B-Liv Chile Organic Red Blend 2018 $29 Crafted from the three red grapes that Chile is most famous for, cabernet sauvignon, carmenere and syrah, this certified organic smorgasbord of berry intensity is a bottle full of grins. Toasty, caramelised oak notes merge with super-fruity blackcurrant and blackberry characters which will perk up even the most … Read More
Month: March 2021
San Pedro Castillo de Molina Reserva D.O Valle de Curicó Pinot Noir 2018
San Pedro Castillo de Molina Reserva D.O Valle de Curicó Pinot Noir 2018 $29 Highly floral and showing a unusual, minty aroma alongside walnut, soy, and hard, herbal characters. The tannins are raspingly dry, the acid is out of balance and its lacking the minimum amount of fruit weight I need to really enjoy Pinot … Read More
San Pedro Castillo de Molina Reserva D.O Valle de Curicó Pinot Noir 2017
San Pedro Castillo de Molina Reserva D.O Valle de Curicó Pinot Noir 2017 $29 Made by Matius Cruzat, this Chilean pinot noir has a scorched, toasty, nutty note that surrounds an earthy, forest-floor character on the nose. On the palate it’s moving into secondary flavours of prune, dried herb and shows hints of tobacco. The … Read More
Te Mania Nelson Pinot Noir 2019
Te Mania Nelson Pinot Noir 2019 $27 Fresh as a daisy and stacked with spice, the acidity is super-youthful yet pushes redcurrant, cherry and tangy tamarillo to the fore. Certified organic, it’s a style that demands a large, swirlable glass to soften it out and plump it up, and once that oxygen takes hold it … Read More
Ant Mackenzie Wines Toño Hawke’s Bay Rosado 2020
Ant Mackenzie Wines Toño Hawke’s Bay Rosado 2020 $19.99 How saucy is the rose-gold hue of this rosado right? Blended from grapes grown in the Havelock North hills then fashioned into the bottle in a Spanish style by Ant Mackenzie, it’s a kneeslappingly dry, pink peppercorn and white strawberry-soaked thing that you should definitely have … Read More
Ashwell Martinborough Chardonnay 2019
Ashwell Martinborough Chardonnay 2019 $28 If you’re looking for a lemony, citrus-forward, mineral-edged chardonnay instead of a fruit salady, buttery, oak-bomb then you’ve come to the right campsite. Clean, focused, lighter-styled and showing that rain-on-hot-rocks character that works itself into a slight saline character. It’s Chablis-like in its citrus dimensions and acidity. Tip: Be careful … Read More
Gabriele Meffre La Châsse Vin De France Chardonnay 2019
Gabriele Meffre La Châsse Vin De France Chardonnay 2019 $19 Lovers of lighter-styled, citrus-soaked chardonnay that focuses on fruit and not buckets of smoky oak, will love this wine. Fresh, electrically vibrant, its a taut, tense, tangelo-tastic style that’s named after the lavishly decorated ‘chests’ that the pontiff’s of 14th century Avignon used to store … Read More
Black Estate North Canterbury Young Vines Home Chardonnay 2019
Black Estate North Canterbury Young Vines Home Chardonnay 2019 $37 Certified organic and gloriously golden in the glass, this slightly cloudy, seriously sexy, citrus-saturated unfined, unfiltered chardonnay from the great folk at Black Estate. The fruit is handpicked and the ferment is kickstarted by yeasts present in the canopy itself then 100% fermented in barrel, … Read More
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Grüner Veltliner 2020
Lime Rock Central Hawke’s Bay Grüner Veltliner 2020 $32 “Vitecologists” Rosie Butler and her husband Rodger Tynan have been quietly coaxing this local version of Austrian awesomeness into a bottle for the last 9 or so years and it just keeps getting better. Pronounced ‘Grooner Felt-Leener’, this new vintage is a deliciously, generously dry wine, … Read More
Villa Maria Earth Garden Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2020
Villa Maria Earth Garden Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2020 $19.99 This certified organic, 100% merlot rosé is part of a new, environmentally conscious range of wines designed to meet the global demands for more fully-sustainable wine. It’s also designed to be darn tasty and they’ve succeeded in that. If you’re seeking out a sweet lolly-like rosé … Read More