Wine Sentience to launch a wine professionals’ coworking hub in Wellington The Wine Sentience Hub is a coworking space for wine professionals who are visiting Wellington from around New Zealand and the world. “Our hub is the Wellington home base for travelling wine and hospitality folk,” said Wellington’s own Master of Wine and the owner/operator … Read More
Month: July 2018
Moi Wines Waimauku Cabernet Franc 2015 $32
Young winemaker Renée Dale managed to secure some rare cabernet franc fruit from the Twin Totara vineyard out in Waimauku, and then rose every day at 4am to plunge the ferment before heading over to her other job at Westbrook Wines. Were those red-eye starts worth it? Yessir! The palate has glorious dark berries, blackcurrant, … Read More
Domaine Boutinot Les Six Cairanne 2014 $45
‘Les Six’ is a new, six-grape style of Cairanne (an appellation in the Rhone) featuring Cairanne Noir (Grenache) 40%, Mourvèdre 15%, Syrah 15%, Carignan Noir 10%, Cinsault 10%, Counoise 10%. Hand-picked grapes are co-fermented with wild yeasts aided by manual pigeage (punching down), gentle remontage (pumping over) and maturation in tronconiques (large oak vats) for … Read More
Steininger Langenlois Kamptal Grüner Veltliner 2016 $29
Grüner Veltliner (groo-ner felt-leener) is the signature white grape of Austria, and the Langenlois-based Steininger family have been producing it in the beautiful Kamptal Valley for generations. Incredibly brisk and bracing and bursting with Golden Delicious apple, elderflower, pure white pepper and a flick-flack of fennel on the tongue, this is a crisp, precise and … Read More
Kahurangi Estate Nelson Dry Riesling 2016 $15.80 (3.5 stars)
Wow this riesling is so dry and bony it’s practically skeletal – so those who love masses of lime in their wine will be happy campers with every sip. It has intense green apple notes, buckets of squinty acidity and acres of zesty, quartzy minerality on the finish. www.kahurangiwine.com
Cloud Break California Chardonnay 2017 $23 (4 stars)
Here’s a barrel-fermented chardonnay that doesn’t feel like you’re licking a plank. Created from fruit sourced from different sites across Clarksburg, Lodi and Madera. The toastiness is there, yet it swings toward the creamy, buttery style while edged with white peach, hints of grapefruit, nutty nougat notes and caramelised characters. Made by Mark Rasmussen and … Read More
Yvonne Lorkin Wine Column for Week beginning Sat 21 July 2018
It finally happened. I actually gave in and let my husband throw away the ever-increasing collection of blackened bananas in our freezer. Bananas that I’d been ferociously protecting “For when I make banana cake!” And that’s a big ‘when’. Some of those ropey, wrinkly, fossilised bananas had been there for two years. Two. Which is … Read More
Gomersal Wines Barossa Valley 2017 Vintage Fortified Shiraz
Gomersal Wines Barossa Valley 2017 Vintage Fortified Shiraz (price tbc) I don’t know about you, but I don’t get to sip fortified shiraz every day – but after tasting this from 131-year-old Gomersal Wines, I’m on the hunt for more! Deliciously comforting cocoa, Christmas pudding spices and cough drop characters sneak through on the nose, … Read More
Parcelle Merlot 2011
Parcelle Merlot 2011 $25 Between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers lies Bordeaux’s Entre-Deux-Mers region. The ancient Romans began crafting wine there over 2000 years ago – so it’s fair to say there’s much skill and experience at play in this part of the wine world. The vines here are trained low to absorb the heat … Read More
Montsable Languedoc Chardonnay 2015
Montsable Languedoc Chardonnay 2015 $24.95 With its bright lemon-gold hue and lifted grapefruity fragrance, this gorgeous French chardonnay from the Languedoc (long-wah-dock) region had me doing a happy dance as soon as I popped the cork (got your corkscrew handy?). Pronounced ‘mon-sah-blur,’ it’s a gently juicy little beauty that shows pings of pineapple and peach … Read More