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
Hawke’s Bay
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
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2024
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2024 $20 – $25 Classic, ripe, robust Hawke’s Bay signatures sing in this wine, with pungent jalapeno, lime, passionfruit and bruised basil merging with red apple and clean capsicum characters. Zesty acidity is complimented by crushed shell minerality and a lacing of creamy complexity on the finish. It’s … Read More
Leveret Estate Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2024
Leveret Estate Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2024 $19.99 One sniff of this citrus oil-scented, jasmine-stacked, apricot-edged viognier and you’ll understand why it scooped a championship trophy at the NZ International Wine Show AND a double gold medal also. It’s exotically spiced, fresh and laced with creamy macadamia and roast peach complexity on the nose and palate. … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Gewürztraminer 2024
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Gewürztraminer 2024 $22 On your marks, get set, and GO directly to my pick for the BEST VALUE gewürztraminer for the summer. It’s Paddy Preston of Mills Reef started out making kiwifruit wine in Tauranga. He was darn good at it too. But a few years into it, back in … Read More
Oblix Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021
Oblix Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $18 Crafted by Michelle Richardson from fruit grown in Sir George Fistonich’s family vineyard in the Gimblett Gravels, this is a fresh, nectarine-stacked chardonnay with a core of zesty green apple and zingy acidity and lemony layers. Vibrant and faintly toasty and showing superb length of flavour. … Read More
Zaria Wines Sparkling Rosé 2024
Zaria Wines Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé 2024 $28 Chilled down, this new release sparkling rosé presents in a rather cool, calm and collected style with berry brioche and soft, Shrewsbury biscuit characters. Crafted from merlot grown in the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa wine region, it delivers a fresh, softly fleshy, cherry-plumped style with … Read More
Maison Noire Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2023
Maison Noire Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2023 $29 Grown high up on the Waimarama Road in the deep limestone clays of the Tukituki Valley, in a tiny vineyard tended by French winemaker Guillaume Thomas, this cabernet franc is deeply savoury, laced with brick dust and smoked blueberry and has gently drying tannins, fresh … Read More