Reviews

Using fruit from a site up the hill in Bendigo, Central Otago. A dark ruby in the glass, with evocatively “Central Pinot” scents of crushed thyme, cherry, bonfire, cocoa, mushroom, …

A white wine from the Gladstone sub-region of Wairarapa. The potential and charisma of this varietal in the Wairarapa shows again and again – with fine examples from Palliser, B-wine, …

From Puriri Hills in Clevedon, Auckland – a red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Carmenère and Malbec. It feels very Merlot-heavy, with the plum fruits and medicinal tang …

A wine from North Canterbury – made by the original owners Mike and Claudia Weersing. As the label informs: “Raised by hand and foot, palate and mind. No commercial yeasts, …

Pinot Noir fruit from the Barber vineyard goes into this lighter style of primary-fermentation bubbles. No sense of the cloudy funkiness so prevalent in many NZ Pét-Nats. This is clear, …

Translating to mean ‘roots’ in te reo Māori, the ‘22 vintage is a Syrah from a small family-owned vineyard in Hawke’s Bay. A vibrant garnet-purple in the glass, with varietally-precise …

From this now-defunct label’s top tier of wines – Vidal produced some excellent wines in the first twenty years of this century in particular. A well-regarded and age-worthy Chardonnay – …

A special edition Méthode from the masters of the art in New Zealand – 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir, 43 months on lees, and just 150 bottles produced – …