Worried that you’re going to get something sweet and boring? For years I was too, but today Kiwi winemakers are super-skilled at creating clean, lean, deliciously dry and delicately fragrant pinot gris and these are the styles I love to look out for. This is a new brand crafted by Rod McDonald’s team at his … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Cottier Estate Gladstone Pinot Gris 2013 $17.50 (5 stars)
The rocky old Ruamahanga River in Gladstone nourishes Cottier Estate’s vineyards and helps them create classically full, generous pinot gris like this. Pinot gris that’s packed with pear, ripe juicy rose apple, nashi and a squeak of quince all crash across the tastebuds in this beautifully balanced aromatic white. Fat and sassy on the palate, … Read More
Haha Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2016 $13.99 (3.5 stars)
Highly scented and precise on the nose, fresh-cut pear, poached quince and powdery, talc-like characters leap from the glass. It’s also a very full, generous gris, soaking the palate with pipfruit, honeysuckle and spice. Don’t chill this down too much or you’ll stifle all those fruit layers. Sip with bacon-wrapped dates as a nibbly treat. … Read More
Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Noir Rose 2016 $27 (4 stars)
100% organic pinot noir in all its glory is exactly what you get with this southern stunner. Such a pretty, ballet-shoe pink colour, aromas of just-ripe raspberry, watermelon and fleshed out with soft, creamy, roast stonefruit notes to round out the finish. Great length of flavour too. www.peregrinewines.co.nz
Mon Cheval Waipara Valley Riesling 2014 $25 4 stars
Whoever said owning racehorses was a great way to lose money, clearly weren’t fortunate enough to own ‘Under Cover Lover’, the champion racehorse who made her owners enough cash to start their dream of developing their dream of creating a tiny vineyard in Waipara’s Weka Pass. Tiny amounts of riesling are grown and this vintage, … Read More
Wine column week beginning Sat 26 Nov, 2016
The Kaikoura earthquake on Monday, 14th of November had me thinking that there’d be smashed and toppled tanks all over Marlborough and North Canterbury, and with word coming from Foley Family wines that serious damage had been done to their storage tanks at their Grove Mill winery, things weren’t looking flash. Photos of enormous stacks … Read More
Alpha Domus Cumulus Blanc de Blanc 2012 $34 (4.5 stars)
Crafted from 100% Bridge Pa Triangle chardonnay, this fantastic local fizz is heaving with clean, pillowy, almond, Huntly & Palmers cream crackers and brioche notes on the nose and layers of lemon shortbread and rising dough notes on the palate. With its fine bead, delicate, yet persistent mousse and biscuity length of flavour – it’s … Read More
JK14 Mamma Manzoni Piave DOC 2015 $26.99 (3.5 stars)
“Just do what Mamma says, and we all stay happy…” it says on the front label of the bottle of this super-complex bottle of pinot bianco imported by John Kirwan and his daughter Francesca. The nose has a seriously floral perfume, almost pollen-like, with hints of your grandmother’s face cream. Sounds odd, but it’s oddly … Read More
Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Te Kahu Merlot Blend 2014 $27 (4.5 stars)
If red meat is on the menu this Christmas, then tell your guests to grab a goblet of this and giddy up! The rich, velvety blackfruited texture of this merlot-dominant wine wraps itself around the palate in a spicy, cocoa-driven cloak (or ‘te kahu’ in Maori) and leaves glorious, festively furry tannins on the finish. … Read More
Clos Marguerite Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015
This tiny, tinsel-tastic little vineyard in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley is one of the regions’ best kept secrets. Marguerite and her husband, winemaker Jean Charles van Hove, have quietly been crafting exceptional sauvignon blanc on their tiny 8ha vineyard since arriving from France in 1996. You’ll be forgiven for not having heard of them, they fly … Read More