Eight years on from harvest and this straight cabernet still bright, buoyant and incredibly fresh. I love how plucky and precise the fruit is, the berry and plum definition is just lovely and an injection of smoky cedar really fleshes out this delicious experience. This is great kiwi cabernet right here and it’s a treat … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Villa Maria Reserve Library Release Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2009 $69.99 (4.5 stars)
Purple-black and gorgeously glossy in the glass, this is a deliciously dense, berry-saturated cabernet blend edged with bouquet garni herbs and cocoa characters. Softly peppered, fleshy and plump in the mouth and boasting a line of black olive, bay and smoke, it’s a big blend with real pluck and personality. www.villamaria.co.nz
Clearview Estate Hawke’s Bay Old Olive Block 2015 $39 (4 stars)
Here’s a rumpty, ribsticking blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec and merlot from talented winemaking duo Matt Kirby and Rob Bregman. It’s inky-dark and boosted with aromas of blackcurrant leaf, cocoa powder, intense cherry and berry notes and a pinch of pepper. Succulent and juicy to drink, there’s a line of herbaceousness that cloaks … Read More
Soho Zabeel Blue Blood Waiheke Island Reserve Blend 2014 $138 (5 stars)
Excruciatingly gorgeous to drink in that it’s torture knowing that your glass will eventually end. I love the lift of vanilla, pepper, dark chocolate and intense boysenberry layers in this merlot syrah malbec blend by the talented team over at Soho. Dense, dark berries, smoke, cured meats and solid, dusty oak creates supreme definition of … Read More
Wine column week commencing 15th July, 2017
Can this winter just go take a flying leap into see-you-laterville please? My back lawn is no better than a bog right now, and it’s so soggy there’s no chance of getting the lawnmower across it before spring I reckon. Even the worms are lining up at the back door to get inside to where … Read More
Pask Small Batch Wild Yeast Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2016 $25
Kate Radburnd and her team at Pask decided to get jiggy on it with the wild yeasts during the 2016 harvest and this snazzy little sip is the result. People often think if indigenous yeasts are used, the wine is going to smell and taste a tad funky, however this is a dangerously drinkable, clean, … Read More
Domaine Bernard Defaix Cuvee Vielle Vigne Chablis 2014 $53
Get ready, get set and go to a happy place of intense lemony, chalky notes that sit up and shout “Oi! I’m a Chablis!” Made from clean, concentrated chardonnay fruit, the result of 100% tank fermentation is a wine bursting with buckets of smashed quartz, grapefruit pith and minerality to burn. Punchy, peach-driven and deliciously … Read More
Canvas column week commencing 8th July, 2017
Lionel Ritchie once sang “You’re once, twice; three times a chardonnay…and I luuuuuurve you”. In my happy place they’re the right lyrics ok… Domaine Bernard Defaix Cuvee Vielle Vigne Chablis 2014 $53 Get ready, get set and go to a happy place of intense lemony, chalky notes that sit up and shout “Oi! I’m … Read More
Ake Ake Preservative Free Northland Merlot 2016 $30
“We basically just guide the wine from grape to bottle with as little interference as possible” says Ake Ake’s winemaker, John Clarke. Totally inexperienced when he bought the property in 2004, he went to the library and borrowed some books on how to grow grapes and make wine. Many medals later, he owns Northland’s only … Read More
The Family Company Gisborne Viognier 2015 $25
When art dealer Gene Walker married Gisborne-based clothes designer and café owner Chelsea Thorpe, little did he know that soon he’d be in business making wine with her dad. The Family Company are now one of Gisborne’s most exciting producers, crafting viognier (vee-yon-yay) perfumed with apricots, cardamom, jasmine and orange oil and showing ripe peach … Read More