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Affordable is a relative concept at the best of times but when it comes to champagne, it takes on a whole new meaning. All of a sudden, entry level means $40 or $50 instead of $10 or $15. How do you know if a champagne tastes good, if you have never heard of it before? It can be a minefield navigating past reliably consistent but mass produced bottles in search of quirky labels, in the hope that they have the X-factor in flavour. It can also be challenging to want to look past well known, flash labels that are mass produced into unknown territory – why would you when flash names and big brands carry powerful cache? Price is the obvious reason. Good flavour is another. The good news is that we have lined up the best of the bunch on our top champagne shelf at Regional Wines and many of these bubbles cost significantly less than better known brands. Many of these wines remain modestly priced because they are grower champagnes, which means the people who grow the grapes also make the wines, usually under a family name. Gatinois Champagne is a great example. This 7 hectare, family owned vineyard is run by a father-son owner-winemaking team, who sell about 50% of their grapes to Champagne Bollinger and other top producers each year. The remainder are used to produce their own outstanding bubbles, of which we have two in store. They are based in the village of Ay; a Pinot Noir dominant area in Champagne. Another great champagne from the village of Ay is Champagne Lallier. This champagne is imported exclusively to Regional, which means our store is the only place in Wellington that you will find Lallier bubbles. Talk about good value for money.   Next week’s Wednesday tasting Next Wednesday Wellingtonians can taste Champagne Lallier Ay Brut R013 instore at Regional Wines from 12 noon onwards. The history Champagne Lallier is based in the village of Ay, one of the 17 Grand Cru villages in the Champagne region. This means its vineyards have been legally defined as top tier in the region. This champagne house was founded in 1906 by Rene Lallier and was sold in 2004 to Francis Tribaut, the current owner, who doubles as the winemaker. It is unusual in the Champagne region to have an owner who also makes the wines, and he is fortunate to have two wineries at which he can produce, age, disgorge and bottle these bubbles. The first is a winery in Maison D’Ay and the second is a modern winery, 10 kms outside of Ay on the Cotes des Blanc. Lallier Champagnes contain Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with no Pinot Meunier. The majority of Lallier champagnes go through malolactic fermentation, which softens the region’s naturally high malic acid, although the amount of malo’ varies,  depending on the vintage and the acidity in the grapes as a result. The wines vary in dryness from zero up to 18 grams per litre. But wait there’s more   These two champagnes are the tip of the iceberg of little known, great value bubbly brands that offer top shelf flavour without over the top price tags. Value may be a relative concept when it comes to the cost of champagne but there is no doubting the deliciousness of both Gatinois and Lallier.

It’s not every day you get to taste older vintages from one of New Zealand’s most iconic and pioneering wineries, but last month, twenty lucky Regional Wines customers were given a real treat courtesy of chief winemaker Wilco Lam from Dry River, who took us through five varietal flights comparing older and current vintages. Wilco kicked off proceedings explaining the relatively recent change in philosophy and direction at Dry River, since his taking over the helm back in 2011. A change that has seen reflective mulch ripped from the vineyards, a pulling back on new oak and toast levels across the board and attempts in the vineyard to drive the root systems of the old vines deeper and deeper in their quest for complexing nutrients. The line-up gave us the chance to witness the results of these moves – albeit through wines separated by as much as a decade in some instances. The current release 2016 Craighall Riesling, from a please all vintage, certainly showed a change in style next to its 2009 counterpart. The acidity and florals were high and the wine had elegance and lift that certainly made one question whether it would be showing its age after nine years as readily as the ‘09 – which was gently caramelised with mead and marzipan notes. The Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminers offered similar stories, wines that Wilco explained are driven more by alcohol and sugar than acidity, and benefit from lees and large format oak for increased texture. These are aromatic wines that gain from a bit of shrivel in the vineyard thanks to the wind assisted Martinborough climate. And then came the reds. The 2016 Craighall Pinot was a stunning aromatic offering from a stellar vintage that allowed for more whole bunch, decreased new oak (15% down from 20% in the 2011) and larger format oak ageing. The Pinot aromatics were thus given every chance to shine, assisted by some lifted elements thanks to the intracellular fermentation. The two Syrahs were fantastic, but couldn’t have been more different, and again offered a great example of Dry River’s change in direction. 2015 was a great vintage, but two exceptional wind events saw 70% of the Syrah fruit lost, the upside of which was a super low level of cropping and thus beautifully concentrated complex flavours in the grapes that survived. This was like a juicy peppered steak, served slightly rare with roasted vegetables and toasty Yorkshire pudding. On the other hand, the ’08 was like a summer pudding following the previous meat course – caramelised red fruits wrapped in layers of tertiary complexity. ’08 was, by all accounts, the vintage that really saved Martinborough after a slew of tricky years, and although the ripeness harks back to the days of reflective mulch, it was simply stunning. Of course, it’s hard to look for subtle changes in winemaking style when comparing wines separated by so many years, but they were certainly there to spot, and point to a drive towards letting the fruit sing - through attention in the vineyard and less intervention in the winery. Wines that speak of place have always been at Dry River’s core, but as the winery continues to evolve, it’s going to be exciting to watch how the wines change too.

Hawke's Bay Syrah on a roll... 2015 Trademark Syrah   Rod McDonald is a class act. Last year he won the Champion Red Trophy at the world’s biggest wine competition - the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London. The Hawke’s Bay winemaker won this outstanding accolade for one of his most humbly priced wines, the 2015 Quarter Acre Syrah, which costs about $30, sometimes even less. That’s no mean feat for a relatively humbly priced wine from a relatively small country made from a grape that is relatively new here. And, now, Rod has released this wine's big brother – the brand new 2015 Trademark Syrah. It’s one of the two flagship wines of Rod McDonald. The other is the Rod McDonald Trademark Chardonnay. Both are made in smaller quantities from a range of vineyards in the Bay that Rod and his winemaking team manage. They are currently in conversion to full organic certification, which Rod anticipates gaining in the next three years, hopefully sooner. It’s an exacting process. The new 2015 Trademark Syrah is made from the third consecutive vintage where Hawke’s Bay had a great summer. Dry, warm, dialled up ripeness in the grapes, dialled down disease pressure in the vineyard. Who could ask for more?   Tasting note… 2015 Trademark Syrah $72.99 This brand new top notch Hawke’s Bay red is a delicious take on the Syrah theme. It's made from four vineyards in the Bay; Maraekakaho, Bridge Pa, Tuki Tuki River Valley and Te Awanga. McDonald is using the best grapes he can grow from vineyards that he and his team manage and the range of vineyards is all about maximising quality - fruit ripeness, balance of flavour, tannins, fresh acidity and body - rather than about hedging bets.  This Syrah is the best; dark purple, dry, full bodied, very good balance and a great long life ahead of it. If you can resist the urge to enjoy it right now. A stunner. Rod McDonald’s new 2015 Trademark Syrah  is available from Regional Wines - click here to purchase

Central Otago is the third largest wine region in New Zealand, the southernmost wine region in the world and 80% of its vineyards are planted in Pinot Noir, so it’s no surprise that one of our most frequently asked questions at Regional Wines is: “What’s a great Central Otago Pinot that you can recommend?” We are spoilt for choice at Regional Wines & Spirits where our shelves literally groan under the weight of weird and wonderful labels from the world’s southernmost wine region, but the best wines tower over the rest. And this blog is an unashamed plug for one of the most innovative, open minded, quality focussed wine producers in Central Otago today – Mount Edward Wines. This week its winemakers celebrated 20 years of Mount Edward Wines with a few drinks and tasty food at Scopa in Wellington. Duncan Forsyth (co-owner) and Anna Riederer make some of the best wines in Central ever year, thanks to their quality minded focus and adventurous winemaking. This year is the third they have made a Gamay (the Beaujolais grape) and it’s a stunner; my favourite of all the Gamays so far made in this country. Smooth, soft, ripe, powerfully fruity and deliciously tasty. I am super impressed with this wine, which Anna says she can’t bottle quick enough to keep up with demand. Their inspiration is Morgon; one of the 10 top Beaujolais appellations in the rolling hills of this pretty wine region on the west side of the Saone River in France. Wines from Morgon are generally deeply coloured, juicy, fleshy, soft and structured; everything you want in a red wine, in other words. They drink beautifully when first bottled and they can age. The same is true of the 2018 Mount Edward Gamay, which we have secured a few precious bottles of at Regional Wines, but be in quick – our store staff (and yours truly) have already snaffled a few bottles of this stunning southern red. And by the way, this year, the production of Gamay at Mount Edward moved up a notch too – Duncan and Anna made 192 and a half cases, which is a big increase on the 25 cases they made in 2016; their first year of production. Their Pinots are outstanding too. The top tier is Mt Edward Morrison Vineyard Pinot Noir. A special site, but that’s another story and Central Otago Pinot Noir needs little introduction. The Mount Edward winery was founded by Central wine pioneer, Alan Brady, who also founded Gibbston Valley Wines and his own brand, the Wild Irishman. Brady was a burnt-out journalist looking for a life style change when he first started dabbling with grape growing and winemaking in Central. And while he has retired (sort of – he’s still keen as mustard on making wine), his influence, involvement and legacy remain pivotal to this most majestic of all New Zealand’s wine regions.

From time to time we must all confront the things we fear the most; spiders, flying, death and worst of all…

If you had to name one of the world's most popular white wines on Earth today, big bodied Chardonnay would be the first thing to spring to mind but where do you find it in a world of increasingly diverse Chardonnays? A tasting in Wellington on Thursday 15 November at Regional Wines is one place to start - we will open four top shelf Chardonnays, all big bodied beauties made from one vineyard in Marlborough - Clayvin.   Big bodied Chardonnays 2015 Fuder Clayvin Chardonnay  2012 Fuder Clayvin Chardonnay 2016 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay 2009 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay   The Clayvin Vineyard's long, sunny days take Chardonnay to new heights of ripeness in Marlborough - New Zealand's biggest wine region. About Clayvin Vineyard Clayvin was the first vineyard ever to be planted on a hillside in Marlborough back in 1991. It is in an area of Marlborough called the Southern Valleys, which is a series of rolling hillsides that face north, which helps to maximise the sunshine hours that grapes receive. This means that grapes growing here tend to ripen more evenly and develop lots of tasty stonefruit types of flavours on the ripening journey. The hot days need to be balanced. Enter cool nights. These enable grapes growing here to retain their fresh vibrant acidity, which balances the bold and powerful fruit flavours deliciously well. And don't just take our word for it. In two weeks' time, we have two of Marlborough's most talented winemakers winging their way to Wellington for a tasting of these big bodied Chardonnays (with some top reds thrown in for good measure too).   Taste big bodied Chardonnays Winemakers Hätsch Kalberer of Fromm and Nikolai St George of  Giesen will take us on a tasting tour in our wine glasses with a great line up of wines made from these dramatic hillside vineyards in Marlborough's southern valleys.   The whole tasting 2015 Fuder Clayvin Chardonnay  2012 Fuder Clayvin Chardonnay 2016 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay 2009 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Chardonnay 2014 Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Pinot Noir 2011 Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Pinot Noir 2016 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 Fromm Clayvin Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016 Giesen Single Vineyard Clayvin Syrah     Bookings are essential... Book here: email John online@regionalwines.co.nz

Fresh back from a trip to the sunny deep south, I am a bigger fan than ever of the region’s bubblies. Not to mention amazed at Rudi Bauer’s dedication to making high quality sparkling wines in what can only be described as a totally hands-on labour of love at his Cromwell winery.    Rudi was the first professionally trained winemaker in Central Otago and his outrageously good value for money, Quartz Reef NV, is made in the same way as champagne, only with fewer resources than most champagne houses could shake a stick at. He and his small team spend busy days disgorging their bubbles on a small but busy production line where they aim to do 3000 bottles a day. No mean feat, considering all the complexities that go along with great bubbles, most notably keeping the wine in the bottle while getting rid of its intense yeasty sediment, then topping it up with reserve wine, all the while retaining quality and bubbles in the bottle.  Rudi's winery, Quartz Reef, is relatively unusual for Central Otago because he makes so much bubbly each year - it is about 40 per cent of his overall production, while Pinot Noir makes up the remaining 60 per cent. His sparkling wines include Quartz Reef NV, Quartz Reef Rosé NV and, now, the 2013 Quartz Reef Blanc de Blancs - which will be in store at Regional Wines in the next couple of weeks. It's a ridiculously tasty bubbly and we look forward to sharing it with customers. Watch this space.  

Greystone Tasting with Dom Maxwell at Regional Wines There’s a lot of buzz about North Canterbury at the moment, and when the wines taste as good as this, it’s easy to see why. This was a selection spanning six varietals that all spoke of place in no uncertain terms - wines whose voice was loud and clear thanks to a co-evolution of sorts, a synergy between winemaker and vine. The winemaker is Dom Maxwell and as he and the vines grow together, there is a gradual change of philosophy at Greystone. According to Dom, after 2008, the vines moved into a new phase expressing more savoury, mineral and saline notes in addition to primary fruit, and this is expressed beautifully in the Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc - a clean, mineral wine with further complexity gained as a result of blending across numerous barrels. The use of old oak and 10% malo really softens the wine allowing the mineral elements to shine through. The Nor'westers of North Canterbury are another factor playing a large part in Dom’s wines, the drying effect leading to greater concentration and smaller canopies, allowing for earlier picking at lower Brix and increased florals. The Pinot Gris epitomises this, with its phenolic weight and sweet and savoury elements that offer baked apple and rhubarb crumble-like flavours on the palate. The Chardonnay too shows a deft nod to terroir, with a complex recipe involving fruit from clay and limestone, full malo, some use of solids at ferment and 20% new oak. It’s a big wine, but all is balanced and in perfect harmony. Dom’s reds showed a shift towards the use of less oak at Greystone, an approach taken to its apogee by the Vineyard Ferment Pinot Noir - a wine that literally wild ferments in tanks left between the vines. This is extreme terroir (to coin a new term) taking the winery out of the equation until ferment is over, and guaranteeing that yeasts involved are those associated directly with the vine. Seeing no oak, this wine is juicy, soft and expressive with 14% alcohol that is so happily integrated it is barely noticeable. The super rare Syrah was also showing less new oak (now down to 30%) and the wine sings louder for it. From a frost free site where the grapes are picked late, the use of whole berries at ferment allows for some lifted notes due to carbonic maceration. This wine was a revelation, expressing fruit and savoury elements, florals and spice, with heaps of concentration. So, exciting times in North Canterbury and NZ alike. It feels like increased vine age in many of the newer regions, combined with winemakers starting to fully understand the idiosyncrasies of these sites, is really starting to lead to impressive results. And off the back of this, winemakers now have the conviction to try new things, use less oak and really let their wines speak for themselves, and Dom Maxwell is right at the forefront of this. With all his wines becoming certified organic this year, the future at Greystone is bright.

Golden Brown - GlenDronach with Daniel Bruce McLaren - Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 September For $110 you'd probably expect a platter of haggis, neeps and tatties to accompany your whisky tasting, but on this occasion, it was the price that secured a seat at the table with the brown and gold Gods of whisky - whisky that most of us mere mortals will never get to taste. This was the much anticipated GlenDronach vertical spanning the 8yo Heilan through to a 27yo Single Cask, Vintage offering from the latest Batch #16 release, and pretty much everything else in between. I’m guessing It’s not often the Parliament finishes 5th at a scored tasting, but well, this was that kind of tasting. Billy Walker purchased BenRaich, Glenglasaugh and of course GlenDronach when they were rough uncut diamonds, albeit with vast warehouses of immense potential, and polished them to the top flight collectible distilleries they are today, prior to selling out in 2016. So collectible are some of these names now, that the current retail price of the 27yo from Batch #16 at around $800 would put the street value of a cask of this golden brown nectar at around $500,000 -  a true reflection of just how the whisky industry has moved in recent years. There were some fabulous idiosyncrasies surrounding this tasting and which provided plenty of food for thought whilst blindly navigating the order on the two nights. Firstly the three single cask Batch #16 releases were all over 20 years old meaning they were all distilled prior to the closing of the distillery between ‘96 and ‘01. This closure also had the rather serendipitous result of meaning that there were actually five whiskies over 20 years old at the tasting - the 21yo Parliament, the three Batch #16 releases and the 18 year old Allardice too. Say what, I hear you cry! Well, with the last bottling being from 2017, one would have to source whisky form casks dating from 1995 or ‘96, making the whisky more like a 21yo or possibly even a 22yo. Lastly, bar the Heilan, all these whiskies were aged in either PX, Oloroso or a combo or the two, providing a glorious chance to put the effects of these cask to the test. And well we did. Our presenter, Daniel Bruce McLaren had been up to his usual tricks in engineering a blind order of devious duplicity, and which saw the starting duo composed of the 22yo 1995 single cask and the 21yo Parliament. Two whiskies of a similar age and both seeing some PX - but the single cask stood out proudly, bringing depth and concentration and a few more angles to the spirit, in comparison to the remarkably slick, well rounded and top dressed Parliament. Next was our mystery, the Hazelburn 13yo Oloroso 2004/18, a Campbeltown masquerading as a Speyside under a veil of oloroso, but which was ultimately betrayed all too easily by an aura of peat. Wow that's a pretty peaty whisky for an unpeated whisky, but then, from the springbank processing line it should probably have “caution, may contain peat” written as a disclaimer somewhere on the bottle. Its ashen rose petals scraped from a dirty garage floor were the antithesis of some of the slick, well polished pieces of GlenDronach furniture amongst which it sat. Next up were the 25yo 1995 and the 27yo 1993 single casks aged in sherry anc Px casks respectively. Their appearance in the glass had gently suggested their age - but once in the palate, they screamed old and casky. Tannic, stewed fruits, molasses and gravy oozed in every direction, coating every last taste bud, but the age and oak had leveled them in some respects, and for every man finding oloroso there was a woman spotting PX. Proof perhaps that the actual oak is more important than the previous contents? Hot on the heels of the two single casks was the Allardice, which gave them a real run for their money. It finished third on the first night (pipping a single cask offering) - showing as much grunt and depth as the batch #16s, and at a fraction of the price. The next bottling could well be a 23 year old - so watch this space! And lastly, the bell curve of the tasting was completed by the 12yo. This was a welcome palate cleanser after the previous three, and just what the doctor ordered, a honey, lemon and ginger to soothe our poor palates and which even pipped the Parliament to fifth place on the first night. And so, the Batch 16 single casks certainly offered some beautifully deep and rich expressions, like reduced gravy or a bouillabaisse from Marseille that has sat on a hob for 20 years or so, slowly getting richer and richer. Often these whiskies can leave you wondering if they’ve been left in cask too long, but these were certainly not one dimensional, caramelised sherry bombs - with plenty finding interesting savoury and Umami qualities, and none showing too much tannin (which can certainly often be the case with old single cask whiskies). So in conclusion, a truly memorable tasting which was well worth the price - but one does have to wonder how much pricier these whiskies can get? Here's the scores for those who are keen... Glendronach 1990 27yo #7902 (PX Puncheon) 52.1% -10.03 Glendronach1995 22yo #3311 (PX Puncheon) 50.3% - 9.27 Glendronach 1992 25yo #127 (Sherry Butt) 50.9% - 8.77 Glendronach Allardice 18yo 46% - 8.55 Glendronach Parliament 21yo 48% - 8.23 Hazelburn 13yo Oloroso 2004/18 - 8.06 Glendronach 8yo Heilan 43% - 8.05 Glendronach 12yo 43% - 7.96          

2014 Guigal Cotes du Rhone $19.99 It’s surprising how tasty this humbly priced southern French red is. And it has improved immeasurably over the past decade, ever since the family owned Guigal winery has moved their aging facilities for all of their wines to Ampuis, in the northern Rhone. This month we were privileged to have Rod Hull here in New Zealand to introduce nearly the entire range of Guigal wines to the trade, providing indepth detail about what makes these wines so good. Hull is an Englishman based in Bordeaux where he works with a wide range of top European wine brands, including Guigal and Chave, among many others. While we were privileged to taste a lot of great wines, it was the detail about the lovely, lively Cotes du Rhone is a blend that really took my breath away. I've enjoyed this wine for many years but in the past 5 to 10 years, I have noticed a massive improvement in its quality and style - and the price remains the same. That's no mean feat. Guigal is a large family owned Rhone Valley winery, which makes great wines from both the northern and southern Rhone Valley. The Cotes du Rhone may seem to be entry level but great effort has gone into raising its quality over the past decade. This means that about three years' worth of stock is held back to ensure the quality remains consistent; it is also now aged at the family owned winery facility in Ampuis in the northern Rhone, to allow the family full control of its aging process. The blend is a complex, consistent one too; 65% Syrah, 35% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre, which no doubt adds the body and oomph to this exceptionally tasty red wine. The style is all about velvety smoothness, soft mouth feel and fresh fruit flavours with an interesting chocolatey twist. That would be the Mourvedre kicking in. Talk about a lovely red - and outstanding value at $19.99. This wine sells its socks off so it barely needs promoting, but the facts and figures we learnt this month blew us away, explaining just why it does taste so consistently good. 

By Joelle Thomson Of all the frequently asked questions we get here at Regional, pink wine is one of the most common– “Can you suggest a pale pink rosé because I want to drink a dry pink wine rather than a sweet one?” It’s an urban myth that colour equals dryness – or lack of. It actually has nothing to do with it. The colour in pink and red wines comes from grape skins – not from fermentation of natural grape sugar into alcohol. Pale pink wines have spent a short time on their skins during fermentation while deeper coloured wines have spent a longer time fermenting on skins during fermentation. In fact, the deeper the colour, the more tannin the wine is likely to contain and this can give wine an added sense of dryness. So, ironically, a deeper coloured wine might taste drier than a pale one. Dry wines have had all of their natural grape sugars fermented into alcohol and they may or may not be pale, medium or deep pink in colour. Medium sweet and sweet wines contain residual sugar, which means they taste  sweet because not all of the natural grape sugars have not been fermented into alcohol. I’ve never been the world’s biggest fan of pink wine because it varies so much in style and it’s a minefield trying to explain that deeper coloured ‘pink’ wines often taste better and drier, to me, purely because they do contain more tannin, thanks to being made from deeper coloured grapes (Merlot, Malbec, Mourvedre (aka Mataro) or hot climate Garnacha or even from thin skinned grapes like Pinot Noir, which have been given longer maceration time on their skins. I’m a fan of flavour rather than colour, which can be incredibly misleading in pink and red wines, but that’s another story. Our wine of the week is a head turner and a palate turner too; it’s the type of pale and dry rosé that can woo the staunchest tannin lover onto a drink pink campaign.   A note on colour…  Colour doesn’t equate to dryness or lack of dryness Colour can suggest intensity of flavour – or lack of Colour is all about how much time the grape juice spent on skins at the start of fermentation – grape skins provide colour to wine; not the pulp Colour doesn’t equate to dryness or lack of dryness (Yes, I did repeat that because I am asked all the time for a recommendation on a pale rosé “because I want a dry one”… It is not a linear relationship.)

If you’re a fan of Italian wine then the words northern Italy will either make you reach for your wallet or run for cover. These wines don’t come cheap.   The best are made from tricky grapes such as Nebbiolo, whose name comes from the word nebbia which means fog - something the hills of the Piemonte region are often shrouded with. It’s not ideal weather for growing late ripening grapes in, but it’s the traditional home of the finicky Nebbiolo grape, which is the sole ingredient in the newest Italian wine we have in store – the 2016 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo $46.99. It comes from the Langhe; the name given to the hills north and south of the city of Alba in the province of Cuneo in Piemonte. The Langhe was established as a legally defined wine producing area (DOC is the Italian term – Denominazione de Origin Controllata) in 1994. It’s used mostly by Barolo and Barbaresco producers who make a cheaper than usual Nebbiolo for relatively early drinking and label it with the grape variety, Nebbiolo, and region, Langhe. The region is relatively small at 1371 hectares, which is about a quarter of the size of Hawke’s Bay, and is home to a growing number of international as well as Italian grapes, but, being Italy, it’s the native varieties that are the most exciting. And in the case of Nebbiolo, the best still don’t come cheap, but their early drinking styles mean that oak is either low or not used at all. The highlight is on the grapes – a refreshing approach, which allows fruit flavours to shine. We’re loving this new example from the Produttori del Barbaresco – one of our top Italian wine producers in store. Come on in and check out the wine. It may not be everyday drinking for everybody at $46.99, but it does represent good value for money for a high quality Nebbiolo from a great producer.

By Joelle Thomson What is it about does an 11 year old white taste like and how will I know if I like it?   The best way to find out if you like aged wines is to try them. It’s easier said than done but this week we’re in luck; we are armed with a couple of bottles of an 11 year old dry white from Marlborough to taste in store with you. I say ‘dry’ because it tastes that way after spending 11 years in the bottle, developing its intensely concentrated fruit flavours of dried lemon zest and peach juice, which are balanced by this wine’s naturally high acidity. When it was first released a decade ago, the 2007 Doctors’ Riesling tasted significantly more medium dry. youthful flavours hadn’t integrated and the succulent lemon, apple and peach flavours seemed sweeter, although they were still (in my view) extremely well balanced by Riesling’s vibrant acidity. One of the joys of tasting great wine over many years is getting to see first hand how they can age. And this wine is a great case in point. Not long before I left Auckland, Dr John Forrest was visiting on one of his many tasting trips, and he popped around one afternoon with his distributor to show me the 2007 Doctors’ Riesling. It tasted incredibly fresh, still concentrated in flavour and vibrantly lime and lemon zesty. That was five years ago. I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to enjoy this wine yet again, this time just a fortnight ago while eating whitebait fritters and watching the shimmering midday sun on the water in the Marlborough Sounds. It was at Dr John and his wife Dr Brigid Forrest’s home and the three of us enjoyed a glass each of this impeccably aged wine – the bottle had been open about five days at the time and it still tasted remarkably fresh. That’s Riesling for you. It is far from a one horse show – if you think Riesling is all about sweetness, it’s time to think again. Come into Regional this Wednesday and we will have a bottle open for tasting – and we hope you’ll check it out yourself too because $24.99 is an absolute bargain for a beautifully aged dry white from Marlborough. There are some joys of aging – and Riesling is one of the best.

As the fumes of citrus zest, star anise and ginger intermingled evocatively in the Regional Wines tasting room, a selection of six gins courtesy of  the craft distillers from Four Pillars were gently warming to room temperature. It was an act of defiance of sorts - as they would soon be combined with lashings of ice, garnish and tonic water under the guidance of James Irvine, Creative Director, and become the drinks they were always destined to be in the guise of the world’s most ordered cocktail. First up was the Rare Dry Gin, famous for its use of whole oranges and whose strong aromatics balance handsomely with the spice from cinnamon, star anise and Tasmanian pepperberry. The simple addition of a slice of orange and tonic was all that was needed to bring out its clean and concise flavours. It is Count Camillo Negroni whom we should thank for the second gin, and who in asking for his Americano to be strengthened with gin in 1919 in Florence, created the first Negroni. Designed specifically to stand up to its co-inhabitants in a decent Negroni, this Spiced Negroni Gin shows weight and fragrance through increased Tasmanian Pepperberry, cinnamon and the addition of the exotic West African spice called Grains of Paradise, a member of the ginger family famous for its pepper and citrus flavours. Next was the Navy Strength Gin - an explosively flavoured number which any seadog could rely on to light his or her gunpowder. The secret ingredient is Australian native finger lime which helps pull out the spicy Asian aromatics from coriander, star anise, turmeric and ginger. The results are sweet and juicy as well as big and spicy, offering a liquid example of the colonial and sub continental influences on gin. The final three were a masterclass in the fusion of wine and gin - and showed why Four Pillars has developed a reputation for classical gin with a modern twist. The Bloody Shiraz Gin, a compound gin or maceration of the Rare Dry Gin and Shiraz grapes from the Yarra was a blast of sweet red fruit, balanced by tannin and spice, and which drank beautifully on its own with a cube or two of ice, and also transformed into an exotic beast though the addition of Yuzu tonic, lemons and Lime. Starting life as a marketing stunt, this gin has become their most successful, and keeping up with demand is now its biggest issue. The final two gins split the room, with the Chardonnay barrel aged gin offering savoury, resinous pine like notes from its time in an Australian oak solera, and the sherry cask aged gin showing obvious similarities with sherry aged whisky; subtle toffee sweetness but again balanced by botanical spice. James demonstrated a love and knowledge that is obviously one of the secret and intangible ingredients used in the creation of the Four Pillars gins, and one feels that, in the current wave of gin enthusiasm, the story of Four Pillars has only just begun. (The two barrel aged gins are available in minuscule quantities in store at Regional Wines.)

A decade of dry Riesling – and more from Zephyr Wines Saturday 15 September 1pm to 5pm with winemaker Ben Glover in store Brothers Ben and Jack Glover are big fans of Riesling and they like it dry, which is the inspiration behind their own exceptionally consistent line up of bone dry, full bodied Zephyr Rieslings. Earlier this year, they opened a decade long line up of Zephyr Rieslings from 2009 to 2017 to prove the point that their wines are bone dry. And this coming Saturday 15 September, Ben will wing his way to Wellington for a tasting of the brand new 2018 Zephyr Riesling at Regional Wines & Spirits from 1pm to 5pm. In case there’s any doubt about it, Zephyr Riesling is dry as a bone and has been since first made in 2009. “We’re inspired by Germany’s Rheingau Rieslings, which typically have 8 to 10 grams of residual sugar, at most, so definitely dry – both in taste and in a technical sense,” says Ben, who adds that their aim is also to make Riesling with moderate to lower alcohol content. This is something they achieve through hand tending the vines, hand harvesting and being consistent in style every year,” says Ben, who co-owns Zephyr Wines with his brother Jack, who has also forged a full time career in wine management, wine judging and understanding wines from the ground up. About Zephyr Wines The Zephyr wine brand is co owned by brothers Ben and Jack Glover in Marlborough   Sauvignon Blanc is the bread and butter of the brand, making about 6000 of the brand’s 10,000 cases They also make Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling MK111 is their take on an alternative style of Sauvignon Blanc - fermented entirely in old oak with wild yeasts, oak aged in contact with lees (decomposing yeasts after fermentation) Ben and Susie Glover (husband-wife) own 13 hectares of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc vines, which they are currently transitioning to organic certification with Bio-Gro New Zealand. They also use grapes from an adjoining 11 hectare block of Sauvignon Blanc, which Owen Glover (Ben’s father) farms, using conventional growing methods. Join Ben in store from 1pm to 5pm to taste a fabulous range of Zephyr Wines  

The Regional Wines tasting room was graced with an educational wine tasting tour de force last Tuesday, thanks to the unassuming Matt Stafford from Craggy range, who showed off 12 of his lively wines including, not one, but two vintages of his three prestige wines - Le Sol , Aroha and Sophia. For much of the tasting, the room sat in an awe struck stupor as Matt divulged technical details of vintage responsive winemaking that had us all keen to try our hand at crafting a wine portfolio by the end. When the barrage of questions did come, they were similarly inspired - Wellington showing off it’s wine knowledge. Matt’s two Chardonnays primed our palates and prepped our sensors for the effects of oak and site warmth, coming from the cool coastal Te Awanga and the warmer inland Gimblett Gravels. As should be, the wines are made to reflect their terroir - the Kidnappers with a nod to Chablis, its saline minerality unencumbered by oak - and the riper Gimblett fruit balanced by more time on oak. These wines opened the way for a canny comparison of vintage, with the 2015 and 2016 Aroha - Matt’s prestige Pinot from Te Muna Road in Martinborough. Matt expressed his excitement at the 2016, which he considered to have great potential, and, coming from a warmer vintage, this wine certainly offered masses of structure and some excellent fruit concentration. That said, the 2015, from a cooler, more challenging vintage, was a luminescent wine, with electrifying acidity and a brightness of flavour seldom seen. A trio of Syrahs followed, offering examples of just how good Hawke’s Bay Syrah can be when done well, and proof that Craggy’s expansion from 4.9 to 22 hectares of Syrah under vine was a sound investment. Rich, dark fruits, licorice, pepper and violets oozed from our glasses and once again the ‘16 and ‘15 Le Sols provided an intriguing comparison. The ‘16, big round and enticing, and the ‘15 more aggressive, dark and broody like a purple tinged sky on the verge of a thunderstorm perhaps. And then without delay it was into the Bordeaux varietals, with the 100% Gimblett Gravels Merlot paving the way for flavours of cassis and plums, and offering some fabulous varietal typicity before things got complex with Matt’s Bordeaux blends - the 2015 Te Kahu and the 2016 and ‘13 Sophia. All three are Merlot predominant, with varying proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and either Malbec or Petit Verdot in small quantities, and offer that sumptuous fruit driven complexity that only blends seem to achieve. In his formative years Matt worked with Jean Luc Thunevin from Château Valandraud in Saint-Émilion, Dominique Lafon in Burgundy and a number of superstar Rhône winemakers. These are wine regions where vine age and the cultural wine history entwined in the terroir make comparison with New Zealand hard, but with winemakers like Matt, and the ever increasing age of vines he has to work with, this comparison is becoming more and more favourable. All these wines are available from Regional Wines

It was a collection of seven drams from an elusive region that some might call the Midlands, others might call the Southern Highlands and the odd person might even call the northern part of the Greater Central Belt. However Malts of the Midlands really does roll off the tongue much better than the others, so we went with that, and quickly found the whiskies posing some serious questions regarding regionality, and what it truly is that defines a whisky. The whiskies were separated into two flights - four at standard strength and three that were over 50%. This is pretty much a first for these tastings, with a general belief that every whisky should stand for itself against any other, but this time it was certainly appropriate and I’m totally up for trying something new every twenty years or so. First up was the Aberfeldy Connoisseurs Choice from G&M (2003/2017) and which got proceedings off to a fantastic start, paving the way for what would become a great tasting. This was all about integrated sherry notes, structure and concentration, with a nose of mead, honeysuckle, citrus and sponge cake and that opened into a mouthful of spotted dick and custard. Next was the Blair Athol Connoisseurs Choice from G&M (2008/2017) whose sulphurous nose was like lighting a cigar over a breakfast of coffee and burnt toast and which sparked much conversation regarding the occurrence of sulphur in whisky. Third in order was the Gleturrett Sherry Cask Edition at 43% and what an elegant, soft whisky. It was light in body, but at 43% it didn’t need to be heavy and showed light confected fruits, butterscotch and ginger spice on the nose. The palate was a further array of light confectionery -  an assortment of cupcakes, crumbles and apricot tarts at a cake competition in a summer garden. The last of the standard strengths was our mystery - and which turned out to be the Deanston 18 Year old, one of Regional’s whiskies of the month for August. As the most expensive whisky at the tasting, it drew debate on the price of aged distillery releases, but was well received with its leathery tobacco, nuts and citrus aromas that continued into its woody palate that showed real body and depth. With the first four tasted, scored and results complied, it was onto the cask strength whiskies in the form of the Deanston OMC 50%, Glengoyne Cask Strength Batch 5 59.1% and the Edradour Straight from the Cask 58.8%. They were a world apart from the first flight and vastly different among themselves even - respectively like apple bobbing with the water substituted for bourbon, before moving onto a bowl of bread pudding and xmas cake and then finishing on a sweet cup of stewed fruit chai, served from a leather teapot. Each was amazing in its own right, but very different drams that had me wondering whether, with so much variation in whisky - do regional styles actually exist?   Looking back, there is a consistent theme of confectionery popping up in the tasting notes, but I can’t believe that these were down to factors of fermentation and distillation that created similarities in the new make at a regional level -  but were due, rather, to the casks in which the new make was aged (unsurprisingly). The Edradour could have been a Speyside sherry bomb, the OMC a bourbon aged, floral speyside and the Glengoyne an oily highlander. However, I don’t think this is a bad thing, but actually the opposite. It is the variation found in whisky that makes it so intriguing and thoroughly surprising in such a pleasant way… and the chance of stumbling across something amazing and atypical is what keeps us coming back. Here’s how they placed and some scores for those that are keen (most are available at Regional Wines). Edradour Straight From The Cask 58.8% 500ml - 8.71 Glengoyne Cask Strength 59.1% - 8.58 Deanston Old Malt Cask 1995 21yo 50% 700ml - 8.45    Aberfeldy Connoisseurs Choice 2003/2017 46% - 8.11 Deanston 18 46.3% - 8.0 Glenturret 'Sherry Cask Edition' 43% - 7.47 Blair Athol  Connoisseurs Choice 2008/2017 46% - 6.97

Last month saw two bottles of ancient blended whisky, retrieved from a shed, opened and tasted at Regional Wines. The whiskies were a White Horse circa 1957 and an Extra Special Old Highland Whisky circa 1937, so they weren’t old in the sense of cask age, rather, they were bought many years ago and had thus grown old. Here is the tale of these whiskies, over a hundred years in the making... It is a young, teetotal grocery store owner named John Walker who sets our story in motion by selling whisky, gin and rum through his shop. Business is successful and the next generation, spurred by a relaxation in laws surrounding the blending of grain whiskies in 1860, create a brand that will usher in the modern era of blended whiskies and eventually conquer the world. Around this time, a James Logan Mackie names a blended whisky after a coaching inn on Edinburgh’s Canongate known as the White Horse. As with the Walkers, life continues through the pursuant generation, and it his son, Peter Mackie, who registers the White Horse brand in 1891. For the Walkers, it is also the next in line, Alec Walker, who creates the first commercial blend called Old Highland Whisky,  the success of which leads to the purchase of the Cardhu distillery to supply malt to be used as the heart of the blend. The brand expands rapidly into three lines, Old Highland at 5 years old, Special Old Highland at 9 years old, and Extra Special Old Highland at 12 years old. The labeling on the lines is identical except for the colour; white, red and black -  and as this is how they soon become commonly referred to, in 1909 the company rebrands to fit these common colour names. Thus is born Johnnie Walker Black. Meanwhile the Mackies are working in partnership with John Graham, whose family lease the Islay distillery of Lagavulin, and as such, Peter Mackie quickly becomes a partner at Lagavulin, and its spirit becomes one of the key blending components for White Horse. As with the Walkers, there is a deliberate intent from the Mackies to become involved with distillery ownership as a means of supplying malt spirit for blending, and in 1891, they become one of the partners in the Craigellachie Distillery Co Ltd. Their  empire expands rapidly with investment in Coleburn Distillery, Clynelish Distillery Co. and Dailuaine-Talisker Co., thus ensuring a steady supply of the output from Coleburn, Clynelish, Talisker and Dailuaine distilleries. It is at this point that Peter Mackie’s story darkens, with a bitter falling out between him and Laphroaig, for whom Mackie was agent. Following numerous court cases and various illicit shenanigans, a bitter Mackie poaches staff from Laphroaig and builds a bizarre facsimile of Laphroaig distillery on the Lagavulin site called Malt Mill in an effort to mimic the malts of Laphroaig. The whisky is never quite there, but regardless, becomes a key blending component for White Horse. Of course, there are multiple malt components in these blended whiskies, with more blending options helping with the goal of hitting a consistent house style and distilleries such as Linkwood, a darling of the single cask independent bottling scene, have established a strong relationship with both Johnnie Walker and White Horse over the years. And then there is the question of the grain whisky involved in our key old blends. The White Horse bottling hall was situated next door to Port Dundas distillery, and it is thought this was a likely source of its grain component - bringing us cannily to Hedonism by Compass box, a blend of bourbon aged grain from Port Dundas and Cameron Bridge. Interestingly, Compass Box is owned by John Glaser, former Marketing man for Johnnie Walker - offering a lovely example of the overlapping and incestuous world of whisky.   Many years later, the popularity of blends is on the rise once again with blended single malts now commonplace, and pushed by the likes of  Adelphi with their Glover, E&K, Winter Queen, Brisbane and Glenborrodale, the latter offering a blend of casks from Edrington distilleries (Macallan, Highland Park, Glenrothes etc), most likely destined for the infamous Famous Grouse blend. Despite the modern world of progressive blends, we also see a fashion for old styled reminiscent whiskies and MacDonalds Tradition Ben Nevis is a great example of just such a whisky - its dark and oily peat offering a possible glimpse of blends from the past when people were after a bit of grunt in their scotch and peat was arguably more fashionable. Here’s how the whiskies placed over the two nights… Talisker 57 Degrees North 57% - 8.83 Linkwood Cadenhead's 1997 / 20yo 53.7% - 8.54 Lagavulin 12yo 56.8% - 8.33 Clynelish Adelphi 1996 20yo 50.6% - 7.78 McDonald’s Traditional Ben Nevis 46% - 7.78 Compass Box Hedonism 7.69 White Horse 2018 7.32 Glenborrodale Adelphi 8yo 46% 7.29 Craigellachie 13yo 46% 7.26 Johnnie Walker Extra Special Highland Whisky 1937 - 7.17 Johnnie Walker Black Label Current - 6.83    Cardhu 12yo 40% - 6.83   White Horse 1957 - 5.63