Saint Clair Origin Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2017 $22 Kick off your shoes, put your MC Hammer pants on and do a happy dance. This juicy, Gimblett Gravels-grown merlot is seriously floral on the nose and resplendent (now that’s a word) with raspberry, liquorice, spiced plum, and chocolate layers’ that lead to a long, fresh finish. … Read More
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Mills Reef Estate Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018
Mills Reef Estate Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018 $19 Bright and floral and fanging with violets and cherry and all sorts of spices on the nose, this fresh and feisty syrah has ripe plum, raspberry and cranberry characters on the palate. The tannins are easy, elastic and ever-so-powdery, plus there’s a softness on the finish. Superb … Read More
Little Wing Waiheke Island Syrah 2016
Little Wing Waiheke Island Syrah 2016 $60 This is Gillian and Gareth MacLachlan’s red riot. They became obsessed with Syrah after working in the Northern Rhone in 2010, so when the opportunity came along to purchase a semi-abandoned oceanfront vineyard on Waiheke Island years later, of course syrah was compulsory! Planted on heavy clays, super-close … Read More
Taylors St Andrews Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015
Taylors St Andrews Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 $60 Red wine lovers, look out. What this wine has is a very particular set of skills. Skills it’s acquired over a very long time, skills that make it a nightmare for people who don’t like cabernet. Because it’s so glorious. If you give in to its … Read More
Ash Ridge Reserve Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2016
Ash Ridge Reserve Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2016 $50 Unfined, unfiltered and absolutely elegance wine-onified. Perfumed with peppercorn, bay leaf, bright violets and plum blossom, the palate of this new release by winemaker Lauren Swift shows deeply savoury characters, leather-slapped, game meat and mocha notes. Fresh acidity and fanging length of flavour. It’s a syrah that’ll … 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
Bodegas Piqueras Valcanto Almansa Syrah 2014
Bodegas Piqueras Valcanto Almansa Syrah 2014 ($15.95) A soft, easy, super-fruity syrah like this is just the ticket for a soothing sip to serve with anything meaty and spicy. This Spanish smooth-talker adds berries and spice and all things nice to anyone who prefers blueberry and leather notes in their syrah and less of the … 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
Kawa Grove Wines Muriwai Chambourcin Saperavi 2018
Kawa Grove Wines Muriwai Chambourcin Saperavi 2018 $50 If you were looking for two of the rarest red wine varieties in the southern hemisphere then you’ve come to the correct cul de sac. Organically grown chambourcin (a french-american hybrid grape whose juice is pink or red, as opposed to other grapes where the juice is … Read More
Hawkes Ridge Hawke’s Bay Reserve Tempranillo 2016
Hawkes Ridge Hawke’s Bay Reserve Tempranillo 2016 $35 From the dusty, dry terraces left from the flow of the Ngaruroro River, comes this savoury, meaty, spicy wine. Fleshy and fruit-forward, it’s a dry, prune and pepper-laced wine that tastes like it was made 10 years ago. The alcohol is a hefty 14.5% which gives it … Read More