Month: January 2024

From the Awatere Valley in Marlborough. A bright ruby-garnet in the glass with no signs of age in the colour this far. An earthy, mineral perfume underlines some ripe, dark …

A dense ruby-black in the glass, with a power-packed perfume that comes racing out of the bottle. Blackberry, redcurrant and cassis lead, with ripe plum, cloves, graphite, five spice and …

A bit of an iconic Syrah – one of the wines to really put Hawke’s Bay Syrah on the map. I know more than one person who regards this as …

A white blend, from ‘natural’ wine pioneers in Martinborough. A hazy pale lemon-straw in the glass. Vibrant, summery aromas of pineapple, melon, lemon curd and red apple on the nose. …

A skin-ferment ‘orange’ wine from Central Otago, made from Gibbston Pinot Gris fruit. A clear, bright, pale amber colour in the glass. A tangy perfume of red apple, kumquat, oriental …

Using Merlot fruit from Carter’s Jomara vineyard, at Onetangi on Waiheke island – a sparkling Rosé with a bright, fairly dark, ruby colour in the glass. A fine bead of …

In what has been a ‘summer of rosé’ this time around – this category is still seeing more demand, even after the recent year-on-year growth in the style. When I last …

A wine from the Awatere Valley in Marlborough. A translucent gold in the glass, with an elegant set of aromas that take in apricot, white nectarine, pear and melon, punctuated …