Q Waitaki Valley Chardonnay 2021 $42 Never heard of Q? It’s a tiny producer growing grapes in Waitaki’s deep limestone soils, only making wine when the fruit is perfect. The Waitaki wine region sits right on the southern edge of Canterbury and the northern lip of Otago, and it’s one of the most inhospitable climates … Read More
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Q Waitaki Chardonnay 2023
Q Waitaki Chardonnay 2023 $42-$59 Incredibly golden in the glass and glowing with tropical tantalistic intensity. I love its fresh apricot and pineapple punchiness, rich viscosity and generosity of flavour. A slip of toasty oak injects complexity and another delicious dimension. Beautifully balanced, this is an excellent wine! Q Wine
Taylors St Andrews Clare Valley Chardonnay 2021
Taylors St Andrews Clare Valley Chardonnay 2021 $49 Hands down and no holds barred, this is one of the loveliest versions of St Andrews chardonnay I’ve ever tasted. Energetic lemon, grapefruit and white peach punchiness merge with popcorn, toasted macadamia and a hint of gunflint on the palate. Beautifully balanced, mouthwateringly textural, softly smoky and … Read More
Alexia The Weaver Wairarapa White Blend 2024
Alexia The Weaver Wairarapa White Blend 2024 $28 So what’s in a white blend? Where the Weaver’s concerned, it’s a blend of co-fermented gewürztraminer, pinot gris, and riesling from winemaking legend Jane Cooper. Super-fragrant blossoms, apples, lemon verbena, white pepper, brisk nashi, lychee, and honeysuckle heave forth. I really like the freshness of this wine … Read More
Petane Mangatahi Valley Hawke’s Bay Chenin Blanc 2023
Petane Mangatahi Valley Hawke’s Bay Chenin Blanc 2023 $42 Organically and biodynamically grown out on Linda and Ian Quinn’s Two Terraces vineyard in Mangatahi, where the boulders that push their way up through the earth between the vines are called the “Mangatahi Swedes”, this chenin blanc is hand-picked and 100% barrel fermented and rolls down … Read More
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Chardonnay 2023
Tony Bish Fat & Sassy Chardonnay 2023 $23 When Cyclone Gabrielle destroyed much of the vineyards Tony normally uses to create the Fat & Sassy, right before harvest kicked in, he wasted no time calling on friends from Marlborough to purchase some superb southern fruit, making this a blend of 25% Hawke’s Bay and 75% … Read More
Giesen Fuder Series Clayvin Marlborough Chardonnay 2017
Giesen Fuder Series Clayvin Marlborough Chardonnay 2017 $48-$52 Sourced from one of New Zealand’s OG and most famous certified organic vineyards, this chardonnay is like a bottled version of a headline act at Glastonbury. Dua Lipa, Coldplay or Janelle Monae for example. It’s supremely talented, crammed with energy and vitality, and is quite frankly, intensely … Read More
Bendigo Hills Central Otago Chardonnay 2022
Bendigo Hills Central Otago Chardonnay 2022 $32 Certified organic, clone 548 and B95 chardonnay here from the famous Trig Block in the sunbaked Bendigo subregion. Hand-picked and whole bunch pressed straight to French oak (50% new) to slip into a funky little wild ferment and then it’s aged on its lees for 10 months before … Read More
Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023
Jules Taylor Marlborough Pinot Gris 2023 $22 Generously dry and classically scented with nashi, green pear, soft nutmeg and apple notes, this new gris has a palate profile that exactly replicates all that and also injects a splash of zesty minerality and leaves a soft creamy character on the finish. Energetic and ultra-sippable. Jules Taylor
Pegasus Bay Vergence White Mk 3
Pegasus Bay Vergence White Mk 3 $27 The third iteration of Mat Donaldson’s deliciously wild and fabulously feral blended white project, the Vergence* Mk 3 is a multi-vintage wine using 60% oak-aged Semillon, approximately 19% whole bunch fermented Sauvignon Blanc, around 15% Gewurztraminer and a splash each of Muscat and Riesling. From the first sniff … Read More