Maison Noire Home Block Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2019 $35 Just 75 dozen bottles were crafted of this wine which was sourced from Guillaume Thomas’ own tiny vineyard on the Waimarama Road east of Havelock North. It’s a gorgeously floral, fruit-stacked style that oozes softness, elegance and (if left in the glass for a few minutes) … Read More
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Tupari Boulder Rows Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2017
Tupari Boulder Rows Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2017 $29.99 Classic floral, Awatere Valley sauvignon blanc here, a hint of barrel fermentation adds creamy complexity to a vein of lemongrass, basil, tomato stalk and sweet pea and passionfruit – it’s a stunning style loaded with sweet herbaceousness and delicious length of flavour. http://www.tupari.co.nz
Esk Valley Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2005
Esk Valley Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2005 $na I tasted this wine 16 years after harvest, in 2021 and I’ve got to say it was a revelation. With the acidity still pinging in this ultra-golden, teenage sensation, the spices are zooming along the vanilla, nutmeg and apple strudel spectrum and it’s developing some delicious, nutty … Read More
Yealands State of Flux Marlborough Chardonnay 2019
Yealands State of Flux Marlborough Chardonnay 2019 $39.99 Soft citrus and soft peach and a hint of preserved lemon is what you can expect on the nose and the palate is creamy and shows tweaks of ground almond and melon. Fermented in Yealands concrete eggs, which some winemakers believe creates a more gentle environment for … Read More
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2019
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2019 $25 Just 90 dozen bottles were produced of this wine. To give you an idea of scale, that’s less than two pallets. For the whole country. And overseas markets. So you snooze, you lose, I’m afraid. It’s a lush, complex, dried herb and spice-saturated style edged with baked berries, … Read More
The Hunting Lodge Home Block Waimauku Sauvignon Blanc 2019
The Hunting Lodge Home Block Waimauku Sauvignon Blanc 2019 $30 If you’re beady of eye and brainy of brain, you’ll notice that the Sauvignon Blanc grapes for this wine come from a site that began being planted back in 1979. So there could very well be wine from some of the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vines … Read More
Ash Ridge Estate Bridge Pa Merlot 2019
Ash Ridge Estate Bridge Pa Merlot 2019 $21.99 From those russet-red, iron rich soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle comes this dark, inky-scarlet sensation from Lauren Swift and the team at Ash Ridge. Showing earthy, dried herb, tar, black olive and mushroomy notes drifting across the blueberry and blackberry mid-palate, it’s a soft yet generously … Read More
OTU Otuwhero Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020
OTU Otuwhero Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020 $22.99 Crafted from fruit grown in the Awatere Valley, this bright shiny new pinot has buckets of raspberry and rhubarb and cherry charm on the nose and palate. Not too spicy or complex, just juicy and easy and refreshing – which is exactly what you should hope to … Read More
Junction Corner Post Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019
Junction Corner Post Central Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $29 Absolutely erupting with mango, scorched peach, grilled grapefruit and roasted almond notes, this smasher of a chardonnay comes from the Takapau Plains and trucks across the palate like a tropical train. It’s nicely balanced, with fresh acidity, mouth filling weight and solid stone fruit saturation on … Read More
Doctors Flat Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017
Doctors Flat Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $49.50 I checked and it was almost exactly to the day that I published my review of Steve Davies, 2016 Doctors Flat Pinot Noir on this site. He fired through a bottle of the shiny new 2017 as soon as it was ready and far out am I … Read More