottle of Awatere Valley-grown goodness also wowed me because tasting it … Read More
Domain Road Defiance Central Otago Chardonnay 2021
8 May 2025Domain Road Defiance Central Otago Chardonnay 2021 $35 Graeme Crosbie grows three clones of Chardonnay in his Defiance Vineyard, 809, 1066 and 548, which are the three great clones used by the world-famous, French Grand Crus of Corton-Charlemagne in Burgundy. Central Otago chardonnay is rocking my socks right now and the Defiance is absolutely entering … Read More
Brookfields Robertson Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2024
8 May 2025Brookfields Robertson Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2024 $18 If you’ve been avoiding Pinot Gris because you thought it was sweet and blousy, then wrap your chops around this new release from Brookfields and all your wildest dreams will come true. Prepare for an immediate crisp, dry, generous impression, and then enjoy the fact that it’s … Read More
Chard Farm Hawkesburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022
5 May 2025Chard Farm Hawkesburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022 $88 From a tiny site where four clones of vines grow high on a terrace above the Bannockburn Inlet, comes a Pinot Noir that erupts with vibrantly bright florals, fresh cherry, redcurrant and spice-dusted rhubarb on the nose. All that aromatic awesomeness osmoses through to the palate, … Read More
Dee Wine Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2019
3 May 2025Dee Wine Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2019 $tbc Soothing and smoothly savoury, this classic Bordeaux-style blend has soothing cocoa, smoked blueberry, baked boysenberry and graphite-laced goodness. Fine-grained, sandy tannins and fleshy length of flavour. info@deewine.co.nz
Carrick Cairnmuir Terraces EBM Central Otago Organic Chardonnay 2022
3 May 2025Carrick Cairnmuir Terraces EBM Central Otago Organic Chardonnay 2022 $60 I mean you could go through your life happily knowing the Carrick EBM Chardonnay is so named for its ‘Extended Barrel Maturation’. However, I feel that name kind of doesn’t really give enough oomph to its actual fabulousness. So from here on in, I’m renaming … Read More
Blank Canvas Abstract Three Rows Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020
3 May 2025Blank Canvas Abstract Three Rows Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 $44 From just three rows of dry-farmed sauvignon blanc growing in the Holdaway Vineyard in Dillons Point comes this carefully crafted wine that’s been naturally fermented in large, older, seasoned oak puncheons, where it’s been aged for 15 months on its lees. That maturation (along with … Read More
Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022
3 May 2025Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022 $32-$39 Crafted from a combination of fruit grown in both the Awatere and Southern Valleys, this Pinot Noir is, 3 years on from harvest, fresh and berry-driven, yet is developing hints of savoury, gamy complexity. Bright, energetic and showing fine-grained tannins that dissolve delicately. Nicely made and lightly styled. Whitehaven
Chard Farm Mason Vineyard Central Otago 2022
3 May 2025Chard Farm Mason Vineyard Central Otago 2022 $88 Holy Parkburn Batman! The spectacular Mason Vineyard Parkburn Pinot Noir is deliciously soothing, elegantly structured, stacked with rooibos tea, baked rhubarb, dark cherry, intense earthy complexity and soft, suede-like tannins to round out its generously creamy, berry-soaked, pepper-dusted finish. Pricey but lusciously nicey, it’s a pinot with … Read More
Thirsty Work is a television show that unearths some of the personalities behind New Zealand’s successful and innovative Wine and Beverage Industry. Originally broadcast on Food TV (SKY ch.9) then on TV3 with subsequent eps on Amazon Prime, Thirsty Work soaks up New Zealand’s beverage landscape. Not just vineyards, but barrel halls, tank rooms, cellar doors, wine stores, supermarkets, breweries and backyard vignerons.
Missed Series 4 of Thirsty Work? Fret not, just click here to zoom directly to view on demand.
