Lowburn Ferry Home Block Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021 $115 Presented in a gift box inscribed with ‘150’ as a nod to 150 years of continual human interaction with the land which is now home to a biodynamically-farmed vineyard where regenerative farming is now the norm. A 1ha parcel from the original 23yo vines in … Read More
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Rapaura Springs Rohe Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022
Rapaura Springs ‘Rohe’ Awatere Valley Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022 $35 You’re immediately struck by intense florals on the first sip, exotic, spicy tones and layers of pot pourri. Lush, soothing, lightly coloured yet generously proportioned, this pinot bursts with crushed rhubarb, red cherry and smooth berry tea flavours. The tannins are youthful and nicely clingy … Read More
Rockburn Twelve Barrels Gibbston Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
Rockburn Twelve Barrels Gibbston Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 $99 Wow. This is one of those wines that cause you to stop, stare into the distance and contemplate the beauty in nature, the mastery of man and the meaning of life. It also makes you wonder if winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis isn’t some sort of warlock of … Read More
Valli Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021
Valli Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021 $65-$75 A powerfully structured pinot noir comprised of a mix of Abel, 115, UCD 5, 667 and 777 clone fruit grown in the Chinaman’s Terrace where 65% of it was fermented hot (30°C) in 31% new French oak barrels, where it spent a quiet, sleepy 11.5 months maturing … Read More
Te Mata Hawke’s Bay Bullnose Syrah 2020
Te Mata Hawke’s Bay Bullnose Syrah 2020 $68-$80 One of New Zealand’s true icons, not just for Syrah but for wine in general. Grown in the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle, Te Mata’s Bullnose vineyard, is a 15-hectare site planted in 1990 and it’s home to former winemaker Peter Cowley and his family. … Read More
Village Vineyards Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020
Village Vineyards Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2020 $30 Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. I love spending time in our Auckland office because people put names on the food in the fridge which is really quaint. Right now I’m eating some spag bol called ‘Debbie’. It needs salt. This merlot … Read More
Black Cottage Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022
Black Cottage Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022 $20 20% of the fruit has been added into the ferment as whole bunches by winemaker Sanna Stander and this has given the wine extra plushness and silkiness in the palate. It’s an easy-breezy style from fruit sourced from Marlborough’s Southern Valleys that shows soft rhubarb, raspberry and redcurrant … Read More
Massey Dacta Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022
Massey Dacta Marlborough Pinot Noir 2022 $19 Named after the Glover family’s red Massey Ferguson family tractor – known to the kids as the ‘Massey Dacta’, this wine is an excellent introduction to good pinot engineering. And like that farm workhorse, this wine gets the job done and creates an immediate impression, rolling soft cherry … Read More
Moy Hall Martinborough Syrah 2020
Moy Hall Martinborough Syrah 2020 $90 While Martinborough is considered one of the greatest Pinot Noir regions in the world, yet the results that Phill and Carolyn McArthur are having with Viognier and Syrah, you could also say it’s a little spot of the Rhone at home. Co-fermented with a tiny splash of 3% viognier, … Read More
Rockburn Eleven Barrels Parkburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022
Rockburn Eleven Barrels Parkburn Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022 $99 What happens when winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis gets hold of amazing quality, Abel clone, Parkburn-grown fruit and throws it into a 7tonne fermenter for an eight-day cold soak, followed by a week-long ferment with daily hand plunging then a 10-day post-ferment soak before being aged … Read More