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
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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
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
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 $45 Hailing from one of Hawke’s Bay’s ‘holy trinity’ of vintages (2019, 2020, 2021), the name Elspeth was given, years ago, to their flagship wines, after the owner/winemaker of the time Tim Preston’s grandmother, Elspeth Preston. Only released when the fruit is fantastic, this cabernet sauvignon would … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2022
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris 2022 $22 Super-attractive nose showing pear strudel spices and creamy quince and apple notes, soft peach and nutmeggy magic which all flows through onto the palate in a wave of soothing, refreshing, cleansing crispness. It’s a lovely, beautifully balanced style showing layers of stylish complexity and a long … Read More
Mills Reef Estate Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2020
Mills Reef Estate Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2020 $18 Great value syrah here, buckets of red fruit. redcurrant, red apple and plum layers on the nose and palate merge with soft tannins, hints of pepper and earthy spices on the palate. Juicy, easy and a superb introduction to Hawke’s Bay syrah. Mills Reef
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
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2020
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2020 $22 If there’s a range of wines that consistently, crowd-wowingly over-delivers for the money, it’s the Mills Reef Reserves. 2020 is fast being written into the stone tablets of wine bibles as being an exceptional year for Hawke’s Bay reds and this plump, plush, mouthcoatingly rich and cocoa-crammed … Read More
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2020
Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2020 $25 When the 2020 grape harvest wrapped up, winemakers were hopping, skipping and clapping about the excellence of it all and right about now the reds being released are absolutely proving that point. This syrah is always exceptional value however 2020 is a squeak above the rest. Bold … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Hawke’s Bay Methode Traditionnelle NV
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