A wine with plenty of complexity that’s bold like a neighbour who never turns the music down, but plays what you love and don’t mind hearing. Fruits are all crunchy and red, but there’s also some blackberry and the tannins are dusty meaning this gets along with a steak – lion’s mane or beef. It also spent just enough time in oak to add a little extra velvet wallpaper.

Amen Break Gravelly Gully Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023

The generosity of New Zealanders is so abundant that it seeps into their wine. That’s why they smile over there when they drink, not because of the ABV. The flavour and depth might also have something to do with it. Take this Chardy with all its grapefruit acidity, and white to yellow nectarine juiciness that’s lined with some creamy oak that dances on the back palate. It’s practically a bottle of balance.

Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravells Chardonnay 2022

The winemaking is clearly all about letting the grapes, season and earth speak. There’s so much in the glass for the price and you tend to get some Chablis-esque qualities out of Hawkes Bay… which is always nice. Here, it’s the flinty flash and that nutty weight which seems to deepen the agile texture.

Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2022

Bang on northern NZ Syrah with a genuinely rocky tannin and an almost Bordeaux-ish profile. If you’re more into deep n’ delicious fruits, don’t worry, there’s plenty of liquorice, cacao nib and some concentrated dark cherry that would be syrupy if the winemaking wasn’t so on point.

Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah 2021

There’s also a lovely core of red fruit sweetness and some mulberry at the core that come wrapped in tobacco leaf. We call this level of acidity perfect for a luncheon, meaning it can hang with a cheese board, antipasti, and some chatter.

Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Red Blend 2021

Amen Break Backbeat Cabernet Franc 2021

It’s textbook Marlborough Blanc, so this is an amazing gifting wine for those wine lovers out there who are hooked on the Kiwi Sauv. Great family lunch wine and especially perfect with fennel salad.

Ahi Ka Blackmore Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Asher Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Aromatic passionfruit and flower, ripeness of fruit and just a whisper of grass on the nose, with more of that passionfruit carrying on to the zesty palate. Fresh, delicious and layered with of citrus acidity and a talc feel from some time on lees.

Makipai Sauvignon Blanc 2021

Some great barrel-fermented Marlborough SB. Makes us remember, miss, that time when all we drank was Kiwi Sauvy B. Full of passionfruit and ripe fruits, but without anything resembling syrup thanks to the clean acidity and lean structure. A great park wine and a good shout for those homesick New Zealanders living here.

Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Te Mata Gamay Noir 2024

Classic Marlborough Sauvy B complete with all those delicious fruit flavours – lime, passionfruit and stone fruit – plus elderflower aromatics, and a yummy textural weight. If you’re a buttery Chardonnay lover, this is the one you’ll love, and despite even with that level of boldness, it’ll make a family lunch a little more breezy.