Brookfields Sun-Dried Hawke’s Bay Malbec 2022 $26 Winemaker Peter Roberston and his team hand-harvest their malbec and then lay the grapes out on racks to partially dry in the sun, much like the Italian appassimento technique to concentrate the flavours and accentuate the rich, fruity aromatics. The nose reveals rich, blueberry, boysenberry, cocoa and liquorice … Read More
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Obliix Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Syrah Malbec Viognier 2022
Obliix Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Syrah Malbec Viognier 2022 $30 New from Sir George Fistonich and his winemaking team headed by Michelle Richardson comes the Oblix/Obliix brand. This is a hugely floral syrah-dominant wine, fleshed out with 12% malbec and 8% viognier to create a light, bright, highly juicy and fantastically fresh red wine that … Read More
Decibel Hawke’s Bay Malbec 2021
Decibel Hawke’s Bay Malbec 2021 $32 This is one seriously fleshy, spice-stacked, cocoa and blueberry, softly peppery, plush malbec and I’m here for it. The mouthfeel is warm, woolly, round and roaring with textural tannins that boast prickle in all the right places. Juicy and velvety and energising to sip. This malbec is a rich, … Read More
Decibel Giunta Hawke’s Bay Malbec Nouveau 2022
Decibel Giunta Hawke’s Bay Malbec Nouveau 2022 $19 Giunta is a range of wines made in a nod to the surname of owner-winemaker Daniel Brennan’s Sicilian great-grandparents. While his great-grandparents were old, this malbec, crafted from two clones (595 & 1056) grown on 3 different blocks around the Bridge Pa Triangle has been designed to … Read More
Decibel Wines Gimblett Gravels Testify Red Blend 2019
Decibel Wines Gimblett Gravels Testify Red Blend 2019 $56 Testify is the flagship red from Dan Brennan at Decibel and this vintage, from one of the holy trinity of Hawke’s Bay harvests (2019, 2020 & 2021) is a stonkingly good, certified organic blend of 60% malbec and 40% merlot which roars with spiced berry energy, … Read More
Forrest Marlborough Malbec 2021
Forrest Marlborough Malbec 2021 $35 It’s taken 11 years for the Forrests to release another malbec and I am so happy I could actually do a little dance. Nay. A big dance! Planted 35 years ago in Dr John Forrest’s original Home vineyard, these vines have produced an inky-dark, ultra-concentrated, dark-fruited, moody, broody, pepper-stacked, liquorice-layered … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec 2021
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec 2021 $25 One thing will become super-obvious when inhaling the scent of this Bordeaux blend from Hawke’s Bay’s famous Gimblett Gravels region. Meatiness. It’s rich, savoury and roaring with roasting pan juices on the nose. Combine that with dark blueberry, plum, pepper and bay leaf layers, black olive … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019 $22 Holy berries Batman! Those Paskers really know how to blend. This absolutely champion combination of Cabernet Sauvignon 43.8% Malbec 18.8%, Merlot 16%, Cabernet Franc 6.8% is super-stylish, spice-dusted and saturated with ripe plums, leather and cocoa layers and a dusting of liquorice. 2019 was a sensational vintage for Hawke’s … Read More
Tironui Above & Beyond Hawke’s Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet 2020
Tironui Above & Beyond Hawke’s Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet 2020 $39 Deeply glossy in the glass, magenta-black, and heaving with smoked blueberry, plum, and blackberry notes on the nose and palate, this wine is dense, delicious, and dangerously sexy to sip. Tironui sits atop Napier’s Sugar Loaf Hill, and its stunning terraces capture sun all … Read More
Pepperjack Mendoza Malbec 2019
Pepperjack Mendoza Malbec 2019 $23 Aussie icons Saltram wines have fallen head over tacones for Argentinean malbec to the point where they just had to find their own fruit and have a crack at it themselves. The result is a black fruit-centric, chocolate and liquorice layered wine that has an instant warming, comforting mouthfeel, juicy, … Read More