Leveret Estate Reserve Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2020 $25.99 Paired with: The Ultimate Beef Burgers by Annabel Langbein in the NZ Herald Jan 28 2023 Eating burgers isn’t something you can do sexily. Unless you’re Anya Taylor-Joy of course. Her character Margot gets to masticate Chef Slowik’s meaty offering in that mind-bending movie The Menu. … Read More
Reserve
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 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
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 $16 Bright and bouncing with snowpea, watercress, lemongrass and basil notes on the nose, this sauvignon surges with classic citrus and passionfruit power in the mid-palate. It’s upfront, with all guns blazing in terms of mouthfeel and texture, and it’s not subtle in any way. Yealands Estate
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
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 $16 If aromatics of bruised basil, lemon zest, passionfruit and hints of jalapeno spin your wheels, then you’ve come to the correct car yard my friend. Classically styled, with citrus and herbaceous heft from woah to go, this is a clean, crunchy-crisp example that will please the crowds or … Read More
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020
Yealands Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir 2020 $27 Red apple, tamarillo and cherry aromatics all wash through onto the palate of this super-smooth pinot noir. Fresh, youthful yet showing some density and weight, and finely tuned tannins to finish. A ribbon of smoke curls around the core of spice rather nicely. Paired with: Indonesian Style Coconut … Read More
Brookfields Reserve Vintage Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2019
Brookfields Reserve Vintage Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2019 $59 Paired with Thyme Roasted Eye Fillet in dish Magazine Issue 104 2022 “Literally the second I began cooking this excellent eye fillet dish I decided to hurtle around my wine cupboard to find that bottle of Brookfields Reserve Vintage Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2019 ($59) I’d … 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
Gibson Bridge Reserve Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2016
Gibson Bridge Reserve Marlborough Gewürztraminer 2016 $30 Five years on from vintage and this wine is maturing into something you’d definitely want to take out to dinner and maybe invite back to yours for a nightcap and some Netflix. Quite the opposite of those blousy, sweet, commercial styles – this one is musky-dry and spliced … Read More