It’s easy to see how this wine scooped a Gold medal at the NZ International Wine Show, (New Zealand’s biggest annual wine show) because it is so irresistibly unctuous and toffee-centric. Carrying concentrated mandarin and caramelized apricot and gorgeous honeyed flavours. Email: kevin@riverbyestate.com to buy
Author: Yvonne
Riverby Estate Marlborough Noble Riesling 2012 (5 stars) $34
This citrus-stacked Trophy winner at the 2013 Air NZ Awards is, six years down the track, still carrying gorgeous acidity, caramelized tropical fruit, hints of honey and succulent textures. It’s an intensely delicious sweet treat that’s aging gracefully and exotically. Email: kevin@riverbyestate.com to buy
Hunter’s Kāho Roa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $23.90 (4.5 stars)
Hunter’s Kāho Roa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $23.90 Sourced from the clay-rich soils of their Omaka vineyard, the fruit for this sauvignon was crushed and the cloudy, high-solids juice poured directly into old French oak puncheons for a wild yeast (spontaneous) fermentation. The wine was then aged on its lees for 6 months before bottling, … Read More
Massena The Surly Muse Barossa Valley Viognier Marsanne 2017 $41.90 (5 stars)
If your muse is all ‘treat em mean, keep em keen’ then they’d best stay surly because this wine is ridiculously grin-inducing. The winemaking team at Massena are mad as cut snakes when it comes to creating crazy-good blends and this South Australian version of Rhone-style classic just explodes with happiness. Yellow-diamond in the glass, … Read More
Manincor Réserve della Contessa Terlano 2016 $40 (5 stars)
Imported by Oh So Pretty wines, here’s a beautifully dry and delicious blend of 60% pinot blanc, 30% chardonnay combined with 10% sauvignon blanc sourced mainly from Manincor’s vineyards in Terlan, with a teensy splash of fruit from Kaltern. Both of these areas are in Südtirol, Northern Italy, and it’s like you can taste the … Read More
Most Wanted South Australia Shiraz 2017 $11.99
Most Wanted South Australia Shiraz 2017 $11.99 If you’re looking for an uncomplicated, easy-to-quaff, blackcurrant and plum-fest then turn off the torch and grab a bottle of this to please the crowds. Simple berry and cherry flavours merge with a hint of liquorice and fruitcake spices to bring an easy-peasy, don’t-even-think-about-it sip. www.blackmarket.co.nz
Collaboration Wines Impression White (chardonnay) 2017 $27
Collaboration Wines Impression White (chardonnay) 2017 $27 Crafted by Julianne Brogden from 100% Mendoza-clone fruit sourced near Havelock North, this is one chardonnay that has elegance written all over it. The oak maturation regime meant subtle handling in older French oak for just 8 months, allowing the delicate white stonefruit to be the hero. Laced … Read More
Yvonne Lorkin wine column for week beginning August 11 2018
Here in kiwiland for the last 40-something years we’ve been creating a wine signature centred around single varietal purity. Put bluntly, we like our wine to be ‘just’ sauvignon blanc, ‘just’ riesling, ‘just’ chardonnay. It’s means those wines are easy to describe, they’re not complicated, you know what you’re getting in the bottle and there’s … Read More
Château Puygueraud Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux 2015 $39.99
Great Bordeaux for under fifty bucks? It can be done and this blend of 80% merlot, 15% cabernet franc and 5% malbec proves it. Pour it into a large glass and swirl it vigourously or decant it if you can. That’ll inject a whoomph of oxygen into the wine, accelerating the aromatics and plumping out … Read More
Paltrinieri Radice Lambrusco Di Sorbara NV $17.70
I can totally see why Wine Enthusiast magazine called this “one of the best Lambrusco’s out there” and chose it as one of their Top 10 wines for 2017. Ruby-coloured, spritzy and beautifully dry, it’s wine with a whiff of wild strawberry and grapefruit zest and a mouthfeel replete with racy, bracing acidity and texture. … Read More