VNO ‘Skinny’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $16.99 ★★★ “Light” or “skinny” wines are here to stay, the category is growing and they’re improving all the time – completely putting me in my place because I was one of the early cynics who thought they’d be just a fad. With a limey, lemony lift combined with … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2015
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2015 $24 ★★★★½ I love the heady quince, spiced apple and peach custard aromas, while in the mouth the wine has a sexy, creamy dryness. There’s a lovely rich, yet chalky texture to this wine and it’s all wrapped up in a long, full, finish. Clean, satisfying and … Read More
Mud House Marlborough Pinot Gris 2015
Mud House Marlborough Pinot Gris 2015 $14.99 ★★★★ Scented with apple strudel, poached pear and all sorts of enticing spices, this pinot gris has serious ‘drink me’ factor. Layered with white fruits and showing a tangy, layered flavour profile – this definitely ticks all the boxes for fruit, style and sippability. Widely available.
Ceres Composition Central Otago Pinot Gris 2014
Ceres Composition Central Otago Pinot Gris 2014 $29 ★★★★ Ceres (seh-rez) is a Bannockburn-based company run by Central Otago royalty, the Dicey family. They know that pinot gris comes in a vast array of styles, so they’ve helped pinpoint the flavour of this by including a helpful ‘fuel gauge’ on the label telling us that … Read More
Mud House Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015
Mud House Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $14.99 ★★★★ Named after the mud-block house that original owners John and Jennifer Joslin built on their Marlborough vineyard, this wine has, over the passing decades and through multiple ownership changes, gone on to do great things. Now firmly in the hands of a winemaking team headed by Ben … Read More
Spinyback Nelson Chardonnay 2014
Spinyback Nelson Chardonnay 2014 $17 ★★★½ Made by the team at Waimea Estates, this is a tangy, tropical, fruit salad style of chardonnay that I know loads of people will love because it doesn’t have that toasty, oaky flavour. Lighter peachiness, with a splash of pineapple and mango, means it’s an easy, fresh and lively … Read More
Hogshead Old Vine Shiraz 2014
Hogshead Old Vine Shiraz 2014 $19 ★★★★ Fruit sourced from old vines in the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Lower Murray regions have been used to create this wine, which is glossy and dark in the glass and saturates the mouth and nostrils with ripe, rumpty raspberry and cherry notes before being boosted by blackcurrant and a … Read More
The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV
The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV $29 ★★★★ Despite being recent converts to the sparkling shiraz, Kiwis are loving it; one sip of this tongue-pumpingly sweet sparkler and you’ll see why. Dark black-currant and cherry flavours merge with a blast of mocha, bitter chocolate and baking spices on the palate, plus there’s a lick of zingy … Read More
Byrne Vineyard Northland Chardonnay 2014
Byrne Vineyard Northland Chardonnay 2014 $29 ★★★★½ I really like the creamy, honeyed toast aromas in this wine, they merge with the youthful oak, and ripe nectarine and grilled pineapple punch in the mid palate. This is lovely stuff indeed from winemaker Ben Byrne – a definite Northland star producer. www.byrnewine.com
Chocolate Box Cherry Chocolate GSM 2013
Chocolate Box Cherry Chocolate GSM 2013 $23 ★★★★ If you prefer your reds to be sweet, plummy, plush and velvety-smooth, then this will definitely spin your wheels because it’s all of the above and more. Juicy, generous dark fruit, loads of spice and chocka with chocolate, this blend of grenache, shiraz and mourvedre is fleshy, … Read More