Tagged with 'harken'

Australia versus New Zealand on ANZAC Day

First Glass 25 April 2018 
Australia versus New Zealand on ANZAC Day
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Kirrihill Regional Selection Clare Valley Riesling 2016
Golden coloured with a bright lime-scented aroma and a hint of toastiness to the quiveringly dry taste. This is classic Clare with flavours of lime, talc and honeysuckle florals, a touch of oiliness to the texture and concentration to the finish. 11.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Mount Pleasant 'Elizabeth' Hunter Valley Semillon 2016 – NSW, Australia
Straw gold with wispy floral aromas infused with the slightest hint of apricot, and a touch of salinity to the flinty taste with yellow apple joining the delicate apricot that imparts the finish with fruit sweetness. A subtle style and very different to the ones held for 5 years before release, this begs to be accompanied with seafood. 10% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Aronui Single Vineyard Nelson Albarino 2016
There's a hint of beeswax and toast to the scent of this light yellow gold hued wine. It’s tropical fruity and creamy with mealy, leesy notes and a honeyed nuance to the full, smooth finish.  13.5 % alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Wolf Blass Gold Label Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015 – South Australia
There’s an appealing sense of vanilla and malt on the nose that follows through to the palate that’s full, fat and rounded with a mealy richness, sweet ripe fruit reminiscent of white peach and apricot, underlying flinty notes and a spicy zesty zing to the long, mouthfilling finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Mission Jewelstone Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
Golden in the glass with hints of roasted pineapple  / pineapple wood on the nose while tropical fruit abounds in the palate. It’s oaky, sappy, and very very dry with a flinty character to the dusty finish and underlying mealy notes adding richness. Closed with natural cork again Mission believes it will impart more complexity with ageing.  13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $35.99.
 
Akarua Rua Central Otago Pinot Noir 2017
This bright, smooth, tasty pinot is a brilliant violet-edged ruby in the glass with seductive smoky nuances to the scent and touches of anise, spiced cherry and red guava in the palate with harmonious savoury gamey tones moseying about in the background where firm youthful tannins are tamed by the succulent fruit. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Tolpuddle Vineyard  Pinot Noir 2016 – Tasmania, Australia
A translucent pink garnet in the glass with a delicate bouquet hinting of dried herbs, rose pot pourri and red cherry. An ethereal pinot with fine silky tannins and seemingly subtle yet increasingly complex old-school, earthy, savoury, spicy notes with compounding richness and mouthfeel, just the right amount of fruit sweetness and fabulous length. A wonderful nod to Burgundy.  13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $58.99.
 
Take it to the Grave Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2016  – South Australia
Bright black red with crimson-pink edges. Earth, savoury and just a little tarry on the nose more akin to a cool climate wine until deep dark berry sweetness unfurls from within. Similarly in the palate it seems tight, herbal, firm and savoury then, like on the nose, the succulent fruit breaks through and all the while a bright and delicately peppered spiciness glides through. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
The Landing Bay of Islands  Syrah 2013 – Northland, NZ 
This bright black-red hued Syrah is a big wine, the only indication of its age the mellow character that frames it. Green pepper and dried herb aromas mingle with the scent of chocolate-coated berries and syruppy chocolate is foremost in the firm dry palate with dark plums, pepper, mocha and vanilla adding to the sumptuous complexity with creamy oak a feature on the silky finish. Gold Easter Show. 13.7% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $35.99.
 
Coopers Creek Reserve Hawkes Bay Syrah 2016
This is a deep dark red in the glass with crimson edges. The bouquet emanates blackcurrants, leather and cedar while black pepper is harmonious in the dry yet silky, succulent palate that’s full of dark fruit, dark oak, cake spices and liquorice with a youthful brightness to the finish. Trophy AirNZ Wine Awards. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
Heartland Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2014 – South Australia
Black red, silky in appearance. Super attractive bouquet of vanillin oak, spice, chocolate and cherries and smooth, creamy and juicy in the palate that’s crammed with black plums, blackberry, chocolate and vanilla with a well-balanced spicy savoury undercurrent, pillowy tannins and a long succulent aftertaste. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.

Pinot Passion

First Glass 11 April 2018
Pinot Passion
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Leveret Estate Hawkes Bay Reserve Chardonnay 2014
Tasted chilled on the first cold night of the year this four-year-old comes across as bright and fresh with a touch of oyster shell and a hint of smoke to the tropical fruit scent and more tropical fruit in the palate that's lightly creamy with a bright finish. Gold Hawkes Bay. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Mission Estate Barrique Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016
This is a smooth, medium to full-bodied style with lemony, malo notes to the bouquet and upfront savouriness to the taste with just a touch of zest and ripe stonefruit fleshing out the very dry finish with a nice touch of butterscotch emerging to linger. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Harken Barrique Fermented California Chardonnay 2016 – California, USA
From the creamy vanilla biscuit aroma to the complex leesy full-bodied palate this oozes flavour and character. It's mouthfilling, mouth coating and mouth enveloping with tropical fruit bursts, banana bikes, pineapple and caramel with harmonious buttery oak and a creamy sweetness to the tasty finish. Verging on irresistible. 13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Misha's Vineyard Limelight Central Otago Riesling 2014
The earthy / slatey / limey / honeyed bouquet with lashings of kero is so expressive and totally en pointe for this off dry to medium Riesling with flavours of apple, honey and touches of tarragon and a crisp clean mouthfilling finish. Complex, full, concentrated and tasty with the 33 g/l residual sugar balanced by refreshing acidity. 10.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $26.99.
 
Aronui Single Vineyard Nelson Pinot Noir 2015
Bright ruby with luminous translucency. There's richness to the cherry scent with touches of dried herb and woodsmoke, and complexity to the fruit driven yet savoury flavours with a nuance of smoky bacon coming through. It's soft and velvety and full of flavour. Upper Moutere fruit. Fabulous value. Gold Easter Show. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Main Divide North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2014
Dark ruby heading towards garnet. The bouquet offers up bramble fruit with savoury, slightly herbal nuances and it is full of ripe berry fruit flavours in the firm yet silky palate with classical savoury, smoky, earthy, gamey vibes and appealing fruit sweetness to the lively finish. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $22.99.
 
Russian Jack Martinborough Pinot Noir 2016
Brightly hued with a touch of barnyard on the nose but full of bright fruit that is a little reminiscent of raspberry in the silky palate that features sensual savoury undertones. It's still youthful with a spark of acidity and firmness to the finish. Made by Martinborough Vineyards. Gold New World, Gold Easter Show.  14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.
 
Maude Estate Central Otago Pinot Noir 2016
Ruby hued, clear and bright. The deep fruited aroma suggests plum and blueberry with harmonious yet subtle spicy oak, and it’s wonderfully concentrated in the creamy palate with Christmas cake spices, bottled cherries, plums and hints of chocolate on the long, full-bodied and increasingly complex finish. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $32.99.
 
Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Marlborough Pinot Noir 2016
Dark ruby hued with a  lovely savoury expression of pinot both on the nose and in the palate that’s full of dark fruit and lovely savoury gamey notes with beautifully balanced smoky oak . It's smooth and complex with silky tannins and a long firm finish. Very impressive. 13% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Mission Estate Jewelstone 'Antione' Hawkes Bay 2016
Dark red black in hue with considerable density. The bright blackcurrant and plum aroma is infused with smoky oak and it’s full-bodied and concentrated in the palate with dark savoury notes, sappy herbs, oak spice, ripe juicy fruit, firm yet pillowy tannins and a gobsmacking succulent finish with nuances of mint adding brightness. Made from predominantly Merlot with a touch of Cab Sauv and Cab Franc, it’s stylish and memorable.  14% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
A Good Dirt Barossa Shiraz 2015 – South Australia
Dark red black in hue with savouriness coming through on the nose to balance the dark, concentrated, ripe, almost jammy fruit scents and super ripe in the palate with touches of mint, savoury oak notes and iodine underpinning the succulent plum and blackberry fruit with touches of vanilla, mocha and chocolate. Velvety in its flow with a rounded finish. 14.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $18.99.