Folium Marlborough Pinot Noir 2016 $30 Winemaker Takaki Okada is one of my favourite artists in the vineyard. Managing his tiny, Brancott Road property entirely organically and completely by hand. His love for pinot noir is palpable, infectious, and the flavours he derives from his fruit are completely unique. Think you know Marlborough pinot noir? … Read More
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Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2016
Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2016 $54 As soon as this niceness from North Canterbury nibbles its way up your nostrils, you’ll need to grab hold of a piece of solid furniture to ensure you remain upright enough to put it in your mouth safely. The wobble factor is a result of the exotically … Read More
Akitu A1 Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017
Akitu A1 Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $59 How sensual and seductive and intoxicatingly aromatic this wine is, will have you weak at the knees and struggling to form a sentence with every sip. Soaring with rosehip and rooibos tea, cherry, dark plum and mysterious red-fruit saturation that’ll send you into an exotic swoon in … Read More
Ti Wha Coal Pit Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017
Ti Wha Coal Pit Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017 $57 With recent vintages scooping more trophies and medals around the traps than Bob Kerrigan could fit in the pool room, it’s no surprise to me why (on the back on an excellent harvest) the 2017 is nothing short of nuts-good. Estate-grown and hand-harvested at Gibbston, … Read More
Silver Wing Preservative Free Waipara Pet-Nat 2018
Silver Wing Preservative Free Waipara Pet-Nat 2018 $30 Fashioned in the ancient pétillant-naturel or méthode ancestrale way of allowing the still-fermenting wine to finish itself off (minds out of the gutter people!) inside the bottle, this blend of hand-picked syrah and pinot noir from Waipara has been fermented ‘wild’, in barrel with native yeasts and … Read More
Mt Rosa Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016
Mt Rosa Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016 $75 This is a sexy melange of wild cherry, rhubarb, rosehip tea and allspice. Soft, sultry and ever-so-smoky, it’s a style that’s deeply concentrated, gamy and incredibly succulent. Mouthwatering even. It’s a delicious style that has incredible length of flavour and an elegant presence. Love it! Pricey, … Read More
Lowburn Ferry Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016
Lowburn Ferry Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016 $50 Stuffed with cranberry, redcurrant, rosehip tea, succulent acidity, slippery lithe mouthfeel, warming, luscious, lovely and spicy and velvety. It’s a classic, old vines, Central Otago style that works beautifully with roast beetroot soup and anything game-related. It’s a juicy, spice-centric style that’s created from fruit grown by … Read More
Huntress Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017
Huntress Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017 $49 Winemaker Janine Rickards is the ultimate huntin, fishin, divin’ drivin’ damsel (just check out her rugged and rustic instagram pics), and I love what she does with her Huntress wines. Hand harvested fruit from clones 5, 828 and Abel clones has been used, 20% of which has been whole cluster co-fermented … Read More
Te Kairanga Runholder Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017
Te Kairanga Runholder Martinborough Pinot Noir 2017 $28 I think this could very well be my favourite vintage of Runholder. Plush, lush and packed with flavour, it roars with cherry, cranberry, rosehip tea and layers of earthy cocoa characters on the palate. While it’s slippery and silky to sip, it also has powdery, emery-like tannings … Read More
Caythorpe Family Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2017
Caythorpe Family Estate Marlborough Pinot Noir 2017 $24.99 From the Bishell family farm comes a shiny new vintage of pinot noir that definitely leans on the lighter side of the fence. Scented with raspberry, cranberry, strawberry and pretty much every other red fruit imaginable, this wine shows softness, silkiness and a dangerously easy, eensy-weensy-spicy finish. … Read More