Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2023 $24.99 2023 was a really tricky year for Hawke’s Bay grapegrowers as Cyclone Gabrielle struck with devastating force just as harvest was about to begin. Yet the folk at Trinity Hill managed to craft a snappy, richly-structured, dry-styled gris laced with classic nashi notes and a hint of … Read More
Hawke’s Bay
Three Fates in Bay Buzz Magazine 2025
Three Fates wine by Yvonne LorkinApril 1, 2025 From left: Holly Girven-Russell, Casey Motley, Hester Nesbitt. Photo: Florence Charvin When it comes to wine stories fitting the cultural zeitgeist, it doesn’t get more current than three, young Hawke’s Bay women stalking each other on social media before opting to leap into business together with the … Read More
Brookfields Back Block Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2023
Brookfields Back Block Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2023 $22 Peter Robertson is an ex flatmate of the Wizard of Christchurch. He also began making wine in Hawke’s Bay in the early 1970s and purchased Brookfields Vineyards in 1977, forty years after it was founded in 1937. He was one of the first to leap onto the … Read More
Jenny Dobson Florence Hawke’s Bay Fiano 2023
Jenny Dobson Florence Hawke’s Bay Fiano 2023 $45 Having been involved with crafting Fiano from fruit grown in tiny amounts in the Bridge Pa subregion since 2010, Jenny Dobson is easily New Zealand’s foremost expert on Fiano production. Fiano is an ancient, white grape with its spiritual home in Campania in Southern Italy. Still, it … Read More
Huntress Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2023
Huntress Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2023 $48 This is the first time Jannine Rickards has released a syrah from Hawke’s Bay, and she sourced her fruit from the Herringbone Vineyard in Bridge Pa. Taking a third of the grapes and fermenting them as whole clusters (rather than the traditionally crushed berries) has created a wine with … Read More
Three Fates Gordon Russell Hawke’s Bay Chenin Blanc 2024
Three Fates Gordon Russell Hawke’s Bay Chenin Blanc 2024 $40 From Ian and Linda Quinn’s Two Terraces vineyard out in Mangatahi west of Hastings, this wild-fermented collaboration between Holly, Hester and Casey from Three Fates, and Holly’s father Gordon Russell (ex-Esk Valley) one of New Zealand’s pioneer Chenin Blanc masters. Aromas of mandarin, jasmine, peach … Read More
Maison Noire Gabrielle’s Kiss 2023
Maison Noire Gabrielle’s Kiss Hawke’s Bay Red Blend 2023 $20 Hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, Guillaume Thomas at Maison Noire opted to get creative with their Cabernet Franc and Syrah grown high up on the Waimarama Road – and do some crafty blending. Highly floral, laced with bay, tobacco, green peppercorns, black … Read More
Leveret Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2021
Leveret Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2021 $29 Things I want: to be cosy at home but also socialise and travel. To buy everything I want but also save money and to get super fit, but also eat what I like and not exercise. That’s not too much to ask for, right? Things I … Read More
Leveret Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2021
Leveret Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2021 $28 From the ‘holy trinity’ of Hawke’s Bay vintages (2019, 2020, 2021) this Syrah is stacked with classic florals, violets, red roses, plum blossom and buckets of cracked pepper and smoky oak. Vibrant and energetic, it dunks your taste buds into dark berryfruit and then dusts them with … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2023
Mills Reef Elspeth Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2023 $39 The flagship chardonnay for Mills Reef is tightly coiled and ready to unleash its talents over the next ten years I feel. From a cooler vintage, Paul Dawick and his winemaking team have sourced some spectacular fruit to craft a chardonnay scented with grilled grapefruit, lemon pith, … Read More