Tony Bish Wines Heartwood Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $40 Wow! 100% barrel-fermented in 3-year-old seasoned French oak, it’s deeply golden and glossy in the glass and bursting with scorched peach, grilled grapefruit and roasty, toasty goodness on the nose and palate. Stylish, seamless and super-refreshing, it has excellent citrus weight, a hint of creamy complexity, … Read More
Te Mata Hawke’s Bay Bullnose Syrah 2020 $68-$80 One of New Zealand’s true icons, not just for Syrah but for wine in general. Grown in the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle, Te Mata’s Bullnose vineyard, is a 15-hectare site planted in 1990 and it’s home to former winemaker Peter Cowley and his family. … Read More
Paired with Baked Brie with honey, walnuts and thyme in the NZ Herald Canvas Drinks matches Sept 9th 2023 Trinity Hill 125 The Gimblett Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2021 $80 Deeply golden in the glass, this roasty, toasty, citrus-centric chardonnay was hand-harvested fruit from Trinity’s “Tin Shed” vineyard, gently pressed then fermented with wild yeasts in a … Read More
Village Vineyards Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $30 Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. I love spending time in our Auckland office because people put names on the food in the fridge which is really quaint. Right now I’m eating some spag bol called ‘Debbie’. It needs salt. This merlot … Read More
Decibel Giunta Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2022 $24.99 If you’ve been hunting for a crunchy-crisp, spice-laced pinot gris that’s packed with fresh-cut pear and yellow apple complexity – then hang up your boots because you’ve stepped right on it. Dry, zesty-fresh and seriously juicy on the palate, it has great tension and lipsmacking textures. It’ll … Read More
Garage Days Revisited by Yvonne LorkinAugust 1, 2023 Photo: Florence Charvin [As published in July/August BayBuzz magazine.] “Bruno, our schnauzer, may greet you with a bark,” was the text from Ollie Powrie a few minutes before I pulled up for our interview. So I was prepared, as I noodled up the driveway of his 1920s … Read More
Black Cottage Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2021 $18 Super-fresh and frisky, this wine has a tweak of smoke and soy on the tongue in amongst a jungle of berries, cherries and black plum punchiness. Bright, breezy, and showing gently chewy, gum-fuzzing tannins, it’s a crowd-pleaser for sure. Black Cottage
Black Cottage Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2022 $18 Paired with Annabel Langbein’s Celebration Salmon pie in the NZ Herald July 15th 2023 Chardonnay is 100% my go-to for anything salmony. There’s just something about the clean, peachy, citrus-laced characters in chardonnay which snuggle up to salmon sensationally well. This new release from Black Cottage has classic … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels Declaration Chardonnay 2020 $40 Paired with: Annabel Langbein’s Leeks with Honey Mustard dressing in the NZ Herald Sat July 8th 2023 Now you may ask, why would I drop fourty dollars on something that I’m only going to sip with some dressed leeks? And I would answer that these aren’t just any … Read More
Villa Maria Braided Gravels Hawke’s Bay Albariño 2021 $29 Incredibly cleansing, this local version of a Spanish classic roars with green apple, pear, quince, lemon, lime and summer flowers on the nose and erupts with zesty citrus complexity on the palate. Fermented very gently as a single parcel in a concrete egg vat, the result … Read More