Trinity Hill The Trinity Hawke’s Bay Red Blend 2021 (ON $19.95) This saucy blend of merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot is inky and magenta-black as it pours. Then sink your schnozz deep into the glass, and inhale…
Wanderlust. We must all have it after staying in our homes for the past two years due to COVID. Maybe venturing out to a nearby city or town within a day’s driving distance, but not getting on an airplane and…
Sileni Circle Grand Reserve Hawke’s Bay Semillon 2019 (NZ $25) Sileni were one of the very first Hawke’s Bay producers to leap into making classlc dry Semillon back in the early 2000’s. Before that, most wineries were using the variety…
Soljans Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet Malbec 2016 (NZ $22) In 1927, Bartul Soljan and his wife Rakelina sailed to New Zealand with their children, found land out in Henderson, broke it in, planted vines, and in 1932 established Soljan’s Family…
Tiki Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 (NZ $24.99) If you’re looking for seriously juicy chardonnay that powers pineapple, peach, citrus oils and a luscious lick of spicy, caramelised oak across your olfactories, then this is the business. Beautifully balanced,…
Mills Reef Reserve Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2018 (NZ $24.95) Green peppercorn, violet and blueberry aromatics stand shoulder to shoulder with bright plum and cherry flavours and then they hold hands and do the Gay Gordons (remember primary school folk-dancing?) with…
New Zealand is well-known for Sauvignon Blanc, but are there any other grape varieties we should know about? Yes! I attended a webinar with David Keck MS (USA), John Szabo MS (Canada), Ronan Sayburn MS (UK) and Cameron Douglas MS…
The first wine you probably tasted from New Zealand was probably Sauvignon Blanc, and probably it was from Cloudy Bay from the Marlborough region. People know this wine style and recognize it as being from New Zealand. But are consumer…
Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve Hawke’s Bay Chenin Blanc 2019 (NZ$29) Returning to his dry-style roots not seen since 2013, winemaker Gordon Russell has taken fruit for the first time from Ian and Linda Quinn’s Two Terraces Vineyard located west of…
Selaks 1934 Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2019 (NZ $16.99) Created in homage to the year that Marino Selak sold his first vintage of wine, this new range boasts a chardonnay that I’m certain will become a ‘best value classic’. I say…