Yealands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 $14.99 Prepare for a hit of passionfruit, lemon verbena, crushed basil and white pepper up your passages as soon as the first glass is poured. Crisp, ultra zesty, lemon and lime notes leap out and wash across the palate. It’s a citrus-forward, nicely balanced, refreshing and juicy wine that’ll wow … Read More
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Yealands Reserve Awatere Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Yealands Reserve Awatere Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 $18.99 Marlborough’s Awatere Valley is famous for turning out sauvignon blanc saturated with high-toned florals, intense minerality, lemongrassy goodness and buckets of green herbs on the nose and palate. This wine is swollen with sensationally sweaty characters, tomato stalk zinginess and a whole potager garden of herbaceousness. … Read More
Pegasus Bay Vergence White MK1 NV
Pegasus Bay Vergence White MK1 NV $27 I love that on the back label they’ve stated “Wine made under this label will first and foremost be delicious…” and lo, it doth occurreth. This multi-vintage thing of beauty is mostly made of old vine Semillon, blended with Muscat, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay and it’s … Read More
Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018
Whitehaven Marlborough Pinot Noir 2018 $35 Whenever the folk at Whitehaven release a new vintage pinot noir I’m all over it like an Augustine kimono. Handpicked fruit from a blend of Southern Valley’s and Awatere Valley vineyards has been put to excellent use in a pinot noir oozing cherry and raspberry and lithe, leather-licked layers … Read More
Flaxmore Nelson Pinot Noir 2018
Flaxmore Nelson Pinot Noir 2018 $27 Lightly coloured but bright and showing slighty dusty, dried herb notes on the nose which merge with cola and black tea as they lean into the palate. The acidity is upfront and fresh yet the finish has a meaty, savoury character to it. Lightly styled and suited to short … Read More
Flaxmore Nelson Rosé 2019
Flaxmore Nelson Rosé 2019 $19.99 Wow! Some more commercial, supermarket-style pinot noir rosés are overly fruity, sweet and lack any sort of tension and tautness. Not this one however. With a Provençal-like pluckiness, deliciously dry textures and a creaming-soda complexity on the finish. There’s a whiff of wild strawberry and a whomp of quartzy minerality … Read More
Flaxmore Nelson Pinot Gris 2019
Flaxmore Nelson Pinot Gris 2019 $22 Stuart and Patricia Anderson craft pinot gris from the French Alsace clone 457 (sounds superflash right?) grown in their Moutere Hills vineyard. Most kiwi pinot gris comes from highly floral German clones, while this French clone creates a stylish, spicy, flavour spectrum studded with softly grainy textures and a … Read More
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Central Otago Riesling 2016
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Central Otago Riesling 2016 $33 This organic riesling absolutely roars with baked apple, crisp lime and loads of quartzy minerality. The acidity is pinging on the palate, there’s a tonne of tangelo and mandarin magic and loads of green apple characters crash through onto the finish as well. It’s a long-term … Read More
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Vineyard Central Otago Tempranillo 2016
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Vineyard Central Otago Tempranillo 2016 $45 Not only is this tempranillo from Central Otago (as unlikely as that sounds), it’s also organic AND darn excellent. The aromatics sing of bay leaf, drying flax, leather and coffee, prune and saucy, scorched toast, and all those delicious things osmose through onto the palate. … Read More
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Central Otago Pinot Gris 2018
Rock Ferry Trig Hill Central Otago Pinot Gris 2018 $40 This is one of my favourite New Zealand pinot gris wines hands down. Hands all over the place in fact. Hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed and only the free-run juice was fermented with a combo of cultured and wild yeasts in a mixture of stainless steel … Read More