Yvonne Lorkin Canvas Column July 21 2018
If the words ‘crazy whites’ conjures up Trumpy connotations, quickly rejig the phrase to ‘crazy good whites’ and you’ll calmly enter the world of this weeks’ wines…
Obsidian Reserve Waiheke Island Viognier 2015 $48 
I first sipped this wine while listening to the album Raising Sand, by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It’s an engrossing, powerfully evocative, eleven-year-old collection of sublime harmonies that I know I’ll love until the day I’m 6 feet deep. This wine, with all its alluring apricot, jasmine, sea breeze and white pepper perfume and exotic, citrus characters, was the perfect match for my mood. But Tex Mex pork is just as good if you’d rather have food.
Sip with: See above
Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Single Barrel Gisborne Fiano 2016 $18
Fiano is an incredibly rare thing in New Zealand, like good punctuation or an affordable plumber. It’s an unusual white grape grown predominantly in Italy’s Campagnia region – however Gisborne appears to also provide a happy home. There are just two kiwi fiano producers that I know of and Coopers Creek literally make just one barrel of it. With green peppercorn perfume, a lick of lemongrass and nougat, the acidity is racy-dry, the florals are wild with a hint of ginger and there’s nutty minerality on the finish.
Sip with: Sardine and Potato Bake
Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Muscat 2016 $30
The Donaldson family grow just a couple of rows of muscat petit grains on their rocky, windswept vineyard in North Canterbury and those vines turn out just a couple of hundred litres of a wine that bursts with beeswax, musky spices, grapefruit and orange zest alongside manuka honey and complexing ginger and ‘kero’ characters. Made in a heady, no-holds-barred style, just tiny amounts are available online or from the cellar door.
Sip with: Roast pumpkin, cinnamon & sea salt salad
