Tagged with 'chardonnay'

When Kingsley's Away …

First Glass 21 February 2018 
When Kingsley's Away …
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Starborough Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017
Straw in the glass where the bouquet radiates out soft tropical fruit, apple and white peach with a waft of basil. Distinctively varietal but soft rather than aggressive with flavours of pineapple, green passionfruit, citrus, apple and herbs with basil, tarragon and fennel coming to mind and increasing pungency to the long, juicy finish. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Tasca Cavalo Delle Fate Grillo 2016 – Sicily 
Straw gold in hue with a shy restrained nose and a steely, flinty, slightly chalky feel at first with moderate palate weight. It tastes bright and fresh with scintillating acidity, touches of tropical guava, apple, lemon and hot/ peppery/zesty vibes and lingering hints of tarragon on the long quenching finish.  Grillo is an Italian grape variety and this wine is a refreshing change. 13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $21.99.
 
La Crema Monterey Chardonnay 2016 – California, USA
Deep golden yellow in the glass with a light lanolin overlay to the buttery nuances infusing the soft cedary oak bouquet. Juicy peach fills the creamy palate that’s smooth and seamless in its flow with layers of butterscotch and butter caramel, well-balanced underlying acidity and a powerful finish. New vintage, new label, New Zealand winemaker. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $29.99.
 
Leveret Estate Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2015
Bright yellow gold with an abundance of tropical fruit, sweet citrus and honeysuckle filling the bouquet  and juicy in the off dry palate where touches of apricot and honey are underpinned by a crisp acid spine  while a hint of savoury salinity on the warm rounded finish adds to this youthful looking wine’s allure. Gold Medal AirNZ Wine Awards 2016. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Willy Gisselbrecht Pinot Gris 2016 – Alsace, France
Looking viscous in the glass with a light gold hue. The scent is fragrant and floral and the taste is mouthfilling and unctuous with delightful flavours of apricot, poached pear, violets and honey. The touch of sweetness sits well and it’s smooth and satisfying with a lingering finish. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Hunters Marlborough Pinot Noir Rosé 2017
Watermelon pink with a scent of candy floss and strawberry and red cherry juices following through to the lightly spicy zesty palate that has a refreshing flinty undercurrent and touches of rose hip jelly. Technically bone dry but the fruitiness belies this. Gold Medal NZIWS. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Martinborough Vineyards Te Tera Martinborough Pinot Noir 2016 
Youthful bright, burgundy hue with shimmering translucency. The haunting bouquet emanates subtle wood smoke with spice and florals, perhaps violets, and the mouthfilling taste is deeply savoury with spiced cherries and purple fruit notes. The tannins are silky and fine and the wine seems almost creamy on the captivating finish.  Gold Medal NZIWS. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Trulli Primitivo Di Manduria 2015 – Puglia, Italy
Moderately bright black red and while dark in the core of the glass it’s pinky red on the edges. The wine smells ripe, like plum jam cooking on the stove, but there’s ‘old world’ connotations brimming through too. The ripeness continues with the taste full of currants with a slight red jelly confectionary feel that’s nicely offset by the robust tannins and the meaty undercurrent. Well-structured and chewy with a warm finish and a touch of char and spice. 14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Turkey Flat Barossa Valley Grenache 2016 – South Australia
There's a violet glow to the bright purple garnet hue. The perfumed bouquet hints of red and purple fruits with perhaps a sprinkle of five spice, and the fragrance continues in the spicy, peppery palate that has firm yet supple tannins and lift to the finish where Chinese spices come again to the fore and a touch of cherry chocolate emerges. There's an incredible lightness and elegance to this old vine wine. Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy Winner 2017. 15% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $32.99.
 
Xavier Arcane XV Le Diable Mourvedre 2015 – Rhone, France
Dark red  almost translucent with pink edges. The bouquet of fresh game meat and iron is subtle and it’s meaty and savoury to the taste with rich dark plummy fruit and bright cherry. The tannins at first seem fine and accessible but pack a punch on finish. A blend of old vine Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Cote de Rhone fruit where it’s rare to see a wine solely made from Mourvedre.15% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $35.99.
 
The Willows Barossa Valley Shiraz 2014 – South Australia.
Inky black red with youthful brightness. The bouquet tantalises with its winey fragrance of berries and chocolate and it’s concentrated and spicy in the palate with chocolate and cocoa to the fore and while not as minty as we night expect from this label it has the lift, brightness and cleanness that the Willows wines always have and followers of this label won’t be disappointed.. It’s a powerful wine with harmonious oak and pillowy tannins that make it seem almost approachable but really would benefit from further cellaring. 14.9% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $27.99.

Summer Variety

First Glass 14 February 2018
Summer Variety
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
 
Tohu Nelson Pinot Gris 2017 
This golden beauty has a savoury nuance to the scent with hints of melon and bottled peach and it’s smooth flowing with a nutty apricot richness and a warm, lifted, slight peppery note to the tropical fruit finish. Oozing fruit concentration with mouthfilling textural complexity it’s Pinot Gris at the Viognier end of the spectrum. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Keltern Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Glossy citrine gold in the glass with tantalising grilled peach and hazelnut scents and lightly toasty, savoury and nutty to the taste with warmth to the compounding mouthfilling finish that oozes malt and butterscotch with the lusciousness nicely offset by juicy grapefruit acidity. Noticeably dry and flinty as it lingers – a top wine that’s still evolving and will reward with further cellaring. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $42.99.
 
Wrights Vineyard Reserve Gisborne Chardonnay 2015
There's a lime green glint to the light golden hue. The bouquet is full of sweet spices, mealy nuances and gunflint connotations and it's powerful and heady with a lightly viscous texture, sweet vanillin oak and tasty tropical fruit, mango, candied pineapple and grapefruit. Organically grown Mendoza clone chardonnay from the Ormond region (old Revington vineyard). Cuisine 5 stars. 15% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $32.99.
 
Lawson Dry Hills Marlborough Riesling 2015
This smells so bright, clean and refreshing with wafts of honeysuckle and sherbet more obvious in the lightly spritzy palate which is like a medley of citrus with a dried apple toastiness that has evolved with bottle age. It seems like a dry Riesling but the honeysuckle reins in the racy acidity and the super quenching finish is rounded and complex with phenomenal length. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Beach House Stony Beach Gravels Hawkes Bay Riesling 2017
Lemon straw in the glass with pear nectar nuances and touches of oyster shell to the bouquet. A sweeter, delicate, low alcohol style with light viscosity to the texture and racy apple and lime acidity honed in nicely by tropical fruit and mandarin honey. Balanced and long. Gold Medal and Trophy NZIWS 2017. 9.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Vavasour Marlborough Rosé 2017
This is a deep watermelon hue. The bouquet is a like a bowl of candied strawberries and the taste even more so with blueberries, red cherries and crab apple adding to the juicy medley. Made from Pinot Noir it's an off dry, low acid, lightly viscous pink with a touch of spice on the finish. It begs for a plate of antipasto. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Saint Clair Block 17 The Plateau Hawkes Bay Merlot 2016
The colour is seductive crimson black red. The bouquet entices with its vinous scent of blackberries, black Doris plums, spice and cedar and it's concentrated, sweet fruited, spicy and savoury to the taste with smooth tannins and a silky flow. The fruit is dense and ripe and there's a creamy milk chocolate character to the rounded finish. Harmonious and remarkably approachable. Finalist in the Winestate Merlot of the Year. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $20.99.
 
Cascina Bruciata di Carlo Balbo Barbaresco Nebbiolo 2012 – Piedmont, Italy
Transparent bricking red garnet in the glass. The savoury, slightly salty, slightly leathery bouquet emanates the vinosity of older wine and it seems very dry on first tasting with its huge yet fine tannin structure, dried cherry fruit, hints of dried orange peel, tobacco and sappy dandelion herbs.  Get past the dryness there's some lovely things happening as the vinosity of the wine evolves and the tannins dissolve. With an amazingly long finish that goes on and on this is a wine to sip and savour. Very true to type for the region and wonderful to experience. 14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $59.99.
 
Wirra Wirra McLaren Vale Church Block Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot 2015
Youthful red black in hue with a touch of leather infusing the dark berry and cigar box scent and well-balanced in the juicy fruity palate with loads of currants, a touch of spice, hints of mocha and a smidgen of chocolate. A well balanced dry red with soft velvety tannins and a bright, satisfying, lingering finish. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Kirrihill Regional Selection Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 
Rich black red in the glass with an enticing bouquet of chocolate coated almonds, sappy berries and just a smidgen of mint then in the mouth the tannins are fine with a silky flow. The taste conjures up chocolate coated roasted coffee beans with a satisfying depth of bright red plummy fruit, blackcurrant and blackberry and a creamy roundness to the harmonious finish. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Rockbare McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016
Inky purple crimson with a dark chocolate and prune-like scent then succulent and rounded in the palate with a harmonious, seamless, velvety flow. Very approachable from the outset with intensity of berry fruit including raspberry and cherry with creamy nut chocolate nuances and a peppery brightness to the super juicy finish. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $25.99.

older wines revisited mingled with new vintages

First Glass 7 February 2018
Older wines revisited mingled with new vintages
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Te Awa Single Estate Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
The bouquet of this citrine-hued wine is reminiscent of lightly toasted hazelnuts and stonefruit with just a hint of pineapple, and it’s smooth, creamy and nutty in the palate with lifted lemony leesy flavours that sign off with malty savoury oak that’s underlined with a lingering and very pleasing bright pineapple /peach / mandarin flourish. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Dog Point Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2017
This is a rich straw gold colour with a wild yeast / fumé nuance to the grapefruit and tropical fruit scent and the taste is full-bodied and textural with a flinty shimmer rippling through the concentrated passionfruit, mango, apple, herb and lime flavours with grapefruit again on the deliciously long quenching finish. Not an over-exaggerated style by any means. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $23.99.
 
Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2014 – NSW, Australia
Light gold in hue with an enticing bouquet of light nutty toasty notes, the most delicate suggestion of butterscotch and hints of peach but unexpectedly restrained in the more lemongrass palate that does not hint at all of its four years of age. It's a very smart, elegant, cooler climate, higher altitude, Burgundian-inspired style with underlying gunflint notes, lingering tropical fruit and nectarine and exceptional length. Will be very long lived. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $39.99.
 
Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Marlborough Chardonnay 2016
It's a light golden hue with an enticing malt, stonefruit and gunsmoke scent and terrific concentration to the profoundly flavoursome palate with deliciously juicy peach, melon and tropical fruit and toasted hazelnut lingering on the polished finish.  Of all the chardonnays tonight this is the most sociable, the most readily drinkable and the most hard to resist. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Tenuta Ulisse Terre di Chieti Pecorino 2016  - Italy
Pear and citrus fill the bouquet of this straw coloured, off dry wine that’s characterised by bright acidity and a juicy medley of citrus with a touch of honeysuckle / beeswax on the fresh, clean finish. It’s a fruity wine with substance and texture and served chilled it’s juicy and refreshing. 13% alc. Cork.. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Giesen Gemstone Limited Release Marlborough Riesling 2017
This has the most intriguing scent of pear and quince with a slightly earthy / funky  / apple skin note. It’s a little spritzy in the palate with apple sherbet and pineapple dominant tropical fruit with a touch of sweetness balancing the refreshing acidity and an apricot hint to the lingering finish. What’s unusual about this wine is fermentation and maturation in granite rock tanks. 10% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Giesen The Brothers Marlborough Pinot Noir 2015
Rich ruby garnet hue. Generous cherry and summer berry fruits fill the bouquet yet it’s surprisingly quite fresh in the palate with upfront acidity indicating it needs to be accompanied with food right now. It’s a savoury, earthy, mushroomy pinot with a little bit of grip to the tannins and fruit sweetness evolving on the finish with a touch of toasty spice.  13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Archangel Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
This has a saturated dark ruby / crimson tinged hue. There's a hint of mocha infusing the opulent bottled black cherry bouquet together with a touch of tar and char and it’s earthy and savoury to the taste with firm tannins, sappy oak and spicy notes and the sought after 'peacock tail flare’ on the finish where creamy chocolate and black forest cherry emerge. An oaky sumptuous mouthfilling pinot that leaves a great deal of satisfaction. AirNZ Pure Gold Medal.   14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $33.99.
 
Terra Sancta Shingle Beach Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
The edges are thinning on the fading ruby garnet hue. Sweet strawberry and red cherry fruit fill the bouquet with a savoury gamey undertone. It's a medium-bodied wine and quite dry on first tasting  with savoury, gamey, smoky, spicy oak and sappy herb notes, a little bit of grip to the chalky tannins and ripe red berry fruit together with violets pushing through on the satisfying, rounded, lingering finish. A versatile food matching wine. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $40.99.
 
Tenuta Ulisse Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2015 – Abruzzo, Italy
It's a bright inky crimson black hue. The concentrated bouquet has a profound depth of jammy blackberry and black cherry fruit and it’s lifted in the full-bodied palate with smoky cigar box notes, touches of vanilla and ripe bramble fruit. Rounded in its flow with the firm tannins tamed by the sumptuous fruit and there are hints of chocolate biscuits on the succulent and generous finish that’s balanced by harmonious savoury notes. Gold NZIWS 2017. 14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Chalk Hill Luna McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Bright glossy, blackberry red in the glass. Ripe dark berry fruits with a touch of eucalypt and smoky oak fill the bouquet and it’s full-bodied, sumptuous and mouthfilling to the taste with vanilla, plums, mulberries, touches of chocolate and cake spices and velvet cape tannins adding an aura of mystery and intrigue. A big wine with a powerful underlying oak presence at this youthful stage of its life. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Buller Wines Fine Old Muscat NV – Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia
Clear golden amber in the glass. The mesmerising heady bouquet is redolent of muscatel raisins, rancio and spirit and the taste is like liquid toffee nectar infused with muscatel raisins, candied peel, honey and fruit cake. It’s sweet but nicely balanced to the rancio savoury tones that come from years of maturation in old oak barrels. It’s A decadent treat. 18% alc. Cork. 750ml. First Glass Price: $41.99.

Summer Mix

First Glass 31 January 2018
Summer Mix
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
 
Daniel Le Brun Methode Traditionelle Brut NV
This straw gold bubbles made from a cuvée of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is a ripe creamy full-bodied style with a hint of pear to the scent and a nutty sweetness to the lemon bread flavours with the most subtle hint of mushroom and a flinty shimmer to the rather moreish finish. A stylish bubbles looking very good on the night. 12.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
West Brook Barrique Fermented Marlborough Chardonnay 2015
Light yellow gold in the glass with a touch of grapefruit wafting through the tropical fruit and grilled peach scent and toasty in the palate with a seamless flow. It’s creamy and malty with well-balanced acidity, masses of peach, a touch of spice on the savoury oak finish and a lingering hint of butterscotch. Very tasty. Almost everyone in the room liked it.  13.8% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
           
Simonsig Stellenbosch Chardonnay 2016 – South Africa 
Light glossy gold. A little shy on the nose with hints of melon and jubey sweet fruit. Light, mellow and creamy in the palate with a malo note coming through and a smooth flow. Savoury oak underpins the vanilla custard and apricot dominant fruit salad flavours. An easy drinker with a flavoursome finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $21.99.
 
McGuigan 'The ShortList' Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2016 – South Australia
A full-bodied reductive style with an arresting aroma of gunflint, gunsmoke, hazelnut and grapefruit zest. In the palate it’s dry and flinty with a touch of malt and cedar, complex yeast lees notes and a tropical fruit and stonefruit finish that goes on and on. A head turning wine that's very enjoyable now but will blossom even more with cellaring time. Winestate’s No.1 wine of 2017. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $29.99.
 
Anne-Laure Vin D’Alsace Pinot Gris 2015 – Alsace France
Straw in the glass and light and delicate on the nose with a luscious overtone to the pear and spice scent that carries through to the off dry palate that has substance and texture. A delightful aromatic wine with a deliciously long finish. 12.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Wooing Tree Central Otago Blondie 2017
Made from Pinot noir grapes yet the hue is a barely-there pink. The bouquet is cherry-tinged candy floss and it's fashionably just off dry to the lightly viscous taste with the hint of sweetness balancing slight herbal notes and the fizzy fruit sherbet citrussy zing. Delicious.  13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Esk Valley Hawkes Bay Merlot Rosé 2017
There's a luminosity to the spinel pink hue. The bouquet is all plum and cherry and it's quite citrussy to the ripe, juicy, thirst-quenching taste with summer berry flavours shimmying through and finishing with just a hint of anise. While followers of this label will find it much lighter in hue and palate weight than it has been in the past, it’s equally enjoyable and drinkable. Gold Medal NZIWS. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $15.99.
 
Castelforte Corvina Veronese IGT 2013 – Verona, Italy
There’s a little bricking to the Burgundy red hue, it's dusty on the nose with a hint of chocolate and there’s loads of fruity satisfaction in the palate where there is bright cherry-like fruit with a sweet jammy overtone and a touch of rose petal, tar and leather. Medium bodied with super smooth fine flowing tannins that have the slightest of grip to the finish, this fruity wine is easy to enjoy and can be lightly chilled for summer drinking. 13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Sebastiani Sonoma Country  Zinfandel 2014 – California, USA
This is an attractive dark pinky/black red hue. The bouquet overflows with berry fruit and spicy cedar that carries through to the smooth flowing palate. It’s a soft, mouthfilling, intensely fruity red with chocolate and cherry, a touch of coconut oak and just the slightest tingle of pepper and while it seems voluptuous and velvety it’s actually not too heavy. 14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Kirrihill Regional Selection Clare Valley Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
This bright inky blackberry red-hued wine has a dark chocolate biscuit and concentrated berry scent, and it's dry and firm in the palate with deep purple/red fruit and a lifted peppery vibe. It's a concentrated wine that would benefit from slosh decanting but opens up beautifully with lots of swirling. A massive wine at an irresistible price. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Molly Dooker 'The Boxer' McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Inky black red - almost impenetrable. The heady bouquet fills the senses with sumptuous chocolatey oak and concentrated black cherry.  There a firmness to the tannins but they are fine and ripe. It’s full of succulent fruit and loads of pepper and spice with underling savoury notes and creamy mocha and vanilla on the long and memorable finish. Quite simply mesmerising!  15.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $35.99.
 

The Heat Goes On

First Glass 24 January 2018
Mixed Summer Theme
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Bedin Prosecco DOC Treviso NV – Italy 
This is a soft, creamy and very approachable bubbles and even though it’s labelled ‘Extra Dry’ and seems quite dry to start there's a honeyed note to the fragrance and a very appealing touch of grapey sweetness to the foamy taste. The bottle looks good and the wine tastes good with touches of baked apple, pear and tropical guava. 11% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Tony Bish Fat and Sassy Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Quite golden in the glass, savoury on the nose and mellow to the taste with a butterscotch and salted caramel overlay to the banana tropical fruit salad flavours and a soft easy finish. People were saying 'very drinkable’ and it can be well chilled. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Church Road McDonald Series Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Light yellow gold. Gunsmoke, flint and hazelnut biscuits fill the bouquet and its warm, rich and nutty in the palate with funky yeast notes, hints of grapefruit and lingering notes of juicy melon, stone fruit and creamy oak. Fabulous value for the price and has developed beautifully since we tasted it on the Church Road night in June 2017. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Te Kairanga John Martin Martinborough Chardonnay 2015
Light gold in colour with a fragrant toasty nutty note to the more dominant stonefruit bouquet and silky in the palate with a fine textured flow. There’s lovely acidity to the wine that hints it is still evolving and will reward more with time yet with it with its creamy mouth-coating finish infused with peach and dried apricot it’s satisfying to swirl, sip and savour now. Winemaker John Kavanagh (ex Neudorf) has made a head turning wine. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $30.99.
 
Peregrine Central Otago Pinot Gris 2016
Straw gold in hue, a concentrated pear drop bouquet with a shimmy of spice and just off dry to the taste with true-to-variety pear and quince flavours infused with fresh apple acidity and richness to the long creamy finish. A crowd pleasing style. Gold NZIWS. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $25.99.
 
Mt Maude Vineyard Maude East Block Central Otago Riesling 2017
There's a wet rock after summer rain and a lime nuance to the scent and a tickle of spritz to the lime zest, nectarine and honeysuckle taste which is heading towards medium in sweetness level – like a German spatlese riesling – with acidity and sweetness in impeccable harmony. It seems light and delicate yet there is understated substance. I think it’s just delightful. 10.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $25.99.
 
Maison Fortant Rosé de Provence 2016 – Provence, France 
This has an onion skin hue with tinges of pink, it’s quite savoury on the nose and initially seems very dry to the foremost savoury taste with fresh lemon/apple acidity and a slight herbal note to the finish where a touch of sweetness emerges and the lingering impression is juicy. Not a fruity Rosé in any respects because this is from Provence where wine and food are served together and this attractively presented Rosé definitely needs food to sing. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Invivo Michelle's Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016
This Bannockburn pinot is seductive and generous with a dark burgundy hue, a bouquet of spiced bottled cherries, plum jam and subtle woodsmoke and is full of flavour in the ripe, succulent, summer berry fruit palate. Tannins are pillowy with a velvet veneer and there's beautifully balanced spicy oak underpinning the wine all the way through and coming more to the fore on the deliciously long finish. Served ever so slightly chilled on the hot January night it was perfect. Gold and Trophy NZIWS 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $38.99.
 
Lurton Piedra Negra Gran Malbec 2011 – Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina 
Inky blackberry red with a mirror-like sheen.  A heady, concentrated aroma of raspberry, redcurrant, plum and cedar. High-toned in the palate with sumptuous fruit, leather, tobacco and cake spice. A big wine with big tannins yet fine in its flow with fresh acidity that cuts through the succulent, winey, alcohol-driven sweetness leaving behind pure fruit concentration. Dangerously delicious. 15.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel 2015 – California, USA
This more medium-bodied wine is a fading red black colour with moderate depth.  It has a soft, mellow red fruit bouquet and the taste its quite fruity, perhaps a little confectionary with soft velvet-edged tannins, vanillin oak and underlying herbal spicy notes. Not a big jammy blockbuster just nicely balanced, soft and very pleasant to drink. 14.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 

St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 – South Australia
Dark red black, looking youthful but with a watery edge suggesting a little age. The bouquet is quintessential cabernet with eucalypt, mint, cigar box, blackcurrant and cedar.  Tannins are firm with the fabulous berry taste welling up and lovely underlying sappy, savoury, cedary notes all the way through. Perhaps even a suggestion of marmite. A classic label at a great price and still developing so if you are looking for wines to cellar you can’t go wrong with this. 14.1% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $33.99.

Terrific BBQ Wines

First Glass Wine Education Evening 17 January 2018
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Luna Argenta Prosecco DOC Brut NV – Italy
This is a white gold hue with fine bubbles forming a lacy rim. There's the merest hint of vanilla to the apple skin scent and lots of upfront fizz to the crisp steely taste with creamy apple and tropical guava fruit lingering on the long, dry, refreshing finish. Very pleasant with attractive bottle presentation. 11% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Villa Maria Reserve Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2017 – Awatere Valley, Marlborough
It's a lustrous pale gold hue and the aroma is bright and tangy with pineapple, passionfruit and summer herbs wafting out of the glass. The taste is fresh and invigorating with tropical fruit, grapefruit, peach and pungent herb flavours and an intense and terrifically long aftertaste. Gold NZIWS. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $21.99.
 
Alchemy Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2015
Bright yellow gold in the glass with a butterscotch-coated stonefruit aroma and hints of gunflint and citrus. It’s soft, seamless and almost creamy with butterscotch and honeyed oak nuances, yet desirably dry with brightness to the finish. Served with only light chilling on the night, it really enhanced the texture and the mellow caramel and stonefruit flavours, which makes it hard to resist. Gold Medal NZIWS. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $25.99.
 
Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve Bay View Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Tempting hazelnut and vanilla leesy notes fill the bouquet of this bright golden coloured wine. It’s one of those flinty reductive styles with loads of intrigue and fascination and while it seems quite linear to start with lifted lemon biscuit acidity, it’s actually quite mouthfilling and complex with elegant stonefruit and a spicy inflection to the cedary oak on the finish. Lovely to try now but will excel with a little more maturity. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $31.99.
 
Tiki Estate Waipara Pinot Gris 2016
Straw gold with honey, spice and orange blossom aromas – a touch of botrytis I sense that comes through in the beautifully balanced palate with honey and spice and pear drop flavours and fresh apple brightness to the finish. With its lusciousness and texture it will be universally appealing. Very popular on the night. Gold Medal NZIWS. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Gibbston Valley GV Collection Central Otago Riesling 2016
Light glossy gold with a touch of honeysuckle to the scent and maybe the merest hint of kero. It's searingly dry with racy lime and green apple acidity yet leaves behind a juicy and quenching aftertaste. It really does need food if you want to drink now – fish and chips would be perfect – or take the punt on cellaring for several years because it will morph into something absolutely magnificent. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Gibbston Valley GV Collection Central Otago Rosé 2017
A delightful watermelon pink colour with an almost iridescent glow, the bouquet is suggestive of summer berries and it is just off dry to the taste which makes it so approachable and appealing. It’s full of plum and strawberry fruit with a long creamy finish and served chilled it is deliciously quenching. Gold Medal NZIWS. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Alexander Dusty Road Martinborough Pinot Noir 2016
Deep rich youthful pinot noir hue. Generous bouquet of ripe cherry with just the most subtle nuance of chocolate. The tannins are supple and silky upfront yet firm on the finish, the fruit is dark, there's a touch of warmed spices and brightness to the finish with a well-balanced underlying savouriness coming through. A medium to full-bodied very drinkable pinot with a mellow, easy going aura.  Gold NZIWS. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $23.99.
 
Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine Cotes du Rhone 2015 – Rhone Valley, France
This is a fairly translucent light red-black colour that’s fading on the edges.The bouquet is soft, almost chocolatey with a touch of dark jammy fruit and just a little bit of oak char and it’s smooth and mouthcoating in the palate with generous blackberry and raspberry fruit and a long warm finish with a subtle tarry note adding well-balanced savoury rusticity.  A blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Kingston Valley Clare Valley Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
This rich inky blackberry red hued shiraz has a warm rich inviting smoky aroma promising vinous pleasure. Velvety tannins shroud the rich plum and dark cherry fruit with a slightly tarry undercurrent and a long creamy finish with touches of chocolate. Superb value for summer BBQ drinking. Gold Medal NZIWS. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Peter Lehmann 'The Barossan' Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015 – South Australia
Deep dark red with an inviting aroma of berries, cedar and mint. It's a juicy, succulent, mouthfilling shiraz full of mint, chocolate, berries and spice with warm supple tannins that impart a velvety smooth flow and a long creamy finish tinged with vanilla. Irresistible wine and for many the wine of the night. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.

Welcome to 2018

First Glass 10 January 2018 
Welcome to 2018 with new vintages of previously successful wines
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Delaplace Vintage Champagne 2012 
Golden coloured with the tiniest bubbles, a tantalising nutty yeasty aroma and a crisp, lemon biscuit yeasty taste with vibrant fizz and just a hint of marmite in the savoury tones that come through. A delicious and very drinkable champagne that’s long and creamy with a satisfying lemony aftertaste and a lightly honeyed overlay. Fantastic way to start the tasting year. 12% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2016 – California, USA
Moderate gold in colour with a hot buttered toast aroma embossed with peach and vanilla and tropical and fleshy stone fruit in the palate. It’s smooth and mellow with a zesty vibe, underlying savouriness and a very long creamy finish. 13.5 % alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Selaks Founders Limited Edition Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Light gold in hue with an intoxicating toasted oak and mealy biscuity aroma and a fresh, mouthfilling, flavoursome taste with a malty richness, a toffee caramel smoothness and loads of peach and nectarine fruit that fleshes out the finish and reins in the cedary oak. A youthful wine with excellent potential to develop. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Mount Difficulty Roaring Meg Central Otago Pinot Gris 2017
Light gold in colour with a bright stewed apple and pear aroma, and poached spiced pear in the textural palate with a whisper of viper’s bugloss honey. It's off dry heading toward medium in sweetness level with refreshing acidity and loads of flavour. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Giesen New Zealand Riesling 2016
This bright lemon gold coloured wine is beautifully perfumed with honeysuckle and sweet citrus. It's one of those juicy and deliciously refreshing lower alcohol, Mosel-inspired styles with moderate sweetness offset by quenching apple-like acidity and a lingering zesty zing. Serve chilled to the bones at this time of year. 10% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $12.99.
 
Two Rivers Isle of Beauty Marlborough Rosé 2017
A trendy light salmon hue with berry aromas and a crisp dry steely taste – probably a little more European influenced than some of the ones we have been enjoying at First Glass lately. There’s hints of black cherry, blackcurrant and pepper and an exceptionally long, lingering aftertaste that is juicy and satisfying. 12.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Lake Hayes Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016 
Youthful purple translucent red with a fragrant and generous bouquet full of black cherry fruit and gamey savoury notes that follow through to the silky palate. It’s warm and spicy with a medley of juicy berry fruit, just a little bit of grip to the tannins and a long creamy finish. A lighter style red that’s soft, smooth and very tasty and would benefit from a little chilling on a scorching summer day. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $27.99.
 
Castano Hecula Monastrell 2015 – Yecla, Spain 
This is a dark red colour, the bouquet is savoury and earthy with a waft of leather, sweet spiced tobacco, some kind of bramble berry and a hint of mocha. The taste is mellow and spicy with underlying earthiness and a smooth tannin flow.  A medium-bodied food friendly red with light tannins and a juicy finish.  14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Sisters Run McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016 – South Australia
Inky blackberry red with crushed chocolate biscuit aromas – dark chocolate with a bit of toast. Smooth flowing in the spicy, creamy, savoury palate that’s accented with  pepper and crammed with juicy red and black cherry fruit together with plums and mulberries and lingering chocolate notes. It seems a little young but the sweetness of the fruit makes it seem very drinkable. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Wirra Wirra Woodhenge Basket Press McLaren Vale Shiraz 2015 – South Australia 
Shiny inky blackberry red with a tantalising bouquet of Shiraz spices, vanillin oak and berry fruit. Sappy cedary oak is prominent at first to the taste but the opulence of the focused berry fruit takes over. A gorgeous, full-bodied, lifted red with a long creamy finish and a lovely fine tannin structure that underpins the seductively smooth flow. Gold NZIWS. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $28.99.
 
Belasco De Baquedano Swinto Old Vine Malbec 2012 – Mendoza, Argentina
The subtle tawny aura to the deep purple red hue suggests a little age. The opulent bouquet is velvety with concentrated bramble berries and perhaps a soupçon of mint and the taste is mouthfilling and sumptuous. It’s a heady wine with loads of oak and masses of fruit, jam, earth and tobacco and while its seems so smooth at first the tannins kick in on the ultra long finish. Should be a very long lived wine. 15% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $46.99.