Waiana Estate Indian Summer Private Blend Hawke’s Bay Rosé $35 This is the flagship rosé from the Plowman family and their Waiana Estate winemaking team. A step beyond their Indian Summer and Summer Sault rosés, this classically dry, Provençale style is crafted from a blend of Tukituki Valley-grown merlot and cinsault which has been left, post-ferment … Read More
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Waiana Estate Summer Sault Hawke’s Bay Rosé
Waiana Estate Summer Sault Hawke’s Bay Rosé $26.99 Named in homage to Cinsault, the principal grape used in a style that absolutely screams “South of France”, this rosé carries a serious caboose of character around with it. Weightier and showing more generosity than its little sister, the Indian Summer, this Tukituki Valley-grown groover heaves with … 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
Vesevo Beneventano Campagnia Aglianico 2015
Vesevo Beneventano Campagnia Aglianico 2015 $21.50 Aglianico is a grape that does its happy dance in volcanic dirt and that’s why mineral-rich soils of campagnia produce such jawdropping examples like this. ‘Vesevo’ is the ancient name given to the volcano ‘vesuvio’ – so it totally fits. Incredibly bright florals, cherry blossom, pepper and dark cocoa … 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
Mudbrick Reserve Waiheke Island Syrah 2018
Mudbrick Reserve Waiheke Island Syrah 2018 $75 I honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I tasted a syrah that was so young yet sang so beautifully on the palate. Winemaker Patrick Newton has woven some witchcraft with what’s quite clearly plump, flavour-stacked fruit, to produce an ultra-velvety syrah, stitched together with cracked pepper, boysenberries, … 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
Scout South Island Pinot x Pinot 2018
Scout South Island Pinot x Pinot 2018 $32 Greg and Sarah Lane are the team behind Scout, a trans-tasman brand turning out Adelaide Hills chardonnay and reds from the South Island of New Zealand. This little monster is a blend of 75% whole bunch Marlborough Pinot with 25% skin fermented Nelson Pinot Gris. Yep. I … Read More
Saorsa Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2016
Saorsa Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2016 $30 The name Saorsa is a Scottish Gaelic word that not only means but also represents a radical sense of freedom, liberty and salvation according to owner Alex Hendry. Crafting just viognier and syrah, his 2016 vintage of syrah is very soft, very earthy, very smooth and lightly structured. Savoury layers and hints of dried … Read More