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Gisborne's greatest Chenin Blanc vineyard  A love of Chenin Blanc led winemakers James and Annie Millton to create their top white wine from a steep, north west facing hillside and they called this land the Clos de Ste Anne vineyard. The inspiration for the name comes from the French word clos, which loosely translates as a walled area and is used by winemakers to refer to a special site. In this case, the Clos is home to four distinct areas on the hillside. They are called The Crucible Syrah, Naboth's Vineyard, Les Arbres and La Bas. The best known wines from Millton have always been based on grapes that are often regarded as alternative. Enter Chenin Blanc, which would all but have died out in New Zealand, had it not been for the Millton' collective dedication to this great French white grape. Their early love affair with this wine led to them becoming one of the key pioneers of high quality Chenin Blanc in New Zealand, a position they have stuck to for decades and led them to create this top quality expression of Chenin.  What it tastes likeThis beautiful full bodied, dry and superbly fresh tasting Chenin Blanc is the most impressive of the current line up of wines from the Clos de Ste Anne Vineyard. La Bas is characterised by its succulent acidity, which makes for a compelling wine with a beeswaxy texture and great layers of fresh fruit flavours spanning white peach to green apples and even a touch of honey but all held together in a dry wine. Here is a Chenin Blanc to give the best from France a real run for their money. Buy 2021 Millton Clos de Ste Anne La Bas Chenin Blanc RRP $89.99 / Special $84.99 here

When it comes to majesty, South Africa's awe inspiring landscape has it in spades. The flora and fauna boldly imprint their beauty on the brain while the rocky mountains rising out of the earth and along the coastline take the breath away.  This country may have lived under the dark shadow of formal apartheid for most of last century, but it is now rising in stature when it comes to wine and,  this August, we are championing South Africa as our winery of the month.  Chenin Blanc is the queen of the country's vineyard area and it accounts for 18% of the country's total vineyard area of approximately 89,000 hectares. The statistics come from Wines of South Africa (WOSA), which is the industry's not for profit official body. Its mission is to promote the brand of South Africa and it has done an impressive job with this vast and diverse country now growing in both quality and quantity. South Africa is the eighth biggest wine producing country in the world with 3.9% of the world's total wine output.  South Africa has had democracy since 1994 and since then its wines have benefited from closer relationships with the wine world, both internally with shared knowledge and resources and externally with the travel of its winemakers. This August we will highlight a snapshot of this fascinating country's wines, focussing especially on Chenin Blanc, Syrah and red blends, with a special tasting hosted by South African winemaker Chris Mullineux.  Read our weekly newsletter for updates and pop in store every week for our tastings in store - details in our newsletter. French winemakers Vincent and Tania Careme are also being highlighted with two great South African wines this month. This couple met in South Africa in 1997 and then returned to France's Loire Valley where they set up their own vineyard of five hectares. Today they make in both countries.  Here is a taste of South Africa 2022 Mullineux Old Vine Chenin Kloof Street RRP $34.99 / Special $31.99 Mullineux was established in 2007, when Chris and Andrea Mullineux settled in the Swartland wine region, 60 kms north of Cape Town. This Chenin Blanc is a wine of vibrant acidity balanced by a smooth, rounded texture with citrus character and fresh finish. 2019 Careme Terre de Brulee RRP $42.99 / Special $39.99 Dry, flinty and next level in quality - a South African Chenin Blanc made by a French couple from the Loire Valley - the classic home of this great white grape.This wine is made from grapes that were all hand picked, whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeasts. It comes from Swartland, one of the most beautiful regions in a drop dead gorgeously beautiful country. 2018 Careme Terre Brulee Rouge RRP $42.99 / Special $39.99 If you love a cheeky little Cotes du Rhone, try this sensational South African lookalike, made from Syrah and Cinsault in a 60% / 40% blend here, which is a nod to the  French classics.  * These wines are the tip of our South African wines on special in August. Pop in store to buy these beautiful wines from South Africa... We look forward to seeing you in store.

It may not be the easiest grape variety in the world to pronounce but anything that Assyrtiko (pronounced As-er-teek-o) lacks in ease of pronunciation, it more than makes up for with its powerful punch of freshness, weight and complexity.  if you love Chablis, great weighty Chardonnays or full bodied white wines, then Assyrtiko is the next big white grape for you. And there are more reasons to enjoy it now than ever before, not least because it is gaining a little ground in the vineyards of our nearest winemaking neighbours, Australia.   The most famous Australian Assyrtiko comes from Jim Barry Wines, whose family member, Peter Barry, fell for the delicious charms of this fresh white grape when he was visiting the sun drenched island of Santorini in Greece in 2006. He returned home, tried to find cuttings of Assyrtiko vines, couldn't find any and had to return to Santorini to get some. It's a tough job but someone has to do it, so Barry found cuttings and has since planted them in 2012 on the Lodge Hill Vineyard in the Clare Valley.  Two tasty Assyrtikos Here are two excellent wines made from Assyrtiko, one from the Barry family's vineyard in the Clare Valley; the other from the traditional homeland of this great white grape, the beautiful island of Santorini. 2021 Jim Barry Assyrtiko RRP $36.99 The Assyrtiko grape originally comes from the volcanic island of Santorini where hot days and cool nights allow it to retain freshness derived from the grape's naturally high acidity. The result is an outstandingly succulent, refreshing dry white. This wine will take you by surprise, in the best possible way.  Buy here 2020 Argyros Estate Assyrtiko Santorini Greece RRP $57.99 Smoky, mineral and almost sour on the nose. Bone-dry, tangy with both citrus and a firm stony character. Really impressive intensity formed out of rich fruit and high acidity. Buy here

The shortest day of the year has been and gone and, with it, the promise of new wines looms. And so does summer. So, what will the 2023 vintage bring to wine drinkers from what can only be described as a challenging year? The good news is that vintage 2023 was positive for most winemakers in this country's largest wine region, Marlborough, even if, on the other hand, unprecedented wet weather made for a devastating difficult vintage for many North Island regions.  From the head of NZ Winegrowers  “Regions across the North Island were hit hard by the unprecedented wet weather throughout summer, but their incredible hard work and commitment to producing premium quality wines means that consumers will continue to enjoy the distinctive wines that they know and love. Hawke’s Bay’s recent inclusion as one of just 12 Great Wine Capitals of the world is of regional and national significance," says Philip Gregan, chief exec of New Zealand Winegrowers.  The success of the 2023 vintage for those who did manage to harvest grapes in Hawke's Bay and for those with more fortunate weather further south, also emphasises the resilience of the industry, says Gregan.   * New Zealand wine exports for the year to May 2023 increased by 25% compared to 2022. First 2023 wine tasting While we look forward to the first wines from 2023 to pour onto the market and onto our store shelves this year, we can rest assured that the quality is high. Early tastings of 2023 wines from barrel and tank in Martinborough confirm that, while this small, high quality wine region experienced some difficult weather, the winemakers' experience and some dry days have ensured good to excellent quality. The same stands true of all regions, despite the inevitable fact that volume will be lower from Hawke's Bay and that many places further south luckily avoided the storms.  

What’s not to love about Cabernet Franc? It's dark, it's velvety, it's juicy and it's smooth. And it's one of the parents of the much more famous Cabernet Sauvignon, so it has been a pretty important grape in the Bordeaux region for quite a while now, say a few hundred years at least. It is also the most important red grape variety in the Loire Valley, in terms of making red wines rather than the rosé for which the Loire is popular for.  So, why has it taken so long to come to our attention of mainstream wine drinkers? It's likely there is more than one reason but since Cabernet Franc is typically blended and not labelled on the bottle, this is strong possibility for this grape variety to fly under the radar so spectacularly. But more importantly, Cabernet Franc is more popular on the right bank of Bordeaux in St Emilion and other areas but the left bank is home to all the classed growth wine producers. This makes it tough for anyone to get a look in, but with climate change shining a light on Franc's greatness in a wider range of areas and more people internationally beginning to question the validity of Bordeaux 1855 classed growth structure, the gateway has opened for other grapes and wines to shine.  One of the small handful of New Zealand winemakers who produces a 100% Cabernet Franc wines is Amy Farnsworth from Amoise wines in Hawke's Bay. The grapes in her Cabernet Franc  grown on the TK vineyard next door to Oak Estate in the Bridge Pa Triangle area of Hawke's Bay. Her Cabernet Franc accentuates the smooth side of this powerful red grape variety. She ferments with indigenous yeasts made specifically from the vineyard for  this wine. Cabernet Franc's juicy dark fruit flavours are balanced by refreshing nerve and acidity. The wine was aged in older oak barrels for seven months with no new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered.  It is one of many Cabernet Francs that we see, taste and love here at Regional Wines.  Buy this great red here... 2022 Amoise Cabernet Franc RRP $38.99 Dark, smooth, velvety and full bodied and made from hand picked Cabernet Franc grapes grown on some of the oldest vines in Hawke's Bay. The grapes in this wine were grown on the TK vineyard, beside Oak Estate in the Bridge Pa Triangle sub region of the Bay. Grapes were fermented with indigenous yeasts made specifically from the vineyard to ferment this wine, which expresses Cabernet Franc's juicy dark fruit flavours with refreshing nerve and acidity. It was aged in older oak barrels for seven months with no new oak and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

Nebbiolo you can afford If the word Nebbiolo makes your mouth water and your savings shrink, it is time to try a range of new affordable expressions of this great red grape that we have at Regional Wines. True, affordable and Nebbiolo do not usually go in the same sentence but times are changing with the predicted recession now officially upon us, so we are adjusting our belts.  Buy and explore affordable Nebbiolo here... Book into our Affordable Nebbiolo tasting here... What is Nebbiolo? The short answer is: an Italian grape variety. This is no ordinary grape. It demands a lot of the grape grower and the winemaker because it is the first grape to bud in spring and the last one to fully ripen in autumn, so it is frost prone at both ends of the season. It is also a thick skinned grape that lends itself to making enormously tannic wines that live for decades in the bottle, but that can be astringent in their youth, unless those tannins are managed carefully by the winemaker. Traditional long maceration times were an attempt to gain more colour than is typically found in wines made from the Nebbiolo grape but, as you can imagine, this long time frame of skin contact between grape skins and juice) also meant relatively tough tannic wines.  The aim now is to make wines that are structured but also silky. Wines with fruit flavour as well as impressive savouriness.  The only place in Italy that Nebbiolo is grown in the north west, most famously in Piemonte's great Barolo and Barbaresco appellations. These two DOCGs are relatively small areas, defined by extremely limited boundaries and, with a limited production of wine each year, the volumes of wine made tend to be tiny but highly priced.  A fun fact about Nebbiolo Fun is a bit like beauty. It is often in the eye of the beholder. So it may tickle your funny bone to know that Nebbiolo has been so highly prized for so long that, in the  repeated theft of a Nebbiolo vine or cutting was published by amputation.  The wines we can afford (without amputating a limb for the privilege) Buy and explore affordable Nebbiolo here... 2017 Maretti Langhe Rosso RRP $28.99/ Special $26.99 2021 Mauro Molino Langhe Nebbiolo RRP $36.99 / Special $32.99 2018 Enzo Bartoli Langhe Nebbiolo RRP $40.99 / Special $36.99 2019 Cavallotto Langhe Nebbiolo RRP $63.99 / Special $58.99 2020 Giacomo Fenocchio Langhe Nebbiolo RRP $41.99 / Special $38.99 2020 Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco RRP $51.99 / Special $47.99 2019 Produttori del Barbaresco RRP $63.99 / Special $58.99

A zero growth policy sounds more like the housing market in regions with poor infrastructures than a progressive winery, but it is the philosophy of Felton Road winery's owners Nigel Greening and winemaker Blair Walter.    This formidable team has been making powerful Pinot Noirs from the deep south for over a quarter of a century now. The 2023 vintage heralds their 27th and while those wines are tucked into barrel and tank in the winery, the estate has just released its 2022 wines. New 2022 Felton Road wines available We have taken our full allocation for Regional Wines & Spirits this year, which means that once the wines have sold, that is it. Unless you have a direct line to Blair or Nigel, that is. And despite their zero growth policy, there is a new single vineyard wine from the Felton range. It was released last year for the first time and is named after the vineyard from which the grapes were grown - MacMuir. If the release of a new wine from a new single site seems to fly in the face of zero growth just a tad, try a bottle of MacMuir.  The details of MacMuir Vineyard are in the tasting note, below, suffice to say that like all of the best Felton Road Pinot Noirs, this one comes from a single site in Bannockburn.  And as for that zero growth policy, the MacMuir land was previously part of Felton Road's Calvert Block and has now been recognised as a separate site, which very clearly expresses itself in the wine - a distinctively fuller bodied style of Pinot. It is amazing how sites that sit so close to each other can produce such diverse styles of wine, even from the same grape variety.  Such is the beauty, the fascination and the greatness of wine.  * All Felton Road wines, red and white, are certified organic with BioGro NZ and also certified biodynamic with Demeter.  A taster of 2022 Felton Pinots  2022 Felton Road MacMuir Pinot Noir RRP $104.99 Impressive and highly collectible new Pinot Noir from Felton Road Winery with intense dark plum and cherry aromas leading into a silky smooth textured wine, which has a distinctively savoury style and drinks well now but will reward ageing for up to and beyond 10 years. MacMuir Vineyard is one km east of The Elms Vineyard on Felton Road, situated on a gentle north facing slope below the hills of the Bannockburn Gold Sluicings. MacMuir was originally part of the Calvert property and farmed by Felton Road since 2001. The land was being used to produce various crops of hay and straw for use in our compost, mulch and winter feed for animals, as well as a small productive nut orchard. In 2010, Felton Road purchased the land from the Calvert family and planted its first vines in 2012 after an extensive period of preparing the soils to optimise soil structure and fertility. Nigel Greening, Felton Road’s owner, is the son of a Muir clan member, Betty Muir, hence the title MacMuir, which means son of a Muir. 2022 Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir RRP $123.99 Block 3 is a powerful Pinot Noir that requires age to reveal its smoother side. It is made from grapes grown on a gentle north facing slope in the heart of The Elms Vineyard where deep silt soils are interspersed with calcareous seams. This vintage has had 25% whole bunch fermentation which accentuates the powerful full bodied structure of the wine. It was aged for 13 months in French oak barrels, 30% new.  Buy Felton Road Pinot Noirs here - or pop in store to buy... We look forward to seeing you at Regional...

Who remembers the early fore runners of low to no alcohol beers?  From memory, they were difficult brews to enjoy but perseverance has paid off because the low to no alcohol beer category has come of age with regular new additions and continuous refinement of lighter styles.  And now wine has joined the fray.  The most natural low alcohol wines are the gorgeous aromatics such as Moscato, Muscat and Riesling from traditional areas such as Piemonte and most regions of Germany and also Alsace, but this country has made some highly successful low alcohol wines.  The Doctors' Riesling from Forrest Estate founders Drs John and Brigid Forrest is the biggest seller and a delicious wine, which also ages superbly. And when it comes to no alcohol wines, Giesen is leading the way in this country at the moment with its stellar Zero Riesling, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc.  This year we were introduced to an Australian brand called plus & minus, which includes a Prosecco that was our top pick of the range and which sits on our zero alcohol shelves. About plus & minus... The wines in the plus & minus range are firstly made as wine, which contains alcohol, aromas and flavours.  It then goes through a process to remove the alcohol. This process sees the wine go through a high vacuum, low pressure distillation machine which separates the alcohol from the wine by creating a vacuum (negative pressure) at a low temperature. The cool temperature allows the retention of aromas, which are removed along with the alcohol. The final step sees the aromas returned back into the wine and, finally, the winemaker bottles it and sends it out to the market.  Try and buy plus & minus Prosecco RRP $13.99 in store. 

Hands up if you know how many New Zealand wineries made it into The World's Most Admired Wine Brands 2023 top 50 list? If you said four, well done. This year's top 50 list includes Felton Road (for the seventh consecutive year), Villa Maria, Cloudy Bay and Craggy Range. That's no mean feat for a country this size, particularly when faced with luminaries from wine giants such as Italy, Argentina and Spain. The winery in first place this year is Antinori, which has been making wine continuously since it was founded in 1385 and it still remains in family hands.  Felton Road in top 50 The launch of this year's Felton Road single vineyard wines this month is the reason we are looking more closely at this impressive winery, which celebrated 25 years of winemaking at the end of 2022. Owner Nigel Greening and winemaker (and part owner) Blair Walter have a zero growth policy at Felton Road, so, despite adding a new single vineyard wine last year, there will be no further growth. No new vineyard acquisitions. No additional volume. It has produced 150,000 bottles a year since 1991 and the plan is to continue making these relatively modest volumes.  Felton Road is now a member of the International Wineries for Climate Action, whose members also include fellow Top 50 members Familia Torres, Ridge and Symington.“This is critical for our goal of achieving zero-carbon emissions without using offsets,” says Greening. Increased prices Prices have risen this year as a result of inflation and wage rises.  Greening says the winery team has done its best to keep the rise as modest as possible.  New Feltons in store The new release 2022 Felton Road single vineyard wines will arrive in store over the next month or two.  Watch our newsletter for news of their arrival. In the meantime, collectors can anticipate which wines they will look at buying.  As winemaker Blair Walter says, these wines are not clones but very individualistic expressions of place; even if some of the places happen to be right next to each other, the variation in the topography of the land, its elevation, aspect to the sun and of course soil types, all of these factors make for wines that are very different in style. They are exciting wines to drink now and even better with age. The wines in this release are: 2022 Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2022 Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir 2022 Felton Road MacMuir Pinot Noir 2022 Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2022 Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay

Decibel is a Hawke's Bay wine brand with a diverse range of wines thanks to owner-winemaker Dan Brennan's innovative style of winemaking. And since Decibel is our winery of the month for June this year, we thought it would be timely to share some of that innovation in the lead up to tastings and great discounts on these superlative wines. The brand includes three ranges of wines. All are made with grapes grown in Hawke’s Bay with one  exception, which is a Martinborough Pinot Noir from the vineyard now known as Dublin Street (formerly Brodie Estate and now under new ownership. This Pinot Noir is a lovely expression of Pinot from one of the country's leading regions for Pinot Noir and it comes from the superlative warm and dry vintage of 2020. It was lockdown but the wines are superb, regardless of the many other challenges faced that year. Decibel was founded and is owned by winemaker Dan Brennan, who moved to New Zealand in 2007 to make wine, leaving behind his home in Philadelphia in the United States. He has since created Decibel, Guinta and Testify wines, three brands that all come under one winemaking umbrella. Testify is the top of the tree while Decibel is the core range and Guinta is an experimental bunch of wines, as our choices for wines of the month will show.  We hope you enjoy tasting, buying and drinking these wines, which represent deliciously good drinking in terms of flavour and extremely good value for money too. Many of the wines will have you wondering why you only spent $18.99 or $20 odd for the privilege.  Get in quick and snap up these bargains in store from 1 June. We look forward to seeing you.  The Decibel wine list * Special prices will begin from 1 June 2023 and last all month 2021 Decibel Giunta Crispy White RRP $26.99 / Special $24.99 2021 Decibel Viognier RRP $21.99 / Special $19.99 2021 / 2022 Decibel Giunta Crunchy Red RRP $27.99 / Special $25.99 2022 Decibel Pet Nat Chardonnay RRP $35.99 / Special $32.99 2022 Decibel Rosé RRP $20.99 / Special $18.99 2020 Decibel Pinot Noir Martinborough RRP $29.99 / Special $28.99 2019 Decibel Testify Red RRP $50.99 / Special $46.99 2021 Decibel Giunta Riesling RRP $27.99 / Special $25.99     Buy Decibel wines here                                                    Saturday 17 June 1pm to 4pm Winery of the month tasting in store, hosted by Regional wine advisor Joelle Thomson.