Le Grá Wairarapa Sparkling Cuvée 2024 $47 Brian and Nicky Geary have blended a parcel of their Sauvignon Blanc with a hefty splash of skin-fermented Pinot Gris and put the wine through a method traditionnelle fermentation to create a uniquely herbaceous, citrus-stacked style of sparkler that’ll get any party started. Le Grá
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Alta Alella Privat Brut Nature Organic Cava Rosé 2021
Alta Alella Privat Brut Nature Organic Cava Rosé 2021 $40 Entering its mature phase, this wine is organically certified and crafted from monastrell (or mataro) grapes grown in sauló (sandy-granitic) soils in Catalonia, just south of Barcelona. In fact, Alta Alella is the closest winery to the city. It’s an attractively dry, minerally, spicy, chalky … Read More
Mazuran’s The Governor’s Cellar Gisborne Blanc de Blanc NV
Mazuran’s The Governor’s Cellar Gisborne Blanc de Blanc Chardonnay NV $65 Gisborne is New Zealand’s spiritual home for Chardonnay, meaning it’s also the home of the base wine for countless kiwi sparkling styles. This is a wine maturing into its lemon pith and brazil-nut spectrum. Very golden in the glass and travelling into its tertiary … Read More
Rock Ferry Marlborough Brut Pinot Blanc 2022
Rock Ferry Marlborough Brut Pinot Blanc 2022 $35 Pinot Blanc is known as many names in different parts of the world. It’s Weissburgunder or Klevner in Austria, Fehér Burgundi in Hungary, Pinot Bianco in Spain and Italy, Rulandské bílé in the Czech Republic, Rulandské Biele in Slovakia and Bijeli Pinot in Croatia. So there you … Read More
Le Contesse Prosecco DOC Extra Dry NV
Le Contesse Prosecco DOC Extra Dry NV $tbc Attractively clean, floral and laced with green apple and fresh lemon layers. ‘Extra Dry’ actually means (in a delightfully Italian way) that there’s a splash of sweetness in the wine, and not only does that inject richness into the Contesse, but is adds creamy complexity to the … Read More
Balvonie Marlborough Prosecco Methode Traditionnelle 2023
Balvonie Marlborough Prosecco Methode Traditionnelle 2023 $35 New Zealand’s first Prosecco (despite the Italians not being happy about it, we can keep calling it that for the foreseeable future) is being made by the McLauchlan family from their vineyard in Rapaura, Blenheim. They’ve been growing Glera grapes on their family farm for a few years … Read More
Carrick Organic Bannockburn Le Pét Nat 2024
Carrick Organic Bannockburn Le Pét Nat 2024 $45 Featuring label art from Wanaka-based artist Sierra Roberts from her ‘Frida’ collection, this fresh new, natural sparkler is apricot-hued and prepare for it to become very cloudy once you pop the cap and the resting yeast lees are forced by the CO2 to blend with the wine. … Read More
Brightwater Lord Rutherford Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2023
Brightwater Lord Rutherford Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2023 $29 Whenever Gary and Valley Neale release a wine under their Lord Rutherford brand, you know it will be something different. Winemaker Steve Gill shepherds the fruit through the winery and into the bottle, introducing layers of lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon zest, in fact all the lemony-est things … Read More
Zaria Wines Sparkling Rosé 2024
Zaria Wines Hawke’s Bay Sparkling Rosé 2024 $28 Chilled down, this new release sparkling rosé presents in a rather cool, calm and collected style with berry brioche and soft, Shrewsbury biscuit characters. Crafted from merlot grown in the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa wine region, it delivers a fresh, softly fleshy, cherry-plumped style with … Read More
Park Wine Nelson Marlborough Fizz 2022
Park Wine Nelson Marlborough Fizz 2022 $25 Park Wines is a collaboration between Dan Gillett (of Selection Massale and Wine Diamonds) and Jos Ruffell (of Garage Project). Here they’ve taken BioGro certified organic fruit farmed between their two vineyards in Nelson and Marlborough and created a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer which erupts … Read More