Soljan’s Kumeu Pinot Gris 2024 $25 Ah, West Auckland. Holdens, leggings, Jim Beam singlets, dreamcatchers, roll-your-owns, beers from a crate, and AC/DC on high rotation. What’s not to love? It also has vineyards growing glorious pinot gris plush with nashi, nutmeg, pear, and perky crabapple notes alongside super-fresh textures. The team at Soljans has been … Read More
Mazuran’s Directors Hawke’s Bay Shiraz 2020
Mazuran’s Directors Hawke’s Bay Shiraz 2020 $85 Softly styled and moving into its maturing years, this shiraz/syrah shows classic blackcurrant, plum and green peppercorn characters on the nose and smoky, spiced cherry characters on the palate. Slightly short, however there’s a leather-like layer developing in the mid-palate which accentuates its earthy finish. Mazurans
Moko Hills Bendigo Pinot Noir 2022
Moko Hills Bendigo Pinot Noir 2022 $59 Donald van der Westhuizen clearly has Pinot Noir roaring through his veins as evidenced by his eking out bottles of brilliance from the schisty slopes of Bendigo. His 2022 vintage is unfined, unfiltered and scented with smoked cherry, freshly sliced rhubarb, white pepper and sous bois sensations (which … Read More
Mazuran’s The Governor’s Cellar Gisborne Blanc de Blanc NV
Mazuran’s The Governor’s Cellar Gisborne Blanc de Blanc Chardonnay NV $65 Gisborne is New Zealand’s spiritual home for Chardonnay, meaning it’s also the home of the base wine for countless kiwi sparkling styles. This is a wine maturing into its lemon pith and brazil-nut spectrum. Very golden in the glass and travelling into its tertiary … Read More
Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024
Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Gris 2024 $22 Classically structured style here from an absolute guru of gris. On the nose there’s a subtle lift of persimmon, nashi, white pepper, soft peach, apple and a lick of feijoa – all of which osmose onto the palate leaving a fresh, energetic impression and a general “oh yum”. … Read More
Martinborough Vineyard Home Block Martinborough Chardonnay 2021
Martinborough Vineyard Home Block Martinborough Chardonnay 2021 $39 Re-tasting this two years after release, all I can say is that if you have this in your cellar, see it on a wine list or discover a bottle hidden away on a shop shelf then dive in!! Oh lord, today this wine is overdelivering in every … Read More
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2023
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2023 $35-$39 From one of the most challenging vintages Hawke’s Bay has ever seen, where Cyclone Gabrielle roared through the region and devastated so many vineyards and dumped an unholy amount of rain just a week or two before harvest was due to begin. Fortunately Trinity’s Chardonnay grows in the … Read More
Killibinbin Seduction Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
Killibinbin Seduction Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 $16-$18 Dangerously drinkable Cabernet here, a wine roaring with sweet blackberry, dark chocolate, ripe cherry and plump, plummy generosity on the nose and palate. Simple, fruity, smooth and sippable. Available from Liquorland, Super Liquor, Whisky Online
Killibinbin Sneaky Shiraz 2022
Killibinbin Sneaky Shiraz 2022 $16-$18 Classic blackcurrant, sweet plum, fruitwood smoke and buckets of berries combine in this uncomplicatedly sippable Shiraz. Available from Whisky & More, Liquorland, Super Liquor
Misty Cove Landmark Series Marlborough Grüner Veltliner 2024
Misty Cove Landmark Series Marlborough Grüner Veltliner 2024 $24 I’ve tasted many a Grüner V over the years, but it’s the examples from our mates at Misty that repeatedly bring the grins. Instead of being subtle, light, and feathery (as many of the native Austrian examples are), this elegantly-styled wallop of a wine is riddled … Read More