Selaks 1934 Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2019 $16.99 Reviewed in Canvas Magazine in the NZ Herald April 4 2020 and paired with Annabel Langbein’s Lamb and Chickpea Curry Well I’ll be fragrantly footstomped! Here we have a supertasty smorgasbord of 67% merlot, 29.5% sauvignon blanc, 1.3% pinot gris, 1.2% malbec, 0.7% cabernet sauvignon and 0.3% cabernet … Read More
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Goshawk Estate Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Goshawk Estate Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 2018$poa Well well well. If I haven’t just managed to snaffle a bottle of the top-secret solo project from Mills Reef’s long-time, legendary winemaker, Paul Dawick. The name is taken from his mum’s maiden name (Drummond) and there happened to be a Goshawk bird attached to the coat of … Read More
Cypress Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018
Cypress Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018 $26 The 2018 vintage of what’s become a huge favourite of mine, is absolutely saturated with ripe plum, blackberry, blueberry and that all-important, syrah-staple, buckets of cracked pepper. There’s a lovely layer of charred oak, black olive and a sniff of soy, meaning its everything I’m looking for in great … Read More
Zephyr Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2019
Zephyr Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2019 $29 West of the Gin Wharf and the Whitebait Pozzie, on the Northside of the Opawa River, lies the Stopbank Block, and that’s where the Glover family have their gewürztraminer grapevines growing in deep, Kaiapoi silt loam soils. Back in 1988 Owen Glover began converting the family dairy farm to vineyards … Read More
Tony Bish Skeetfield Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018
Tony Bish Skeetfield Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $59.99 I got an email recently from Tony Bish, (who in my opinion should be given a knighthood for his services to chardonnay) saying “We are very pleased to announce the release of the 2018 Skeetfield. This is a great follow on from 2017, and from a better … Read More
Doctors Flat Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016
Doctors Flat Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016 $49.50 The tiny, 3ha, organically-farmed Doctor’s Flat site in Bannockburn is composed of deep gravels laid down by receding glaciers 480,000 years ago. Shepherded into the bottle by winemaker/owner Steve Davies since the mid-2000s, in 2016, 27% of the hand-harvested fruit was popped into the tank as intact … Read More
Brookfields Sun-Dried Hawke’s Bay Malbec 2018
Brookfields Sun-Dried Hawke’s Bay Malbec 2018 $25 Peter Robertson, owner and winemaker of Brookfields is one of New Zealand’s most experienced winemakers, accumulating huge knowledge of techniques since beginning his career in 1974. Drying grapes in the sun prior to fermentation dates back to the early Greek and Italian times (like 6th century BC early!) … Read More
Black Estate Netherwood North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2017
Black Estate Netherwood North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2017 $75 When I say this pinot noir brings the funk, I don’t mean the kind of funk occurring in the ‘used mats’ bin down the local Bikram studio, I mean freshly-turned-earth funky, old, seasoned leather funky, wild cherries and spiced rhubarb funky. Unfined and unfiltered, it’s cloudiness … Read More
Obsidian Waiheke Island Pinot Gris 2019
Obsidian Waiheke Island Pinot Gris 2019 $30 Hands up if you’ve been hunting high and low for a pinot gris that’s both lusciously sweetish up front, yet finishes deliciously dry and long. The team at Obsidian have cracked it well and truly. With nashi pear niceness, lemonade apple and baked quince characters which merge into … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 $49.95 Named in honour and memory of Elspeth Preston, grandmother of Mills Reef’s winemaker/owner Tim Preston, and only created in years when Tim and his team feel the fruit is superlative, when the fruit cannot be faulted, and when the positive chi flows through from the East … Read More