An approachable, bright and lively Pinot Noir with beautiful juicy red fruits and good structure.

Smoky, fruity and savoury; aromas of dark cherry, charred oak, bramble, plum and charcuterie float from the glass. On the palate is liquorice and black forest fruits- cherry, blackberry, plum and boysenberry- kissed with smoky, toasty oak and a hint of dark chocolate. The tannins are supple and fine, teasing out the long, mouth watering finish.

Umani Ronchi is an excellent Italian wine producer in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It's a company that makes a wide range of wines, including this incredibly delicious Montepulciano, which massively over delivers in taste. 

Big, bold and deep in colour, it has powerful dark fruit flavours held together in a smooth full bodied style with spicy notes adding complexity. Medium acidity adds balance to the blend, making for a beautifully integrated wine which is stunning value for money.

Sealed with a screwcap for freshness.

Here's a great little red blend from Antinori, which is a gorgeous expression of the insanely beautiful Tuscany region, but which is made from an interesting mix of Italian and French grapes. Sangiovese leads the way here with small quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, all grown in Tuscany. 

Antinori's winemakers describe this wine as firm bodied on the palate, supple with  velvety tannins and a long, savoury aftertaste.

This is a fabulous little French Chenin Blanc from Vouvray - queen of the Loire Valley appellations (wine areas) devoted to Chenin. Flavours here run the gamut of delicious lemony fruity flavours in an off dry. Florals, citrus and peach on the nose feed into a similar profile on the palate, with further white flowers and honey notes.

Pair with fish and lightly spiced Asian cuisine.

Argentina does Malbec better than anyone on a mass scale, much of it due to the plentiful vineyards planted at altitude in the foothills of the Andes Mountains where sunshine enhances ripening and cool night temperatures elongate the ripening season to accentuate much needed acidity in this grape. These factors combine to provide growing conditions that are unmatched anywhere else in the world that Malbec is planted on a large scale. Wines like this one are testament to the dense fruit character, spicy notes and complexity of good Malbec, often at a relatively modest price.

We love this wine and it also carries organic certification, another thing the dry climate in Argentina allows for with relative ease, but that's another story. 

If you love big reds, try this one out for size. 

Here's a Pinot Gris that tastes noticeably drier than many and is all about fresh pure, white fruit flavours of pear and peach. The refreshing acidity comes from the cooler climate grapes contained in the wine, which is made from a blend of grapes grown in three sub regions of Marlborough. The cool climate Awatere Valley has 73% with the remaining 17% from the Waihopai Valley and 10% from Kekerengu on the southern coast.

Grapes were fermented at cool temperatures to preserve fruit freshness and dry flavours. 

Residual sugar is 3.8 grams, making it dry in style - and also in flavour. 

The story of Astrolabe

Diversity, history and family ownership are among the reasons to try the outstanding range of wines from Astrolabe, which was founded in 1996 in Marlborough by winemaker Simon Waghorn and his partner in life and wine, Jane. 

Simon has forged a reputation for being one of New Zealand's most respected producers of aromatic white wines after winning an almost embarrassingly long string of awards for his Sauvignon Blancs. He has also forged a name for adventurously diverse winemaking - he produces dry flinty whites from the most southern vineyard in Marlborough at Kekerengu on the coast about an hour's drive south of Blenheim. He is the only winemaker to produce wines from here. 

He is also one of the few in this country to make Albarino, Chenin Blanc and a consistently outstanding range of wines from the organically certified hillside sloping site that is the Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough. 

The winery remains family owned and is now run by two generations, including Simon and Jane as well as their adult daughters. 

Inspired by Beaujolais, made in Hawke's Bay and all about expressing Gamay's soft red berry flavours with lifted floral aromas and a smooth, medium body. Carbonic maceration was used for 47% of the wine and it enhances the fruit and floral aromas. The remaining 53% received a traditional, warm, red wine fermentation. The resulting wines completed their malolactic fermentation and were matured for seven weeks in seasoned French oak barrels, before blending and bottling.

Vineyards

In 1995, Te Mata Estate introduced to New Zealand a superior selection of Gamay Noir ? Jus Blanc, the grape variety of the best wines of France?s Beaujolais region. Estate Vineyards Gamay Noir 2020 is a single vineyard wine from Te Mata Estate?s Woodthorpe Terraces vineyard, harvested on 3 and 12 March 2020.

Woodthorpe vineyard is located on elevated, north facing terraces in Hawke?s Bay Tutaekuri River valley. Between 1863 and 1914 it was home to the annual Woodthorpe races. 

Accolades:
90/100 - James Suckling
91/100 - Bob Campbell MW

"The nose here has attractive, deep-set blackberries and plums that follow on the palate with assertive, mocha-flavored oak that builds on the finish. Drink or hold." James Suckling

"From the Jumilla region in central Spain from grapes grown in certified organic vineyards. Rich, flavoursome red with dark berry, savoury/new leather, spice, baked earth and vanilla flavours. Gutsy red with a pleasingly rustic edge. Best with food." Bob Campbell MW

Tasting Note: Deep-red coloured wine with purple edges, with an extremely intense aroma of red and ripe fruit, pleasantly creamy, accompanied by touches of toasty oak. It is fruity and flavourful in the mouth, meaty and gamey with smoked charcuterie notes and soft, ripe tannins. Vanilla and cinnamon accent the finish.

Winemaking Notes: The harvest is done by hand at the optimum ripening time. Each grape variety was separately fermented and macerated with their own peels during 15/20 days at a controlled temperature no higher than 28?C. Ageing: 4 months in American oak barrels.

Certification: Organic

Alcohol: 14.5%

Varietal: Monastrell, Syrah and Petit Verdot

Region: Jumilla, Spain

This so-called ?Sardinian Sassicaia? is made by the same people who brought us the legendary Tuscan red wine. 60% Carignano, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah. This is a rich, intensely aromatic red with dark-fruit flavours and a full body. Super Sardinian anyone?

Quaffable, rich Primitivo from the Puglia region in southern Italy. Ruby red with violet reflections in the glass. The nose is fruity and aromatic with strawberry, blackberry and raspberry notes. On the palate, berry flavours continue with some spicy heat. The finish is fruity, with complex liqourice and almond notes. Pair with roast meats or an aged cheese.

Southern French rose is one of the world's most popular wines right now. Dry, fresh, crisp and pale in colour - but anything but in taste. It's all about the summer berries and a warm afternoon. 

Rose is on a roll because of wines just like this one. It's light, fresh and refreshing with lovely flavours of summer fruit like strawberries and raspberries. A great wine for a weekend afternoon or early evening. 

Sarah-Kate and Dan Dineen are partners in wine and in life and dab hands at producing powerful Pinot Noirs in Central Otago. This one comes from grapes grown on two of Maude's vineyards, Sitting Bull and Queensberry. It's a medium bodied Pinot Noir, dry, earthy and with refreshing red fruit forward flavours.

It drinks beautifully now and can age for a further six to seven years. One of our favourites.

Koparepare Chardonnay shows just how excellent Marlborough's second most planted grape can be. It's creamy, refreshing, full bodied and offers great value for money. 

A portion of the sale of every bottle of Koparepare wines goes to support  LegaSea, a not for profit organisation set up by the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council in 2012 to raise awareness of the marine environment and inspire public support.

Whitehaven Wines was founded by Greg and Sue White in 1994 after they sailed into the Marlborough Sounds to shelter from a storm in the early 1990s and fell for the natural beauty of the region and the haven it provided. So they decided to take the next natural step - set up a winery back on dry land, naming it, naturally enough, Whitehaven.

Mills Reef Winery has a well deserved reputation for making some of New Zealand's creamiest, most approachable and delicious Chardonnays from Hawke's Bay grapes. This wine is a great example with its full body, dry flavours and creamy textures. 

Mills Reef winery is in Tauranga. Its owners source their grapes from Hawke's Bay and Marlborough.

Pirrimimma was the first winery in Australia to grow the thick skinned Petit Verdot grape.

It's renowned for being an early budding, late ripening red grape with thick skins and powerful depth of colour, flavour and weight. This late ripening dark skinned grape is originally thought to come from Bordeaux in south west France where it can often struggle to ripen fully, hence it is most commonly used as a blending component to add depth to wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Ironically, it ripens best when it is least needed, as Master of Wine Jancis Robinson writes in the bible of grape varieties, Wine Grapes. 

In the warmest, driest best years, all of the grapes that struggle to ripen (Cabernets and Petit Verdot in particular) all tend to ripen well. Another good reason for seeking out good quality Bordeaux in dry vintages.

Which leads us to the Southern Hemisphere and to South Australia where Pirramimma Wines is based and this lovely red comes from.