Wine Tasting Notes

Merlot/Merlot Dominant

Crafted using traditional Bordeaux winemaking techniques, this is a rich expressive red wine with a serious palate structure.

A complex array of rich plum and dark berry fruits with subtle spice, sandalwood and violet aromas are complemented by earthy, savoury undertones. On the palate, the wine is rich yet dry and elegant with a backbone of fine, ripe tannins.

Situated on the sunny southern side of Marlborough's Wairau Valley, Spy Valley is a global boutique wine business excelling in cool climate wine production.

The Spy Valley Merlot/Malbec exhibits aromas of sweet plum, hints of cedar, exotic spices and red current. It is a finely balanced wine with a long persistent core and a balance of sweet fruit and savoury varietal notes.

Deep ruby in colour, this is a big, dense, chewy wine, which expands in the mouth and has a lingering, spicy after-taste.

The merlot provides plum flavours and a plump, fleshy, mid-palate structure while cassis elements and a backbone of mouth-filling, ripe tannins come from the cabernet sauvignon. Small portions of cabernet franc and malbec lift the bouquet, as well as filling out the structure and adding to its length.

This Reserve Merlot displays a plush nose featuring red and black plums, rich fruitcake and floral violet aromas.

Careful blending with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc has introduced some complex lifted red-liquorice notes. The palate follows delivering lush dark fruits, creamy supportive oak and integrated tannins.

Consistently one of New Zealand’s finest red wines, this vintage is deeply coloured with aromatics hinting at black fruits, dried herbs, cocoa and cedar. The flavours typical of Gimblett Gravel merlot blends tend toward fruitcake, cherry, chocolate and oak spice.

Already a tremendous wine, it will benefit further from time in the cellar.

Pinot Noir

Vidal Wines, founded in 1905, is one of Hawke’s Bays oldest boutique wineries, and is a producer of premium quality wines that truly reflect the region and vineyards from which they were sourced.

The Reserve Series Pinot Noir is beautifully fragrant with floral and red berry aromas combined with complex flavours of cherries and earthy spice. Well balanced with natural acidity, this finely textured wine expresses classic intensity on the palate.

Peregrine Winery is renowned for their premium pinot noir. The winemaking approach follows traditional lines with minimal intervention to let the unique fruit flavours of Central Otago do the talking.

This Pinot Noir is elegant and bright with aromas of dark cherry and spice. A layered palate of wildberry and blackcurrant fruit combined with a lovely texture and fine tannins.

The wine has vibrant aromas and flavours suggest black cherries, blackberries, raspberries and mulberries. These impressions of fruit are underlain with savoury notes hinting of grilled mushrooms, barbequed meats and wood-smoke.

It initially seems soft in the mouth but rapidly expands to become powerful, while at the same time remaining refined and elegant. A spine of ripe tannins flows through the wine and helps draw out its lingering after-taste.

Sparkling & Champagne

An elegant, yet affordable New Zealand bubbly, Morton Brut is a deliciously refreshing, delicate sparkling wine with a steady bead and well rounded flavours. The palate is fresh and lively exhibiting classic fruit flavours, complexed by yeast aromas.

Deutz Marlborough Cuvée marries the best of New Zealand grapes with traditional French Champagne making techniques resulting in an award-winning New World Cuvée.

This wine offers a fresh, bright aroma with toasty notes. The palate shows strawberry and lemon with rich yeast flavours. Elegant and well balanced with a long, lingering aftertaste.

Non Vintage Champagne

This classical dry Champagne is a blend of two-thirds black grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) for body, balanced with one-third Chardonnay for elegance. It has a fine persistent sparkle and golden Champagne color.

Its consistent power to please makes it ideal as an aperitif, and perfect as the champagne to enjoy with a meal.

Moet et Chandon has for many years been the world's best selling non-vintage champagne and is consistently soft, fresh and very well balanced.

The classic blend produces notes of green apples and citrus fruits. Fine, intense flavors of dough, honey and citrus are backed by a vibrant structure in this firm, persistent bubbly.

The blend for the Special Cuvée is an ideal version of the classic champagne blend, using the different grapes of a given year from a variety of crus, with the addition of older, reserve wines.

This blend necessarily incorporates subtle variations each year whilst remaining consistent to a style. It is, therefore, the hardest of all to make. It contains the full expression of the Bollinger style and the House feels it should be judged on this - its benchmark wine.

Vintage Champagne

Perrier Jouët launched its famous "flower bottle" in 1969, with an arabesque design of anemones. Since then, it has been one of the world's most celebrated champagnes - light bodied and distinctive.

Aromas of fresh pineapple and white florals warm into complex scents of pear. The bead is intense and effervescent. A truly special bottle of vintage champagne, ideal for very special occasions.

Chardonnay

This wine follows the Stoneleigh tradition of ‘punching above its weight’, providing ripe stone fruit, peach and nectarine flavours concentrated from a lighter crop load in the vineyard. Integrated toasty oak adds to the complexity and roundness of this fine wine.

The palate shows textural weight and balance with a soft, lingering creamy finish.

Single Vineyard wines are created from vineyards of exceptional quality when vintage conditions allow these sites to fully express their individual characteristics.

On the nose this wine is bold and complex displaying perfumes of lemon, citrus blossom and stonefruit, complemented by creamy oak characters. A concentrated palate, the wine has layers of citrus fruits and captivating mealy characters. This is a strong, full bodied and textured chardonnay.

Refined, elegant & restrained, with the benchmark Wither Hills fruit profile of nectarine, lime, flint, grapefruit pith and sorbet notes interlaced with fine grainy french oak nuances of spice, nutmeg and toasted cashew.

All this is bound up with the natural fruit structure, seamless acidity and poise from Mendoza clone along with the texture and minerality of the Rarangi vineyard component making this Chardonnay simply irresistible!

Sauvignon Blanc

This Premium range sauvignon blanc has intense and powerful aromas of blackcurrant, passionfruit, grapefruit and gooseberry.

A full, crisp and powerful wine showing intense flavours of passionfruit and blackcurrant, with underlying gooseberry tones. This wine has full yet elegant palate, subtle minerality and a well balanced long, lingering finish.

This outstanding sauvignon blanc offers aromas of Lemon grass, lime peel and elderflower, with background notes of white currant and red pepper. A medium-bodied wine with currant, gooseberry and citrus flavours, and a dry mineral finish.

Best enjoyed when young and fresh, but has the potential to age gracefully.

Pale straw green in colour and enticingly fragrant, this Sauvignon Blanc offers lifted aromas of ripe stonefruit and juicy citrus with underlying notes of blackcurrant leaf and tomato plant spice.

The palate is fine yet succulent, with zesty citrus flavours and fresh acidity. There is an appealing plushness about this wine especially as it leads into a lingering and characteristically crisp finish.

Aromatics

After gentle pressing, the wine is fermented slowly to retain the intense rose-petal aromas of the grapes,then aged on lees for several months prior to blending and bottling.

This wine is fruit-driven in style, typically with intense aromas of rose-petal, Turkish delight and lychee. On the palate the pure fruit flavours and natural sweetness complement the well balanced, elegant structure.

An emphasis on fruit quality and minimal handling ensure the Villa Maria Cellar Selection wines are intensely flavoured, elegant food friendly wines.

The Pinot Gris exhibits intense perfumed aromas of fresh ripe pear with hints of gentle spice. It has a textural palate showing baked apple, almond and cinnamon characters, followed by a balanced drying acidity creating a lengthy and harmonious finish.

Crafted in Gisborne, Huntaway Reserve has a reputation for offering a range of quality, elegant and approachable wines.

Their Pinot Gris shows a lifted bouquet of pear, spice and ripe stonefruit with musky, floral hints.

The palate is rich, with an oily texture and layered with pear and stonefruit flavours. An underlying savoury complexity leads to a lingering, spicy, off-dry finish.

The Shingle Peak Riesling offers fresh simple citrus flavours with apricot and stone fruit notes. The colour is green with straw hues, the nose full of honeycomb and lime peel zest aromas. The palate shows an underlying minerality, with good balance over the palate which lingers at the finish.

Floral and ripe stonefruit notes compete in the aroma of this Riesling, and on the palate these flavours dance in harmony.

The wine has been crafted to balance residual sugar in perfect harmony with the wine’s natural acidity.  This residual sugar has also fleshed out the mid palate of the wine. This wine will richly reward those who can cellar it.

Whisky

This classic Speyside conveys beautiful images of a fertile orchard, blossoming at springtime and laden with juicy ripe fruit at summertime.

Colour: Bright and lively gold

Nose: Fresh juicy Chasselas grape, ripe pear, soft apples and a sensuous touch of exotic fruit. It opens in time on creamier and richer notes: stewed greengages, ripe apricots, vanilla creme anglaise, a hint of marshmallow. Oak tenderly enhances that enticing bouquet with more vanilla notes and nutty hints.

Palate: Smooth and sweet fruity basket. Honeyed flowers, almond biscuits.

Finish: Nutty, marzipan, fresh hazelnuts, spicy, fresh grated ginger.

It has been called ‘the perfect ten’ and most Glenmorangie drinkers will readily drink to that! After 10 years in ex-bourbon casks, the Glenmorangie spirit has had enough time to mature and mellow into a beautifully balanced yet marvellously complex malt whisky. Enjoyed by newcomers and connoisseurs alike, it’s Scotland’s favourite malt whisky, hand-crafted with pride by the Sixteen Men of Tain.

Colour: Pale golden brown

Nose: Light and delicate, floral with traces of citrus and vanilla along with a light smokiness

Palate: Beautifully balanced, with honeyed nuts coming through

Finish: Clean and salving, short

The Macallan Fine Oak is triple cask matured in a unique combination of exceptional oak casks. European and American oak casks seasoned with sherry impart hints of dried fruits, spice, chocolate orange, lemon, coconut and toffee sweetness. American oak casks seasoned with bourbon deliver floral aromas and sweet notes of vanilla and fresh fruits.

This triple cask combination delivers an extraordinarily smooth, delicate yet complex single malt.

Colour: Rich Straw

Nose: Complex, with a hint of fruit and vanilla

Palate: Medium, balanced with fruit, oak and spice

Finish: Lingering, with dried fruits, oak and spice.

Port

An exceptionally fine old tawny blend, aged for an average of 10 years in oak casks. Elegant and smooth, combining delicate wood notes and rich mellow fruit, it is bottled for immediate drinking.

Excellent with soft cheeses such as brie; and a superb dessert wine, particularly with dishes made with coffee or almonds, Taylor's 10 Year Old Tawny is delicious served lightly chilled at the end of the meal.

Cockburn’s Fine Tawny Port is produced from grapes grown in the lower Douro, which are less pigmented and better suited for tawny port.

From its aging in wood, Cockburn’s Fine Tawny loses some of its color and sweetness and acquires the classic nutty/butterscotch flavor of tawny port. It has a smooth full flavour with a toffee nose.

Dessert Wine

This sweet wine is a true French Sauternes-style Noble Sémillon with a distinctive New Zealand signature. Rich and intensely concentrated, it has been crafted from fully botrytised grapes from the  Korokipo vineyard in Hawke's Bay.

The wine presents a luxurious aroma of apricot, honey, citrus and almond, supported by a subtle crème brûlée richness from fermentation in French oak.

A beautifully succulent and morish dessert wine, Seifried’s Sweet Agnes is a beauty. With intense blossom and citrus peel notes and concentrated stone fruit flavours.

The cool climate enables the winemakers to obtain tight refined natural acidity. This acidity contributes a sleek minerally-acidity backbone to cleanly finish and package this stunning wine.

Alcohol Free

This artisan product is produced in the Wairarapa by Lavender's Green and is made to a traditional New Zealand recipe – a sugar syrup with fresh, organically grown and spray-free lemon juice and rind.

It is most refreshing made up with iced water, mineral water or soda, delicious with hot water (can be used as the basis of a toddy), and for grown-ups, it is delightful diluted with gin or vodka.