Barossa Black Double Oak Series Bourbon Barossa Shiraz 2019 $21 Dangerously easy to drink, this Barossa shiraz has been aged in old bourbon barrels which immediately gives the wine an alluring, heady, vanilla and caramel character which attaches itself to a core of deep berryfruit and dark cocoa. Smooth, ultra-ripe, velvety and sweet, it’ll be … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Ara Marlborough Chardonnay 2022
Ara Marlborough Chardonnay 2022 $16-$25 Paired with: Annabel Langbein’s Salmon Noodle Bowl in NZ Herald Canvas July 1 2023 Salmon and Chardonnay go together like Sonny and Cher, like Kylie and Jason, like Art and Matilda. Yet as soon as you pair the silky, peachy, softly-toasty tones of Ara’s new release with the fleshy, slipperiness … Read More
Jackson Estate Vintage Widow Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019
Jackson Estate Vintage Widow Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019 $40 Paired with: Annabel Langbein’s Shiitake Soba Noodles in the NZ Herald Canvas July 1 2023 This dish is very green and crunchy with all that broccoli, cucumber and coriander, and you’re possibly wondering why I’m recommending a red wine to go with it. Well, I’ll tell … Read More
Falconhead Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Falconhead Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 $15-$18 Hands down this is one of my favourite 2022 sauvignon blancs. It is so deliciously punchy and perfectly prickly in terms of its textures. Passionfruit, lemongrass, lime zest and bursting with basil, it has incredible citrus concentration and a lovely herbaceous layer running from sniff to sip to swallow. … Read More
Chateau Garage Lyons Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022
Chateau Garage Lyons Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022 $50 Many winemakers call themselves ‘garagistes’ these days because they do things on a small scale. However I’ve been inside Ollie Powrie’s tiny, old-as-the-hills garden shed, where he makes his wines, and there is literally no room to swing, well anything really. Arms could almost stretch from … Read More
Riviera Coteaux Varois en Provence Rosé 2021
Riviera Coteaux Varois en Provence Rosé 2021 $19 – $22 This rosé is a bit of a mystery in terms of what’s grapes it’s made of, however, there’s no mistaking the intensely clean, crisp, crunchy-fresh mouthfeel and soft, pink peppercorn and watermelon complexity on the nose. Spice-edged and layered with very subtle redcurrant characters, it’s … Read More
Mora Central Otago Chardonnay 2022
Mora Central Otago Chardonnay 2022 $45 Central Otago chardonnay has its own signature and I’m a total convert. Crafted from a blend of Mendoza-clone and own-rooted Clone 6 fruit grown on 28yo vines in their Eden Vineyard in the Pisa sub-region. A full malolactic fermentation has injected a soft, creamy, cashew character which washes across … Read More
B & B Big and Buttery Barrel Fermented California Chardonnay 2021
B & B Big and Buttery Barrel Fermented California Chardonnay 2021 $20-$22 Totally living up to its name, this is a California classic that’ll definitely appeal to lovers of an old-school, oaky, butterscotchy style. Showing a smoky element from the French oak barrels used combined with a vein of vanilla from a proportion of American … Read More
Greystone Organic Waipara Valley Pétillant Naturel 2021
Greystone Organic Waipara Valley Pétillant Naturel 2021 $47.99 Paired with: Baked stuffed apples by Annabel Langbein in CANVAS in the NZ Herald June 24th 2023 Crafted in the ancient method of bottling wine unfined, unfiltered and before the primary ferment of a riesling base has had a chance to finish, it’s an apple-laced, feijoa and … Read More
Barossa Black Double Oak Series ‘Rum’ Barossa Shiraz 2019
Barossa Black Double Oak Series ‘Rum’ Barossa Shiraz 2019 $20-$22 If caramelised, vanilla-and-smoke-saturated shiraz is your thing then you’ve come to the right cul-de-sac. I’m guessing that classic hit of rum is from this wine being aged in old rum barrels, but combine that with sweet fruit intensity, boysenberry, blackberry and blackcurrant and a hint … Read More