Toi Toi Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014 $18 ★★★½ If you like your sauvignon packed with passionfruit, lime, basil, pea pod and peach flavours then you’d best get your keyboard out and order some of this pronto. Uncomplicated, fresh, zingy and superb with steamed mussels – what more do you need? www.toitoiwines.co.nz
Author: Yvonne
Matariki Quintology 2009
Matariki Quintology 2009 $80 ★★★★★ After a few years in the bottle, this Gimblett Gravels-grown blend of merlot, cabernet’s sauvignon and franc, malbec and syrah, is really hitting its straps. With sexy, exotic aromas of ripe blackberry and sweet plum smashed into seasoned saddle leather and sprinkled with dried herbs, violets, bitter chocolate and white … Read More
If you will be upstanding…
Here’s my dilemma. My job as a writer is making me fat! It’s making me fat because firstly, being self-employed, I obsess about every waking moment being used efficiently, to earn money to keep things ticking over if you will. I’m also a mother of two and wife of one, so if I take time … Read More
Meandering Through Martinborough’s Vineyards
Back in January my husband and I were lucky enough to attend the 10th Annual Martinborough Meandering Vineyard Lunch. This is a coup because tickets tend to disappear with alarming speed as soon as the date is announced. Why? Because it’s one of the best darn wine events this side of the Ruamahanga River that’s … Read More
Tatty Bogler Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
Tatty Bogler Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013 $35 ★★★★ It might be named after a scruffy, Scottish scarecrow, but this pinot is pure class. Fresh, clean and showing nice lines of red fruits, cocoa and spice on the nose, the palate is followed by a juicy, long finish. Very nice indeed, and destined for more … Read More
Millton Les Arbres Clos de Ste Anne Gisborne Viognier 2013
Millton Les Arbres Clos de Ste Anne Gisborne Viognier 2013 $60 ★★★★★ Make no mistake; this is a wine you must try before you die. If you’re looking for the epitome of what can be achieved with viognier in this country then this is it. Deeply golden in the glass, this viognier socks you with … Read More
Mead and Millton
I’d like to start this column with a pun. It’s one of a collection of puns that won comedian David Kearse (a ‘Kearse on humanity’ as he calls himself) the Rubber Chicken award for Britain’s Top Pun Artist at Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival held last week. It goes “Marvin Gaye kept a sheep in my … Read More
Killarabbit Double IPA
Killarabbit Double IPA 330ml (7.2%) $7 Brewed on site by Bannockburn-based winery, Terra Sancta and fermented in aged pinot noir barrels, this brilliant brew is dry-hopped with Pacific Gem and Nelson Sauvin hops for extra-squeaky bitterness. It’s then left unfiltered and bottle-conditioned before being unleashed on the market. Packed with tropical tanginess, herbaceous, resin-like loveliness … Read More
Decades of Dogs…
Last week I wrote about everything being better in two’s and how fun it is to taste two different vintages of the same wine side by side to pick out the differences. Well if the team at Dog Point in Marlborough didn’t just decide to dial that idea up by 500% and open up ten … Read More
“…and then one time, at Wine Camp…”
If you’re an aspiring hospitality professional with a hankering to upskill your wine knowledge, by far the best way to do that is by getting down and dirty in the vineyard and winery. There’s no better, faster, more authentic way to learn how this magical beverage is made, than by immersing yourself in the process, … Read More