With its sweet pea, lemon and passionfruit aromas, this snappy sauvignon follows up with a softly fruited, tang-fest on the tongue. Made by star wine consultant Matt Thomson and sourced from a single vineyard in the Dillons Point sub-region – this sauvignon has a whole lotta herbaceousness, classic red capsicum and jalapeno characters and serious … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Sartori di Verona Erfo Brut NV $22.00
Here’s exactly what you need when faced with the conundrum of requiring fine champagne yet only having spare change. Sartori grow their ‘glera’ grapes for this prosecco in the alluvial, calcareous clays (try repeating those three words in quick succession) of Treviso and process them in the Charmat method (Google it) to produce this summery-fresh, … Read More
Junction Wines Persistence NV $22.00
I actually have zero, nada, nil, no idea what grapes have actually been used to create this lemony, mineral-focused, chalky wine because despite repeated pleadings to winemaker Liam Ashworth, alongside offers to give him my next born son (the first is turning out ok) – he refuses to tell me. Grown on the Takapau Plains, … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Rosé 2017 $23.99 (3.5 stars)
Pink diamond in the glass and made from 100% merlot, this wine is gutsy, plummy and packed with personality. Highly textural and juicy to drink, it also has a savoury element that will appeal to those that prefer their rosé on the crispy-dry side. www.millsreef.co.nz
Opawa Marlborough Rosé 2017 $22.50 (4.5 stars)
From the talented team at Nautilus estate comes this generously proportioned and classically built rosé. I love how it erupts with melon, raspberry, creaming soda notes and cherry-berry flavours, plus it has a beautifully-tuned palate balance and a looooong, crisp finish. Superb stuff. www.finewinedelivery.co.nz
Forbidden Vines ‘Weeping’ Marlborough Rosé 2017 $14.95 (4 stars)
Despite the fact that I normally want to run screaming from bottles with packaging like this, the wine inside is actually really good! With raspberries, watermelon, buckets of cherry and berry flavours abound, it’s seriously fruity and boasts naturally balanced sweetness and a long, textural finish. www.babichwines.com
Leveret Estate Reserve Barrel Aged Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $29 (4 stars)
How is it that a sauvignon blanc can be fresh, frisky and citrusy, but also buxom and bodacious at the same time? When it’s the Leveret Reserve style, that’s how. Displaying all that juicy passionfruit, pineapple and lime loveliness we expect in Marlborough sauvignon, yet somehow morphing the herbaceousness into a soft, smoky spectrum of … Read More
TW Wines Gisborne Verdelho 2014 $25 (3.5 stars)
Anita Ewart-Croy is a bit of a verdelho vixen if I do say so myself. Extremely rare in New Zealand, it’s a variety that’s the signature white grape of Portugal and it’s used to make those awesomely ageworthy, luxuriously sweet Madiera’s. Anita however, turns the Tietjen Witters fruit into a dry and mineral-focused style with … Read More
Yvonne Lorking Canvas Column Sat 3 March 2018
Fact. I bought my first ever bottle of wine on March 3 1990. It was a rosé from Vidal Estate and I hung onto that bottle of Manuka Blush for dear life as I pedaled my Ten Speed home. Occasion. Momentous. Jackson Estate Alayna Marlborough Pinot Rosé 2017 $22.99 Produced as a salute to the … Read More
Holdfast Estate Rosé 2017 $27
At the age of 16, Lachlan (Lockie) McLeod decided Dargaville needed wine in its life, and so he set about training himself how to grow grapes and make wine, and paying for it by working as an apprentice builder. Crafted by merlot grown on Awakino Point, this bottle of niceness from Northland erupts with ripe … Read More