Argentinean malbec is one of my favourite things because it’s so meaty and savoury and loaded with spicy, charred, fleshy goodness. Belasco have malbec vines that are over 100 years old growing in the Lujan de Cuyo district and the contribution that fruit makes to this wine is other-worldly. Toasty, caramelised oak combines with plum, … Read More
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Black Barn Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec Cabernet 2014 $33 (4.5 stars)
Winemaker Dave McKee is like a silent assassin. He just quietly shuffles about in Black Barn’s ridiculously tiny winery each year, never saying boo about how the wine is tasting until he’s fully confident that it’s in the bottle safely – and even then he doesn’t give anything away. Fleshy, plum-saturated, seriously smooth and bursting … Read More
Alpha Domus Hawke’s Bay The Navigator 2014 $32 (4.5 stars)
Close your eyes and imagine this wine being a shiny, skintight, leopard print suit inside chunky, glittery platform boots. It’s David Lee Roth in a bottle basically. Suspended on wires above an arena, belting out ‘Jump!’ It’s a slick, masculine, Hollywood wine that’s impenetrably dark and doused with blackberry, plum, boysenberry and voluptuously spicy characters. … Read More
Te Motu Onetangi Valley Waiheke Island 2012 $99
Dominated by cabernet sauvignon and fleshed out with merlot and cabernet franc, all grown on ancient soils in the heart of Waiheke’s Onetangi Valley, this elegantly savoury blend has six years of being a sleeping beauty and now it’s ready to roar. Cherry, prune and blueberry characters are cloaked in leather, cedary oak, smoky notes … Read More
Toño Mas O Menos 2015 $17.95 (3.5 stars)
Crafted by local lad Antony Mackenzie, Toño (Ton Yo) are a new twist on Spanish wines being grown in sunny Hawke’s Bay and it’s also the nickname of ‘Antonio’ in the Spanish language. This blend includes 55% Syrah, 30% Tempranillo, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. ‘Mas o Menos’ means ‘More or Less’ which is the case as … Read More
Hãhã Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2017 $17.99 (3.5 stars)
Brand spanky and bursting with berries, this merlot is lighter in style than the previous vintage, but has a silky, spice-driven backbone and a warming, cuddly, savoury sippability. It’s a soft, supple, crowd pleaser of a wine with buckets of berries to put smile on everyone’s’ face. Available in supermarkets everywhere.
Quest Farm Grand Central Pinot Noir 2014 $28 (4 stars)
If silky, slippery, spice-saturated pinot noir for under $30 is your jam then get the good glasses out of the cabinet and get ready to pour. Crafted by Mark Mason (one of the founders of Sacred Hill) and viticultural consultant Michelle Crawford, this frisky four year old has buckets of moody, broody cherry and boxwood … Read More
Peter Lehmann The Barossan Barossa Valley Shiraz 2016 $19.99
Glossy and inky in the glass, this shiraz delivers a sweet, plummy, roundhouse kick to your cakehole. Hints of toasted coconut merge with a smorgasbord of spices, buckets of berries and luxurious layers of cocoa-dusted character on the finish. Sip with: Classic lamb moussaka. www.vinofino.co.nz
Macaw Creek Organic Preservative Free Mt Lofty Shiraz 2014 $26
Located in the Gilbert Valley, in the Mount Lofty Ranges east of Adelaide, Macaw Creek are responsible for a rather rare thing, creating a shiraz made without sulphur dioxide or other preservatives and… It’s. Actually. Very. Good*. Pure, fruity and packed solid with raspberry, blackcurrant and cherry characters, its super-fresh, plucky and very pretty. Sip … Read More
Sons Of Eden Remus Eden Valley Old Vine Shiraz 2015 $84.99
This wine scooped the trophy for the Best Shiraz at the recent Winewise Championship, an exclusive show only open to wines that’ve won gold medals at major city wine shows in Australia. It’s a competition to find the best of the best and this wine has done the unheard of – it’s won it twice … Read More