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
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Main Divide North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2020
Main Divide North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2020 $24.99 Made by the folk at Pegasus Bay and named after the mountainous backbone of New Zealand’s South Island, this superbly-priced pinot noir boasts a beautifully integrated red fruits and smoky, savoury notes. 40% of the grapes were fermented as whole bunches which injects some succulently chewy stem … Read More
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016
Mills Reef Elspeth Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2016 $49 Six quiet, sleepy years on from vintage, this gorgeous Gimblett Gravels-grown merlot is awake and ready to roar. With cocoa-dusted boysenberry, plum and blackcurrant characters on the nose and palate, buckets of rich spices and edged with soft, smoky, caramelised oak tones, it’s a joy to drink. … Read More
Giesen Uncharted Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019
Giesen Uncharted Marlborough Pinot Noir 2019 $27 This is one of those wines I keep buying and re-tasting and over the last year it’s just getting more and more delicious. Ultra-friendly, juicy and chock full of cherry and hedgerow berries. Sweetly spiced and softly smoky, it’s edged with cocoa and clove and finishes ripe and … Read More
Domaine Denis Carre La Perriere Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2019
Domaine Denis Carre La Perriere Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune 2019 $45.99 With tamarillo, black tea, wild cherry and redcurrant characters, it’s a silky-smooth, spice-saturated style with heightened finesse and finely-tuned tannins to boot. Beautifully balanced acidity and cherry cola complexity add to its all-around excellence. What’s also excellent is the story. Denis Carré wasn’t … Read More
Domain Road Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019
Domain Road Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 $40 In 2002 Graeme Crosbie planted his Domain Road vineyard just minutes from an old miners’ hut on the banks of Duffer’s Creek that he used to camp in. Since then, each year, he’s created vibrant, spice-saturated pinots that I’ve loved. Yet 2019 was different. Pristine weather combined … Read More
McArthur Ridge Brass Knocker Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020
McArthur Ridge Brass Knocker Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $21.50 Highly aromatic, heaving with bright tamarillo, wild cherry and redcurrant characters, it’s ultra-floral, spice-driven and youthfully fresh. The tannins are lithe, powdery and terrifically textural and it’s showing extensive, impressive length of flavour. Packed with flavour and personality, it’s gotta take a gong as one … Read More
Penfolds Grange 2017
Penfolds Grange 2017 $850 This is the 70th anniversary of one of the most famous wines in the world, an Australian treasure and in the words of Peter Gago, its custodian, it’s an example of “sticks and stones filtration” rather than anything manufactured or synthesised. It’s also only the 7th Grange to be comprised of … Read More
McArthur Ridge Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020
McArthur Ridge Reserve Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $43 Perfumed with poached rhubarb and masses of red berries and cherries, this new ‘reserve’ is a smooth, spice-soaked, style with a core of bright, alluring, fleshy fruit that brilliantly saturates the senses. Have some on hand for when your sister-in-law shows up and asks how you’re … Read More
McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020
McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2020 $39.99 This shiny new Southern belle shows fresh black tea and soft savoury notes and layers of wild berry and rhubarb, all combined with hints of saucy smoke, spices, tamarillo, cherry and boasts a vibrant, velvety finish. Central Otago’s sub-regions are carved from ancient glaciers that … Read More