Mills Reef Elspeth Hawke’s Bay Methode Traditionnelle NV $39.95 Wow. Golden in the glass and heaving with heavenly scorched brioche, toasted almond and grilled citrus, it’s got all the hallmarks of thoroughbred champagne at a fraction (and I mean fraction) of the price. Generously proportioned, stacked with baked apple, rising dough notes, soothing caramelised characters … Read More
Hawke’s Bay
Brookfields Ohiti Estate Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Brookfields Ohiti Estate Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 $22 If you’re looking for a cabernet sauvignon showing a tweak of that funky, smoky, Old World French stylism about it, then you’re snuggling into the right sleeping bag, my friend. Bold, boho-like, plummy, and bursting with earthy, roasting-pan meatiness, it also boasts grainy tannins, leathery layers, … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016 $49 Six quiet, sleepy years on from vintage, this gorgeous Gimblett Gravels-grown merlot is awake and ready to roar. With cocoa-dusted boysenberry, plum and blackcurrant characters on the nose and palate, buckets of rich spices and edged with soft, smoky, caramelised oak tones, it’s a joy to drink. … Read More
Trinity Hill 125 Gimblett Chardonnay 2020
Trinity Hill 125 Gimblett Chardonnay 2020 $80 Crafted from fruit grown at their Tin Shed vineyard at 125 Gimblett Road, this chardonnay is supremely elegant. Boasting an aromatic hit of smoked almonds, caramelised oak, buttered cinnamon toast, grilled grapefruit and baked nectarine, it’s intoxicating from the first whiff. All those characters osmose onto the palate … Read More
Squawking Magpie Daisy Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2021
Squawking Magpie Daisy Hawke’s Bay Rosé 2021 $24 Crafted from syrah and merlot, this ripe and rumpty new rosé absolutely fangs with florals and bright berries from woah to go. Awash with plum and red apple flavours in the mid-palate, there’s a lacing of pink peppercorn and citrus on the finish, making it a deliciously … Read More
Petane Late Harvest Gewürztraminer 2021
Petane Late Harvest Hawke’s Bay Gewürztraminer 2021 $32 Clearly, the weather gods found favour with Philip Barber and his tiny wee crop of gewürztraminer in the summer of 2021. They were kept clean and dry and managed to hang on the vine long enough to start gently raisining and increasing their natural sugars. They were … Read More
Petane Puriri Block Sfumato Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2020
Petane Puriri Block Sfumato Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2020 ($70) Pronounced ‘ss-foo-mah-toh’, the name of this new wine from WineFriend favourites Petane Wines, is named after a painting technique describing softening the transition between colours. But you knew that right? Art nerds will also understand that it mimics an area beyond what the human eye is … Read More
Coopers Creek SV Chalk Ridge Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2020
Coopers Creek SV Chalk Ridge Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2020 $24 Absolute classic Hawke’s Bay viognier here from a West Auckland icon. Bright apricot, orange zest and jasmine aromatics all saturate through to the palate and its solid acidity (hard to achieve in viognier) leaves an impressively zingy impression. Great stuff! Cellar door only
Crab Farm Hawke’s Bay Traminer Gris 2021
Crab Farm Hawke’s Bay Traminer Gris 2021 ($21) Paired with: Aromatic Steamed Salmon Parcels Canvas Magazine NZ Herald Nov 6th 2021 What you have here is gewürztraminer that’s been boosted by a splash of pinot gris which catapult the spicy notes into high gear. I really like it because it’s a rich, full-on, face slap … Read More
Wairiki Wines Grace Hawke’s Bay White Pinot 2021
Wairiki Wines Grace Hawke’s Bay White Pinot 2021 $25 This ultra-pale, apricot hue of this wine is the result of handpicked pinot noir being pressed as soon as the grapes arrive at the winery. This means only a teensy tweak of colour from those dark, pinot noir skins is able to bleed into the clear … Read More