2010 was greeted with much excitement at Mount Mary, the first full release since 2006, and heralded as one of the great vintages. This was also the first with Sam Middleton heading the winemaking team. Three years later, the results in bottle certainly support the hype. There is an elegant refinement at play in the […]

read

Grigio is all the rage right now, but it’s tough to find anything worth drinking at this price. La Bossa is a fresh and tangy rendition, packed with grapefruit zest and pear flavours and finishing refreshingly clean and dry. $9 at Cracka.

read

It’s easy to misjudge Mt Difficulty’s pinots on first impressions. These are not flamboyant crowd pleasers, but rather tightly-coiled, structural wines, engineered for the long-haul, with aspirations that many New World pinots can but dream of. Target Gully leads out with a wonderful assemblage of fragrant morello cherry fruit of beautiful precision and outstanding persistence. […]

read

Over the past sixteen years, the vines of Bell Hill have slowly bored their way into the bedrock of New Zealand’s finest pinot noirs. There is now no doubt that this estate has reached the lofty echelons of the top handful of makers in the country, and it is this wine that confirms it. There […]

read

I’ve had the privilege of assessing the beautifully defined champagnes of the Fourny brothers multiple times in Australia and France over the past two years, and I am delighted to report that these wines are on a slow but unmistakable trajectory of ascent. The latest rendition of Cuvée R is built around the splendid 2008 […]

read

2011 was a warm season in Central Otago, making for a deeply coloured, concentrated and full-flavoured Felton Chardonnay of generous fig, white peach and grapefruit. A blend from Felton’s three Bannockburn vineyards, with a fruit profile that contrasts with impressively full fermentation complexity of struck flint and charcuterie. For all its flamboyant generosity, it’s held […]

read

Neudorf is Nelson’s most respected name in pinot noir, and releases like this are the reason. This is a pinot of elegance and definition, with a core of black cherry and blackberry fruit, laced together with fine, silky, yet confident tannins. Classic Neudorf tension of acidity draws into a long and refined finished, with a […]

read

The cool 2011 season did wonderful things for riesling around Canberra, charging this one with a bolt of acidity that looks set to sustain it for a long time. It’s a lively and backward style of crunchy granny smith apple, lime and white pepper, with long-lingering, fine, mineral structure drawn from limestone-containing red volcanic soils. […]

read

Forest ranks among the most reliable of Marlborough’s long-standing pinots, and in a world of escalating pinot prices, it represents refreshing value. The 2010 is a lively and elegant pinot of red cherry and strawberry fruit, notes of mixed spice, anise and violets. Finely textured tannins complete a refreshingly balanced style. $23 at Wine Box […]

read

A versatile, well-crafted and refreshingly balanced off-dry riesling which presents fleshy peach and crunchy orange rind flavours on a long, textural finish. Zesty acidity and luscious sweetness find a natural balance, finishing tangy and fresh. $19 at Cracka.

read