This morning I woke up wearing just one sock. I know donning socks in bed is hardly a sexy thing, but it’s winter and it’s freezing, therefore I feel it’s perfectly acceptable. My husband An earnest search of the nooks and crannies of the bed turned up nix. Had it siezed its chance and fled my foot in the dead of the night during a toilet stop? I carefully cased the route – nothing. How could it just disappear? I could understand a mystery ‘single sock’ exodus if I were sleeping anywhere near the washing machine or the clothes dryer, but this was a total head scratcher. Dang it. She was a good, reliable sock too. Luckily, my grief was shortlived as two brand new wines from Squawking Magpie arrived, a chardonnay and a syrah. This put a smile on my face a) because chardonnay and syrah are two of my favourite things and b) because Gavin Yortt’s team at Squawking Magpie can be counted on to always throw 100% skill and effort into every wine. These two wines are dubbed ‘The Gravels’, in tribute to Gavin’s 20 hectares of vineyard in Hawke’s Bay’s prestigious Gimblett Gravels region, an 800ha area, strictly determined by its deep, ancient gravelly soils laid down by the Ngaruroro River. Soils which became exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. The fact that the ‘Gimblett Gravels’ is even a thing is due, in no small part to Yortt’s pioneering vineyard planting efforts way back in the early 1980’s.
While the ‘Gravels’ can pretty much turn out sensational wines of every description, each year I get more and more excited about the standard of chardonnay and syrah. They’re moving from the massively dense ‘honkers’ of old, towards more concentrated, clean, elegantly structured examples. This is a direction that Squawking Magpie have definitely taken with these wines and it’s the purity of fruit that shines through. They’re new wines, with newly-styled packaging, but there’s decades of skill, experience and pedigree at play.
Squawking Magpie The Gravels Chardonnay 2015 $30 ★★★★½
For starters I really love the slick new label design at play here, mysterious, brooding and very ‘magpie’. Here’s an incredibly ‘pure’ chardonnay that’s packed with tropical tang, so expect pineapple, nectarine and tangelo notes alongside honey-buttered cinnamon toast and creamy layers in the mid-palate. The acidity is elegantly structured, there’s lovely balance and interest in this wine and those citrus forward flavours linger long after the first sip.
Squawking Magpie The Gravels Syrah $30 ★★★★½
The impenetrable, inky-dark colour saturation is the first thing that gets you with this wine; it’s incredibly dense, dark, a stormcloud in a glass. Perfumed with blackcurrant, cherry and pepper-dusted damson plums, the nose is exciting, spice-driven and has smoke around the edges. Elegantly structured, the core of this wine has dark fruit, exotic spices and a seam of dark cocoa carrying its savoury concentration through to the long, pillowy finish where earthy, graphite-like layers appear. It has freshness, verve, ‘chew’ and chutzpah.
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Here are three wines that will have your tastebuds busting into a mass macarena-dance in your mouth…
Clearview Three Rows Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2015 $32 ★★★★
The roast nectarine, grilled grapefruit and luscious, spicy, smoky flavours of this chardonnay make for a super sipping experience that’s for sure. It has rich, juicy mid-palate impact, tangy, tropical layers and the textural, nutty finish is amazing. Sip with Chinese Five Spice Chicken.
Cellar door only – ph 06 875 0150 or www.clearviewestate.co.nz
Black Cottage Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $15 ★★★★½
This is a sauvignon for fans of super-lemony, herbaceous, passionfruit-packed styles. Dave Clouston is the winemaker and he’s a serious talent when it comes to turning out tangy, tropical tastiness in a bottle. www.blackcottagewines.co.nz
Giorgio Pelissero Barbera d’Alba 2010 $45 ★★★★★
New favourite alert!! I love the earthy, saddle-leather; dusty carpenters workshop and old cigar box aromas in this wine. The fresh cherry, spice, cocoa and prune flavours and vibant, furry tannins will have you wanting a second sip in seconds flat. With beautiful fruit concentration and a round, cuddly finish, it’s definitely my kind of winter warmer.
For stockists visit www.dnfinewine.com
