Tamdhu Batch Strength #5 59.8% 700mlRRP $142.99 - Special $129.99The cask strength non-age statement (NAS) distillery bottling has become a bit of a thing really and is often a great place to start if you’re looking for value for money. Pioneered by Glenfarclas with their release of the 105 bottled at 60% ABV back in 1968 - now there are many distilleries with a similar high strength release. They’re often that good that you sort of wonder why there aren’t more official releases at this price and quality but then I guess it’s all to do with the overheads of...

Tuscany is one of the world’s most famous and famously romantic wine regions, a place where food and wine are as inseparable as Bonnie and Clyde or morning and espresso. The very name Tuscany is evocative of purple hued sunsets, cypress tree dotted hillsides and hazy morning skies. Its immaculately  groomed landscapes, 500 year old villas and hilltop fortresses are as famous as its rustic cuisine where cingale (wild boar) and a large glass of Chianti Classico are intricately interwoven. Chianti Classico is, along with Brunello, one of the two the highest quality expressions of the classic wines from this region, but are often misunderstood. So...

I love Bordeaux. I was wooed by the pomp and circumstance of the Cru Classé system as an impressionable twenty something and, arguably, it was Bordeaux that really got me into wine. However, one thing I don’t particularly like about this most French of regions is the price. I’ve tried buying cheap Bordeaux and it’s a dangerous game, typically becoming a disastrous study in the effects of vegetal pyrazines and under ripeness. But, not so with this Château de Pitray. It’s $29.99 on special at the moment and, yes, I’m aware this might not be cheap to everyone, but it’s...

We are living in an uncertain world right now but one of the growing trends we can rely on is the seemingly exponential rise in the number of organically certified consumable products. Our shelves are positively bending under their weight and it's easy to spot the organically certified wines we have in store now by looking for the green tags we have fixed onto the names. This is the fourth New Zealand Organic Wine Week. It runs until Sunday 26 September and we can all expect to see plenty of promotion online as well as in stores who embrace the green message....

One of Italy's great reds, aged for at least five years before release? If you had to name a top Italian red that's typically aged far longer than most wines and which comes from a small hillside appellation with a climate that's both alpine and Mediterranean, what would it be? If you said Brunello di Montalcino, then full marks. Not that it's a competition. This quirky, high quality, small volume, full bodied dry red is one of the great wines of the world and comes from a tiny area which is defined as a DOCG. This is the  highest classification for a defined wine region in Italy...