Mission Gimblett Gravels Jewelstone Syrah 2020 $50 Intensely glossy and inky-dark as it pours into the glass, this is a wine crafted from fruit grown in a small site on Mere Road, in the middle of the most famous red wine region in the country. And it’s pretty spectacular. I bet the last thing you … Read More
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Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Syrah 2020
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Syrah 2020$40 If you’re expecting classic violets and pepper and all that normal syrah ‘stuff’ then best you put your seatbelt on and scoot right out of the CBD because winemaker Lauren Swift shakes her syrah up. A field blend of two clones, Mass Selection and Chave have … Read More
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Malbec 2020
Swift Wines Bridge Pa Triangle Whole Bunch Malbec 2020 $35 Selected handpicked bunches were footstomped, fermented naturally, hand plunged, aged in oak for 15 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Crafted by Lauren Swift, this is a doozy. There’s a fabulously feral aromatic structure to this malbec, slightly smoky, loaded with dried herbs and … Read More
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Gamay Noir 2021
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Gamay Noir 2021 $35 I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this would be the first New Zealand wine with green leopard skin on the label. Created from handpicked grapes that then went through a week of carbonic fermentation (where the berries ferment naturally inside their own skins) before being pressed … Read More
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Blanc de Noir 2021
Swift Wines Maraekakaho Blanc de Noir 2021 $35 For starters, it looks like rainbows and unicorns right? So pretty to look at and crazy-refreshing to drink, this wine has been crafted from handpicked, red, gamay noir grapes that once pressed has had the skins separated from the juice immediately to minimise the colour uptake (hence … Read More
Monowai Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020
Monowai Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $24.99 Softly spiced, perfumed with plum, light liquorice and a dusting of cocoa, it’s a velvety-smooth, refreshingly ripe style of merlot from the Matapiro region west of Hastings. Slinky and slightly smoky, it’s a satisfyingly juicy sip. Monowai
Monowai Upper Reaches Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020
Monowai Upper Reaches Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $26 Well well well. Straight out the gate, I’m calling this the best merlot I’ve ever tasted from Hawke’s Bay’s Matapiro subregion. Clearly the grape gods were shining down on husband and wife winegrowing team Emma Lowe and Marcelo Nunez in 2020, because those vines have produced a … Read More
Koerner Clare Valley The Clare 2020
Koerner Clare Valley The Clare 2020 $48 Hands up if you’ve ever tasted a blend of 51% cabernet sauvignon, 15% cabernet franc, 12% malbec, 12% grenache, 9% carignan and 1% sciacarello. No? Me neither. From the evil genius brothers, Damon and Jono Koerner (winners of the 2019 Young Gun of Wine award) comes this sultry, … Read More
Chard Farm River Run Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019
Chard Farm River Run Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 $34 The Hay family’s River Run vineyards which supply the fruit for this wine are located in Gibbston Valley and in the Cromwell Basin, and in 2019 they sure as heck produced incredibly smart, incredibly pure grapes for this glorious thing. Glossy and gorgeous in the … Read More
Dune McLaren Vale Tirari 2020
Dune McLaren Vale Tirari 2020 $26.99 With Coriole Vineyard family pedigree behind them, brothers Peter and Duncan Lloyd, this Blewitt Springs-grown blend of mourvèdre, negroamaro, grenache, touriga and a little bit of shiraz is all sorts of sippable. Smooth, spicy and berry-saturated, here’s a wine with real personality and charm and a long, plummy finish. … Read More