Church Road 1 Single Vineyard Terraces Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $100 Word on the street is that 2019 was a blistering blinder of a year for chardonnay in Hawke’s Bay and that the fruit was set to flourish into something more fabulous than ever before. The word on the street is entirely accurate. Immensely powerful … Read More
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Orlando Steingarten Eden Valley Riesling 2019
Orlando Steingarten Eden Valley Riesling 2019 $45 Steingarten was the first Riesling of its kind in Australia, setting the benchmark for cool-climate Riesling for the past 50 years. From the creation of the rocky vineyard that imitated the mountainous winemaking regions of Germany, to the innovative wine style, Steingarten is one of Australia’s most awarded … Read More
Louis Vavasour LV Marlborough Methode Traditionelle NV
Louis Vavasour LV Marlborough Methode Traditionelle NV $55 Winemaker Louis Vavasour says this méthode has exceeded even his own expectations. It’s taken him more than 20 years to get to the point where he could create a luxury range that includes a finely tuned fizz. I love the aromas of rising dough, almonds, lemon shortbread, … Read More
Swift Whole Bunch Bridge Pa Triangle Syrah 2019
Swift Whole Bunch Bridge Pa Triangle Syrah 2019 $40 Syrah lends itself to reductive winemaking, especially when it’s made in a low-preservative way like Lauren Swift prefers. When her syrah is fresh out of the gate, it takes on a struck-match, flinty, smoky complexity that wraps around the pepper and blueberry backbone of the wine. … Read More
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Syrah 2020
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Syrah 2020$40 If you’re expecting classic violets and pepper and all that normal syrah ‘stuff’ then best you put your seatbelt on and scoot right out of the CBD because winemaker Lauren Swift shakes her syrah up. A field blend of two clones, Mass Selection and Chave have … Read More
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Malbec 2020
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Malbec 2020 $35 Selected handpicked bunches were footstomped, fermented naturally, hand plunged, aged in oak for 15 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Crafted by Lauren Swift, this is a doozy. There’s a fabulously feral aromatic structure to this malbec, slightly smoky, loaded with dried herbs and … Read More
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Gamay Noir 2021
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Gamay Noir 2021 $35 I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this would be the first New Zealand wine with green leopard skin on the label. Created from handpicked grapes that then went through a week of carbonic fermentation (where the berries ferment naturally inside their own skins) before being pressed … Read More
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Blanc de Noir 2021
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Blanc de Noir 2021 $35 For starters, it looks like rainbows and unicorns right? So pretty to look at and crazy-refreshing to drink, this wine has been crafted from handpicked, red, gamay noir grapes that once pressed has had the skins separated from the juice immediately to minimise the colour uptake (hence … Read More
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Chardonnay 2020
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Chardonnay 2020 $35 I could tell you all the technical wizardry involved in creating this organically grown chardonnay, but that might be a distraction to its deliciousness and that wouldn’t do at all. Erupting with ripe grapefruit, roast nectarine and creme brulee topping, caramelised, softly smoky spicy oak and incredibly … Read More
te Pā Oke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019
te Pā Oke Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 $24.95 Once every few years, when the positive chi flows from the East and the sauvignon gods of the South smile fondly on the vines, the folk at te Pā might, if we’re lucky, decide to create an ‘Oke’. Pronounced ‘aw-keh’, oke in te reo Māori translates to … Read More