Falua Terciua Touriga Nacional 2011 $22 ★★★★ “I reckon it’s an absolute star, and is my go-to red wine right now.” Says Richard Sherriff of Wellington’s Regional Wines & Spirits – who isn’t easy to impress. “Dollar for dollar there isn’t much that comes close to it” – and I’d have to agree. This excellent … Read More
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Cantine Menhir ‘Il Mardorlo’ Negroamaro 2014
Cantine Menhir ‘Il Mardorlo’ Negroamaro 2014 $16.95 ★★★½ Sniffing this wine for the first time is like walking into a delicatessen where every available piece of ceiling space has a hunk of drying meat or salami hanging from it. Rich, meaty and spicy, this superb-value sip is sourced from the Salento region in Puglia, Italy, … Read More
Luna Argenta Appassimento Negroamaro Primitivo 2013
Luna Argenta Appassimento Negroamaro Primitivo 2013 $24 ★★★★ The ‘Appassimento’ style is made from grapes that are partially dried or ‘raisining on the vine’ That dessicating fruit produces a rich, spicy-sweet spectrum of flavours and textures that are incredibly approachable and dangerously easy to enjoy. It’s a Puglia-grown blend of Negroamaro and Primitivo, otherwise known … Read More
Burn Cottage Moonlight Race Central Otago Pinot Noir 2014
Burn Cottage Moonlight Race Central Otago Pinot Noir 2014 $45 ★★★★ Way back in the early years of European settlement of Central Otago, hundreds of water races were built to direct water from the mountains down to the prospectors, and this pinot is named after one which still flows through the property. Unlike its brooding, … Read More
Lawson’s Dry Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2013
Lawson’s Dry Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2013 $28 ★★★★★ Marcus Wright and Becs Wiffen are like the Torvill and Dean of New Zealand winemaking teams, and the emotion involved in drinking this wine they’ve created is like watching those athletes ice-skate their Bolero routine at the 1984 Olympics all over again. That sense of something … Read More
Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Barossa Shiraz 2013
Two Hands Gnarly Dudes Barossa Shiraz 2013 $38 ★★★★½ There’s something oddly comforting about drinking a wine from a bottle that has a picture of a grapevine so old and gnarly it looks like Treebeard the Ent from Lord of the Rings on the label. Dark, inky-magenta coloured and bursting with dusty leather, eucalypt, ultra-ripe … Read More
Zeppelin ‘Big Bertha’ Barossa Shiraz 2014
Zeppelin ‘Big Bertha’ Barossa Shiraz 2014 $24 ★★★★ Saturated magenta colour and oozing sweet cherry and berry aromas, gentle spices and a palate soaked with fruit, vanilla, pepper and hints of dark chocolate. This is a cracker of a wine that’s smooth, velvety and dangerously easy to drink. For stockists contact Red & White Cellar … Read More
Mojo Barossa Valley Shiraz 2013
Mojo Barossa Valley Shiraz 2013 $24 ★★★★ I love that the label says that the storybookish, fantasy forest creatures artwork was done by GhostPatrol “whilst listening to K Frimpong and his Cubano Fiestas”. This is a very pretty wine inside also. Delicious aromas of dusty spices, leather and cocoa lead to sweet plum and berry-soaked … Read More
Behave Marlborough Pinot Noir 2014
Behave Marlborough Pinot Noir 2014 $42 ★★★★ Classic aromas of baked berries, cherries and earthy, musky notes lead the way to a super-soft, almost creamy palate that’s generous and gentle. There’s a subtle dusting of spice around the edge of some sweet fruit and stretchy tannins. Nice stuff. www.odysseywines.co.nz
Malabarista Tempranillo & Garnacha 2012
Malabarista Tempranillo & Garnacha 2012 $14.95 ★★★ Made at the Palacio de la Vega winery in Spain’s Navarra region, this toasty wee wine is scooping up ‘Best Buy’ accolades all over the place and it’s easy to see why. “Malabarista” means ‘juggler’ in Spanish and the winemaking team behind it designed this savoury, spicy blend … Read More