A collection of writing about New Zealand Wine
From Central Otago, this Blanc de Noir is allegedly Reese Witherspoon’s favourite NZ wine!? Family-owned estate-grown Pinot Noir grapes are crushed with the least skin contact possible, to produce a …
Wooing Tree Blondie 2020 Read More
A Marlborough wine – winner of a silver medal at the NZIWS this year – from a couple of vineyards, and using classic burgundy clones. Pale straw colour, with an …
Nautilus Chardonnay 2019 Read More
From the Awatere Valley comes this Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, with a twist. Using a barrel-fermented method, leads us away from the usual cold-fermented fruit-forward herbaceousness of the well-known style, and …
Tupari ‘Boulder Rows’ Sauvignon Blanc 2017 Read More
From Pisa in Central Otago. Dark ruby red, with some obvious darkening to a mahogany colour with the (6 years) bottle age. On the generous nose are red cherry, bramble, …
Tankersley Estate Pinot Noir 2014 Read More
When I was in Central Otago this year, Malcolm Rees-Francis, the winemaker at Rockburn, had just started doing his annual barrel selection. This is where he tastes every separate barrel …
Rockburn 2019 ‘Eight Barrels’ & ‘Eleven Barrels’ Pinot Noirs Read More
An elegant and complex bouquet with nectarine, red apple and almond biscuit notes. Medium bodied, with a supple and creamy texture, cut with a moderate acidity. Still quite restrained on …
Peregrine Chardonnay 2018 Read More
The first vintage of this new wine, representing ‘the pinnacle of this variety from Askerne’. Having enjoyed their Reserve Chardonnay over the years, I was keen to try this. A …
Askerne ‘The Archer’ Chardonnay 2018 Read More
The newest vintage of a stellar New Zealand wine – rightly considered an icon, and a wine with a sterling reputation overseas as well as locally. At $150 a bottle, …
Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ 2018 Read More
From Marlborough, and this is another of those beautifully coloured 2020 vintage rosés that are just fabulous to look at in the glass and bottle. The colour is a bright, …
Whitehaven Pinot Noir Rosé 2020 Read More
A Marlborough wine, usually from the Wairau Plains, with a rich expressive nose full of flinty mineral and juicy gooseberry, spring blossom, lemongrass and tomato stalk. Vivacious on the palate …
Saint Clair ‘James Sinclair’ Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Read More