Monowai Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2022 $24.99 Emma Lowe and her husband Marcello are the super-talented duo who craft this crisp, clean, troptastic sauvignon blanc in their small but perfectly formed winery waaay out on Matapiro Road in Hawke’s Bay’s Crownthorpe district. The stones are so big in the vineyards out there, the locals call … Read More
Hawke’s Bay
Te Mata Elston Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2020
Te Mata Elston Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2020 $37-$43 There’s a reason why 2020 will go down as one of the greatest Hawke’s Bay vintages of the century. Not just that somehow during a nationwide lockdown and under incredibly tricky, worker safety conditions, did the wines even get made – but the ripening season was a … Read More
Abbey Estate Medium-Dry Bridge Pa Hawke’s Bay Riesling 2020
Abbey Estate Medium-Dry Bridge Pa Hawke’s Bay Riesling 2020 $20 This riesling is an excellent example of balance between acidity, natural sweetness, purity of fruit, and alcohol. Erupting with lime, mandarin, and awesome appletastic flavours, this Bridge Pa-grown beauty has tongue-adhesive textures that elongate the length of flavour, um, elongatingly. I also love how the … Read More
Te Mata Estate Cape Crest Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020
Te Mata Estate Cape Crest Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020 $34.90 One sip and you’ll see straight away how this wine has become an absolute aristocrat in sauvignon blanc circles. Gorgeously golden in the glass, it’s crafted from a blend of 85% sauvignon blanc, 9% semillon and 6% sauvignon gris which is gently fermented in … Read More
Abbey Estate Bridge Pa Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2021
Abbey Estate Bridge Pa Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2021 $25 Back in 2002 when Feilding dairy farmer Warren Haworth reached 50, he decided to reward himself and his wife Jan with a new life in Hawke’s Bay making wine. A new life of backbreaking work, little reward and even less sleep. But today, with the help … Read More
Alpha Domus Beatrix Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé NV
Alpha Domus Beatrix Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé NV $21 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you’re nuts about all things rose-gold, then this super-pretty sparkler will deliver you directly to the sanatorium and, because it’s fizzy, then it could completely send you sideways. Crafted (unusually) from merlot by winemaker Barry Riwai, … Read More
Wairiki Wines The Optimist Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2020
Wairiki Wines The Optimist Hawke’s Bay Pinot Noir 2020 $25 I’d like to think I’m an optimist, but comparing my annual school photos, you can see me becoming an adult via the gradual draining of emotion in my expression. Thank heaven for the baked strawberry notes, earthy plushness, slightly foxy aromas, tweaks of tamarillo, and … Read More
Kokako Farms Awen Ohiti Valley Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019
Kokako Farms Awen Ohiti Valley Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 $55 Winemaker Bruce Nimon has crafted a beautifully toasty, citrus-centric superstar chardonnay right here. A wine absolutely bursting with stylish stonefruit and showing exactly why the Ohiti Valley is one of the most exciting subregions in the Bay. True finesse and showing a textural mid-palate with … Read More
Squawking Magpie Terraces and Gravels Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021
Squawking Magpie Terraces and Gravels Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $25 A brand new wine from the team at Squawking Magpie, this is an ultra-creamy, dreamy new style of chardonnay with a fine line of oak and a cloak of ripe nectarine and gentle grapefruit, this chardonnay will bring happiness and joy all the way down … Read More
Kokako Farms Ohiti Gravels Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2014
Kokako Farms Ohiti Gravels Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2014 $30 While Hawke’s Bay syrah fans are geeking out over the Gimblett Gravels, I’m quietly having an Ohiti house party over here in Lorkinland. Winegrower Bruce Nimon is obsessed with finding great soils, and in between a cow paddock and an old stockman’s station is a little … Read More