Published NZ Herald Sat 28 Nov 2015 Make this the weekend you step sideways from commercial brands and dive into something on the boutique side of the bed. These will have you walking the stride of pride the next day… Collaboration Aurulent Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2013 $35 Hawke’s Bay-based winemaker Julianne (Julz) Brogden is … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Summer scorcher calls for bubbles
Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 1 Dec 2015 I’m writing this column from the comfy new couches at an air-conditioned Napier airport on a day that the weather boffins have predicted will hit thirty-plus degrees. Updates on Facebook are flooding my feed with photos from the dashboards of friends’ cars with outside temperatures of … Read More
Wine with experimental grapes
Published NZME Regional Newspapers Sat 28 Nov 2015 When Kim and Erica Crawford sold the Kim Crawford brand back in 2003, it was fair to say the New Zealand wine industry stood back, scratched it’s collective scalp and wondered what on earth these two vin-trepreneureal powerhouses would do next. The silence stretched for years … Read More
Mr Riggs ‘The Truant’ McLaren Vale Shiraz 2013
Mr Riggs ‘The Truant’ McLaren Vale Shiraz 2013 $17.99 ★★★½ If you like your shiraz with meat on its bones then this will be an instant hit. Deeply earthy on the nose and showing ultra-ripe plum, blackcurrant, smoky tar and molasses complexity in the mouth – it’s a rich, peppery wine and a meal in … Read More
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Montepulciano 2014
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Montepulciano 2014 $30 ★★★★ There’s less than 1ha planted of this super-savoury Italian red in Trinity Hill’s Gimblett Gravels vineyard – and there’s precious little planted elsewhere in the country. It’s a hearty, ribsticking red with really interesting meaty, leathery notes, lovely hints of coughdrop and cocoa alongside pepper and smoky, … Read More
Waimea Nelson Albariño 2015
Waimea Nelson Albariño 2015 $25 ★★★★★ Albariño is a signature Spanish white variety that clearly loves its new home in Nelson by the looks of things. The team at Waimea have seriously outdone themselves here with this musk and nectarine scented wine, bursting with tangy pear, peach and apple flavours and finishing with lovely crushed … Read More
Sawmill India Pale Ale
Sawmill India Pale Ale 330ml cans (4pack $17) Sweet, passionfruity hops, herbaceous notes and a resinous lift make it difficult to prise this delicious beer away from your nose for long enough to sip it! But when you do, you’ll be met with layers of crisp citrus combined with caramelised malts and a long, tangy … Read More
Loveblock Organic Riesling 2012
Loveblock Organic Riesling 2012 $25 ★★★★ Aroma-wise, this wine is leaning into that mealy, biscuit-like, kerosene character and yet when you sip, it is bright and banging with lime, mandarin and crunchy apple flavours. It’s a wine that has two totally different sides and I like that – the length of flavour is impressive too. … Read More
Loveblock Noble Chenin Blanc 2014
Loveblock Noble Chenin Blanc 2014 500ml $29 ★★★★★ Here’s the thing. Do not under any circumstances attempt to drink this wine if you know that you’re in possession of untreated tooth decay or cavities of any description. At over 230g/l residual sugar and 12g/l titrateable acidity, this sticky-sweet treat is dangerously delicious. Golden-bronze in the … Read More
Elephant Hill Hieronymus 2013
Elephant Hill Hieronymus 2013 $95 ★★★★★ Named after a famous ancestor of the Weiss family, Hieronymus Ebner von Eschenbach (Lord Mayor of Nuremberg 1514-1524 apparently) – this inaugural release of a flagship red is a blend of the best Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Malbec (20%) and Merlot (20%) from their Gimblett and Bridge Pa Triangle Vineyards that they … Read More