Great pinot noir is moody and mysterious and versatile and magical and alluring and will give you the power to not click on all those soul-sapping yoga-app ads on Facebook. Coal Pit Central Otago Rosé 2017 $26.95 (4 stars) With its enticing aromas of candyfloss, creaming soda and Eton Mess pudding, this shiny new pinot … Read More
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Bird Wines Big Barrel Marlborough Pinot Noir 2015 $29.95 (4 stars)
Steve Bird employs the ‘Vernou Roll’ method to make this wine. A process where he uses big old 900L barrels for fermentation and maturation. Gently rolling the barrels regularly to allow greater integration of the oak flavours and the grippy, textural components. Red rose, black cherry, smoke and a deeply succulent texture makes this one … Read More
Jip Jip Rocks Padthaway Shiraz 2015 $18.99 (4.5 stars)
It’s an absolute blackcurrant fest on the nose, blackcurrants marinating in a bowl made from eucalyptus leaves. Bright cherry and raspberry and boysenberry and practically every berry you can think of is in this wine. Pepper, refreshing acidity, furry tannins and fabulously warm, fuzzy length of flavour. It’s an elegant as opposed to sweet and … Read More
Easthope Te Muna Road Martinborough Pinot Noir 2014 $49.95 (4.5 stars)
Pinot noir from Catherine and Murray Mitchell’s vineyard on Te Muna Road has been carefully whole-bunch fermented to retain the natural sweetness and delicacy of the fruit and then gently pressed in a traditional basket press before being matured for ten months in French oak to inject delicious layers of smoke, spice and earth into … Read More
Saint Clair Pioneer Block 17 Plateau Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2014 $32.90 (4.5 stars)
Incredibly bright on the nose, bursting with ripe boysenberry, plum cherry and sweetly spiced, smoky notes. Here’s a deeply flavoured, rich and satisfyingly fruity blend, with layers of leather and cocoa carrying through to the finish. I love the refreshing, vibrant acidity and its gripping, yet supple tannins. It’s a very precise yet plush and … Read More
Ernesto Catena Padrillos Malbec 2016 $22 (4 stars)
It was SO exciting to open this new vintage of one of my favourite wines from last year to see that it’s just as delicious, albeit better than the 2014. Fresh acidity, perfectly prickly alcohol and layers of dark berries, cocoa powder, roast beetroot and a squeak of tobacco. ‘Padrillos’ means ‘stallion’ in Spanish, named … Read More
Saint Clair Premium Marlborough Pinot Noir 2015 $23.99 (5 stars)
Punchy and perfumed with black tea, spice and ripe plummy notes, this is a slippery, succulent, super-easy, red fruited refresher. Fresh and youthful as opposed to those super-earthy, leathery, horsey, sweaty pinots that are out there. Bright, breezy and easy-pleasy. www.glengarrywines.co.nz
Hawkdun Rise HR Central Otago Pinot Noir 2014 $40 (4 star)
John Grant and Suzanne Bali-Grant run the Hawkdun Rise property on Letts Gully Road in Alexandra. Their HR pinot noir is floral and feisty on the nose, all raspberry tea and cherry. It’s a lighter style which shows soft waves of cherry and pomegranate that sneak up and grip you around the gums. Textural and … Read More
Bodegas Olivares Dulce Monastrell 2013 500ml $63
Looking for the ultimate sweet red wine? Deep in the heart of Jumilla in Spain grows a patch of ancient, ungrafted, monastrell vines owned by Bodegas Olivares. The bunches are left on the vine long into the autumn to naturally begin to raisin. This concentrates the blackcurrant intensity and spicy, caramelized characters, resulting in a … Read More
Neudorf Tom’s Block Nelson Pinot Noir 2015 $33
Opting to preserve every smidge of natural purity of flavour that viticulturist Richard Flatman has managed to coax into the pinot noir from Tom’s Block, winemaker Todd Stevens has bottled this wine without fining or filtration. It’s paid off in that it’s bursting with black tea, wild raspberry and cherry layers that wrap around zesty … Read More