Organic Wine Wine Week is ON

16 September 2019By Yvonne

Organic Wine Week is ON with an impressive list of events across New Zealand and within the heart of London.  Please help us spread the good word! There is something for everyone.  With the simple goal of sharing NZ’s best wine in a series of innovative and fun formats, Organic Wine Week will reiterate the … Read More

Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec 2015

13 September 2019By Yvonne

Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec 2015 $23.75 Previously sold under the ‘Metals and Gravels’ label, this 57:43 M & M blend is showing how fantastic 2015 was in Hawke’s Bay for merlot-dominant, Bordeaux-style red wines.  Elegant, statuesque and stacked with buckets of black fruits, masses of Christmas pudding spices and … Read More

Muré Signature Alsace Pinot Gris 2016

13 September 2019By Yvonne

Muré Signature Alsace Pinot Gris 2016 $27 This Alsatian pinot gris kicks and punches like a teenage MMA fighter. Stacked to its chiselled cheekbones with pear, Golden Delicious apples, yuzu mandarin and classic honeysuckle characters, it’s bracing, brisk, and racy to drink and rocks with pear, chorizo, and mint salad. Fact: the Muré property is … Read More

Sacred Hill Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018

11 September 2019By Yvonne

Sacred Hill Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2018 $25 Sourced from their ‘Riflemans’ vineyard (which is fast becoming known as a national treasure) this new chardonnay ticks all the boxes for fruit weight, bright acidity, caramelised, coconutty oak and citrus complexity in the mid-palate and finish.  It’s richly structured, toasty and shows a whisker of … Read More

Pegasus Bay Aged Release Prima Donna Waipara Pinot Noir 2009

8 September 2019By Yvonne

Pegasus Bay Aged Release Prima Donna Waipara Pinot Noir 2009 $120 I think the ‘Aged Release’ program that the team at Pegasus Bay have created (in order for people to be able to enjoy what a perfectly cellared, 10yo wine tastes like) is a joyous thing for muppets like me who didn’t manage to get … Read More

Universe Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018

7 September 2019By Yvonne

Universe Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018 $34.99 The heat trap that is the ancient glacial soils of Alexandra is responsible for this baked cherry, leather and prune-packed pinot noir.  New to the market, and  crafted in a completely vegan fashion, it’s a savoury, spice-fest of a wine boasting gentle, fleshy tannins, soft, medicinal notes and … Read More

Chard Farm Mason Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017

6 September 2019By Yvonne

Chard Farm Mason Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $79 Very different to Chard Farm’s other single-vineyard wines and sourced from a high-altitude site in the Cromwell basin, winemaker John Wallace has created a spice-saturated wine that has a leaner, statuesque, tuxedo-wrapped profile with dried herb and seriously savoury elements.  Pepper, redcurrant, olive, leather, and … Read More

Chard Farm Viper Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017

6 September 2019By Yvonne

Chard Farm Viper Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $79 From a tricky, back-to-front harvest season, the pinot noir from Chard Farm set solid form.  Sourced from their Viper vineyard located in the Parkburn area on the western side of Lake Dunstan. The site takes its name from the wildflower ”Vipers Bugloss” that carpets the … Read More

Chard Farm The Tiger Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017

6 September 2019By Yvonne

Chard Farm The Tiger Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $79 Wine match for Annabel Langbein’s Prosciutto & Bocconcini Pizza (Canvas NZHerald sat 14 2019) Prosciutto is my drug of choice.  I can’t help myself when it’s around.  If I see it on a platter I snaffle it, on hors d’oeuvres, get in my belly, and … Read More

Chard Farm River Run Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017

6 September 2019By Yvonne

Chard Farm River Run Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $35 Looking for a lush, plush, pinot that’s perky in all the right places?  Here’s your thing Chandler Bing.  Designed to hit you with classic cherry, baked raspberry and redcurrant razziness (technical term there), the River Run also has a seam of savoury spice and a … Read More