Giesen The Fuder Series Clayvin Marlborough Chardonnay 2016 $55 I didn’t have to even put this superstar chardonnay in my mouth to know that it was going to be one of the greatest chardonnay experiences I’d ever have. The aromas that erupted from the glass were a swoon-inducing smorgasbord of smoky, grilled grapefruit and stonefruits, … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Matawhero Irwin Gisborne Chardonnay 2018
Matawhero Irwin Gisborne Chardonnay 2018 $60 It’s hard to know where to actually start with how dangnabbit delicious this wine is. It’s a tad embarrassing some of the sounds that fell out of my mouth while taking those first sips. If you can imagine a vocal hybrid of trying to say ‘oh wow’, ‘far out’ … Read More
Te Mata Alma Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2019
Te Mata Alma Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2019 $59.99 (4.5 stars) Immediately more expressive upfront than the 2018 vintage, anise and boasting juicy smoked cherry notes and white pepper – pretty and aromatic, and the structure is delicious, gentle tannins are right up around the front gums, while the saliva glands are working in the … Read More
Jules Taylor ‘The Jules’ Gisborne Rosé 2020
Jules Taylor ‘The Jules’ Rosé 2020 $24.99 Jizzle Tizzle from Marlbizzle has gone and snaffled some merlizzle from Gizbizzle and crafted a rose-izzle that’s unlike any of her other shizzle and it’s brizzle. (I deliberately wrote that to embarrass my children should they ever, one-day, read this) 11 years on since she first began making … Read More
Blackenbrook Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Instagram image here Blackenbrook Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2020 $21 This sensational new sauvignon from Ursula and Daniel Schwarzenbach’s Home vineyard on Baldwin Road is concrete evidence that the 2020 harvest was all kinds of excellent in their part of the world. Extremely fresh and packed with tropical intensity, crunchy citrus and cressy-herbaceousness it’s an excellent … Read More
Soljans Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet Malbec 2016
Soljans Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet Malbec 2016 $22 In 1927, Bartul Soljan and his wife Rakelina sailed to New Zealand with their children, found land out in Henderson, broke it in, planted vines, and in 1932 established Soljan’s Family Vineyard. Fast-forward 86 years and their winemaker out west has stitched together a classic Bordeaux-style blend … Read More
Churton Natural State Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019
Churton Natural State Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019 $27 Certified organic and biodynamically-grown, this pinot noir is a lightly-styled, floral-forward and fruit saturated pinot noir that’s heaving with bright raspberry and strawberry and lashings of dried herb notes. Only in oak for three months, it’s a fresh, lush, aromatic example with smooth, fabulously feral complexity on … Read More
Greystone Thomas Brothers’ Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2018
Greystone Thomas Brothers’ Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2018 $95 This signature pinot noir, crafted by the multi-award-winning winemaker Dom Maxwell, comes from the highest elevation site on their limestone layered property. Hand-picked, hand-sorted and with a proportion of whole bunches in the wild ferment, it’s a wild and woolly, deliciously herbal and smoke-edged wine. That … Read More
Tiki Estate Waipara Chardonnay 2019
Tiki Estate Waipara Chardonnay 2019 $19.99 Just bottled a couple of weeks ago, this snappy-fresh chardonnay is unfurling its true flavours of white nectarine, a flick of pineapple, white pepper, lemon, smashed almonds and a click of custard on the finish. There’s an attractive seam of creaminess and yet the acidity is ultra-fresh. Nice chardonnay … Read More
Zephyr MKI Marlborough Rosé 2020
Zephyr MKI Marlborough Rosé 2020 $33.99 Hop on the Google machine, type in ‘morganite’, and that, my friend is the colour-twin of this shiny-new, eye-poppingly pretty, certified organic rosé. Crafted by Ben Glover, from pinot noir fruit grown on their Dillons Point property in Marlborough, it’s a deliciously dry, mineral-powered spice-fest of a rosé that … Read More