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
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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
Yvonne Lorkin Canvas Column for Sat 26th May 2018
Well tie me kangaroo down, if these three shiraz’s aren’t about as full of flavour as a centipedes sock drawer*… 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 … Read More
I Am George Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2016 $22 (4 stars)
George Wyndham is considered the founding father of shiraz in Australia, planting the grape in 1830. Winemaker Steve Meyer wanted to create a wine that was accessible to anyone, but captured the spirit of George – and here it is. Bursting with blackcurrant, plum and all manner of sweet, red fruits, it’s a warming, cuddly … Read More