Aorangi Road Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $18 With a stack of shiny medals to its name including a gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Awards, this is one super-tasty sauvignon. Grown on the Mangatahi Terraces, 30kms inland west of Hastings by a specialist sauvignon blanc producer, it has delicious sugar-snap … Read More
Author: Yvonne
Pinot Favours the Brave…
I’m writing this column from the comfort of a cloth-covered trestle table upstairs in the Wellington Town Hall in what has been dubbed the “Media Centre”. I’ve worked in loads of “media centres” around the traps in the past but this would take the cake for no-frills. Although at least here there’s one of those … Read More
Rolling Riesling Day Feb 16th!
The 2013 Summer of Riesling kicks off this February and on the 16th, the , to celebrate the good folk at Black Estate, Pegasus Bay and Tongue n Groove Wines are hosting a , “Rolling Riesling Day” at C1 Espresso on the corner of Tuam and High St in Christchurch. Between 11am and 4pm they’ll be pouring … Read More
Wine Industry Heavy Hitters get their Cricket Bats Out…
PINOT NOIR AND CRICKET: A MATCH MADE IN WELLINGTON Wellington – make that New Zealand – will have never seen a cricket match quite like this… On Sunday 27 January, the day before the Pinot Noir 2013 conference opens in the capital, a team of touring English wine celebrities, captained by Jasper Morris MW*, will … Read More
Seifried Sweet Agnes Riesling 2011
Seifried Sweet Agnes Riesling 2011 $32 ★★★★★ I’d happily roll up my sleeves and launch into fisticuffs with anyone who disputed that this wine was one of the most consistently successful sweet wines from our shores. With international trophies and stacks of gold medals in the trophy cabinet, the Sweet Agnes is a star. With … Read More
Rimu Grove Pinot Gris 2010
Rimu Grove Pinot Gris 2010 $31 ★★★★½ Exotic confection and sweet, strudel-like aromas make way for a wave of luxuriously slick spices, succulent stonefruit and zesty acidity which creates a platform for excellent persistence of flavour. Not a pinot gris for the fragile or faint-hearted. www.rimugrove.co.nz
Waimea Classic Riesling 2011
Waimea Classic Riesling 2011 $19 ★★★★★ An incredible value-for-money Riesling which oozes lime and tangelo tanginess, a beautifully taut, concentrated mouthfeel and a long, lingering finish which is edged with hints of mango. Lovely stuff. www.waimeaestates.co.nz
Sea Level Home Block Pinot Gris 2011
Sea Level Home Block Pinot Gris 2011 $19 ★★★★½ I love the aromas of frangipane, nashi and crème caramel while in the mouth there are layers of gingerbread, quince, pear and prickly, textural acidity. Created from fruit grown in their Mariri vineyard by talented winemaker Sam Smail, this flavourful pinot gris finishes dry and delicious. … Read More
Kaimira Brightwater Gewurztraminer 2009
Kaimira Brightwater Gewurztraminer 2009 $23 ★★★★★ At 14.5% alc I was expecting this wine to have a hot, stringy, slightly resinous character but this wine delivers quite the opposite. It hits the sweet spot between musky floral notes, rich, ripe, peachy characters and a long, elegantly spicy finish. It’s exotically perfumed with a seam of sweetness … Read More
Nelson on my mind…
I’ve just spent three days in stunning Nelson filming at Woollaston Estate and a bunch of boutique breweries for my show Thirsty Work. Shane Munn and his team at Woollaston Estate produce a veritable smorgasbord of certified organic wines from their four-level, gravity fed winery in Mahana, and despite loving their floral sauvignon blanc, red-fruited, … Read More