2008 Gibbston Valley Blanc de Pinot Noir $25
Rosé has been called many things but most of them have nothing to do with bringing men to their knees which is winemaker Christopher Keys’ plan for this brand new, dark pink, soft and easy-to-drink rosé.
Discard your old ideas about rosé. Predictions have it that one in every five bottles of wine sold in France this year will be rosé, outstripping white wine sales.
This wine, by the way, is 100 per cent, hand picked pinot noir grapes, and worth every cent. Available from specialist wine stores or www.gvwines.co.nz
2007 Wild South Marlborough Reserve Pinot Noir $32
No wonder this is an award winning pinot noir, but other people’s opinions aside, I love the sweet aromas of red cherries and plums and the softness of this wine in the mouth.
Winemaker Christie Brown crafts this gorgeously likeable pinot noir from grapes grown mostly in Marlborough’s Waihopai Valley. Available from specialist wine stores or www.wildsouthwines.co.nz
2004 Pelorus Cloudy Bay $45
There’s nothing cloudy about this bright, fresh, crisp and utterly refreshing Kiwi bubbly. Pelorus is one of my top two New Zealand bubbles and a wine that consistently rates extremely highly on the international bubbles radar too. Try it. Available from specialist wine stores or www.cloudybay.co.nz
2006 Alexia Wairarapa Pinot Noir $24.95
If the stylish, bold new label on this bottle doesn’t grab you instantly, the wine inside, by winemaker Jane Cooper, most definitely will.
It’s a lovely, soft Wairarapa pinot noir. Good on its own, it tastes so much better with roast lamb served on a bed of fresh rosemary with roasted agria spuds to match. Available from specialist wine stores.
2007 Isola Estate Waiheke Island Merlot Cabernets $48
Waiheke Island’s reds punch above their weight, in both size and quality terms, and this new entrant comes from the evocatively named Isola Estate.
Soon to be better known as a luxury resort as well as a winery, Isola makes just this one wine to date – a serious, spicy, heady blend of merlot and cabernets franc and sauvignon. Available from www.isolaestate.com
2005 Starvedog Lane Shiraz Viognier $26
Red and white, this soft, smooth Australian shiraz has a small but delicious drop of viognier added in for good measure, which enhances the aromatics of the wine, adding spice and sweetness but still finishing dry. Available at liquor stores and specialist wine stores.
2006 Taylors Promised Land Cabernet Merlot $16-18
It’s nothing short of incredible the great value for money that Australia’s low priced reds offer. This blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot is packed with flavour – ripe, intense blackberries to the fore with firm fresh acids keeping it in check. Available widely.