Loveblock Organic Riesling 2012 $25 ★★★★ Aroma-wise, this wine is leaning into that mealy, biscuit-like, kerosene character and yet when you sip, it is bright and banging with lime, mandarin and crunchy apple flavours. It’s a wine that has two totally different sides and I like that – the length of flavour is impressive too. … Read More
2012
Tohu Rewa Methode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blanc 2012
Tohu Rewa Methode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blanc 2012 $32 ★★★★ A couple of years in the bottle has seen this impressive Marlborough-grown, 100% chardonnay-based bubbles mature very nicely indeed. Deep straw-yellow colour and showing delicate beading and smooth cashew nut and creamy lemon characters on the nose and palate give this sparkling good complexity and … Read More
Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz 2012
Barossa Valley Estate Shiraz 2012 $22 ★★★★ The inside of the glass is coated in a film of inky magenta-black on the first swirl, while on the nose it has what I can describe only as the smell of a large bowl of ageing plums and berries slowly fermenting inside a carpenter’s workshop – all earthy … Read More
Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Syrah 2012
Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Syrah 2012 $35 ★★★★ This is basically the Sade of red wine, a smooth operator if ever there was one. Soft, sweet boysenberry, cherry, chocolate and liquorice aromas and flavours lead to velvety, elastic tannins and a long, silky finish. If you’ve never tried a Californian syrah and want to get amongst … Read More
Malabarista Tempranillo & Garnacha 2012
Malabarista Tempranillo & Garnacha 2012 $14.95 ★★★ Made at the Palacio de la Vega winery in Spain’s Navarra region, this toasty wee wine is scooping up ‘Best Buy’ accolades all over the place and it’s easy to see why. “Malabarista” means ‘juggler’ in Spanish and the winemaking team behind it designed this savoury, spicy blend … Read More
Coto de Hayas Garnacha Centenaria 2012
Coto de Hayas Garnacha Centenaria 2012 $29 ★★★★½ Inside this bottle is 100% Grenache crafted from 100 year old vines grown in Spain’s Campo de Borja region – and it’s darn lovely. This wine oozes exotic earthiness, where clove and caramel characters merge with prune, cherry, vanilla and pepper. I really like the gum-tingling grip … Read More
Pirramimma McLaren Vale Petit Verdot 2012
Pirramimma McLaren Vale Petit Verdot 2012 $32 ★★★★ Petit Verdot is one of just six permitted varieties allowed in Bordeaux, but it’s a rare find outside of France, and even more so as a single example. With aromas of dusty tobacco leaf, white pepper, cherry and dried herbs, followed by blueberry and fruitcake spice flavours … Read More
Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart of the Barossa Shiraz 2012
Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart of the Barossa Shiraz 2012 $32 ★★★★½ Even if you were somehow blind to the bling on the label (gold medals for Africa here) you’d know as soon as you took the first sip that this wine is astonishingly tasty. It’s scented with red rose, dried herbs, cocoa and ripe black fruits, … Read More
Don’t ignore 2012’s from Hawke’s Bay
An email arrived halfway through January from Michael Henley, CEO of Trinity Hill Wines. “Trinity Hill are releasing our 2012 Gimblett Gravels wines and I was wondering if you would be interested in receiving some samples?” “Save your samples”, I wrote back, “I’m actually in Hawke’s Bay right now and I’m happy to pop over … Read More
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