Bladen Marlborough Pinot Noir 2013 $33 ★★★½ A very light coloured pinot, that has a soft raspberry and cherry lift, tannins with powdery grip in the mouth and a long, medicinally-spicy finish. If you like your pinot smooth, easy, light and juicy, then this is for you. www.bladen.co.nz
Big Sky Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2012
Big Sky Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2012 $40 ★★★★ Katherine Jacobs and Jeremy Corban are the couple behind this rising star Martinborough brand. The ancient Te Muna terraces provide deep, mineral-driven texture to the pinots which grown on its soils and this is no exception. A dusty, musky mouthfeel cloaks earthy cherry and cocoa … Read More
Amisfield RKV Reserve Pinot Noir 2012
Amisfield RKV Reserve Pinot Noir 2012 $120 ★★★★★ This is one of those wines that I want to get all Spinal Tap on it by saying “but this one goes up to eleven”. If I could give it eleven stars I would. RKV stands for Rocky Knoll Vineyard, the jewel in Amisfield’s crown and vineyard … Read More
Punch of a boxer in a ballgown
Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 19 Jan 2016 Love me tender? Hardly… They say trying to buy houses is one of the most stressful things for any relationship. I would go further and say that trying to buy a house via ‘tender’ is actually THE most stressful thing. The sheer, bewildering, ambiguity of being … Read More
Three ways to ease the speed of summer
Published NZ Herald Sat 16 Jan 2016 What? How did it suddenly become the middle of January already? To ease the shock I suggest reaching for some tastebud-distracting deliciousness that’ll send you back to September in seconds flat. Mansfield & Marsh Methode Traditionnelle Sparkling Wine NV $14.95 This is my new favourite bargain bubbly. … Read More
Two Paddocks Central Otago Riesling 2014
Two Paddocks Central Otago Riesling 2014 $32 ★★★★½ How winemaker Dean Shaw manages to stuff the equivalent of an entire citrus orchard into a 750ml bottle is beyond me, but if you’re a fan of anything resembling a crunchy-crisp, lime and apple smash up, that also manages to be stylish and elegantly put together, then … Read More
Kina Cliffs Nelson Pinot Noir 2013
Kina Cliffs Nelson Pinot Noir 2013 $30 ★★★★ The instant I stuck my nose inside the glass, I was met with a whoomph of cherry-chocolate, smoked coconut, dried herb and peppery plushness. It’s been sixteen years since Julie and Alistair Ashcroft purchased their 4.5 hectare block overlooking Tasman Bay and twelve years since the vines … Read More
Mansfield & Marsh Methode Traditionnelle Sparkling Wine NV
Mansfield & Marsh Methode Traditionnelle Sparkling Wine NV $14.95 ★★★★ This is my new favourite bargain bubbly. It’s lifted and lemony on the nose, awash with creamy, nutty notes and has some delicious bready, biscuity complexity on the finish. There’s even a smidge of apple and oatcake happening too. Superb value here, and if the label … Read More
Pegasus Bay Waipara Barrique Fermented Noble Semillon Sauvignon 2011 375ml
Pegasus Bay Waipara Barrique Fermented Noble Semillon Sauvignon 2011 375ml $37 Wow! I love the amber-topaz colour of this glossy dessert wine. It smells like honey drizzled over oatcakes and there’s an exotic toffee note cloaking baked stonefruit and an intense sweetness encasing a monster 14.5% alcohol. Wild yeast fermented and aging for two years … Read More
Spicy reds are drops to savour
Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 12 Jan 2016 By now so many of you will be back at work, watching the clock and making little sculptures out of blu-tac at your desk. You’ll be shuffling paper, sticking PostIt notes to things and walking purposefully from your desk to the staff loos every 30 minutes … Read More