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Most famous Cabernet Franc from Loire

by Joelle Thomson on Aug 11, 2022
Domaine Olga Raffault is one of the Loire Valley's most respected wine producers and, excitingly, the home to our newest French wines in store. All of the wines are certified organic and all grapes are hand picked, destemmed and fermented with wild yeasts.  The wines  Chenin and Chinon sound eerily similar but they couldn't be more different.  The dry flinty whites made from Chenin Blanc here are incredibly refreshing, concentrated wines while Chinon AC is an appellation controlee dedicated to the Cabernet Franc grape; a smooth, structured and spicy red grape best known in Bordeaux.  Meet Chenin and Chinon All of the Olga Raffault wines are certified organic, hand picked, minimally treated in the winery and fermented using wild yeasts.  2021 Olga Raffault Chinon AC RRP $34.99 Cabernet Franc from a single vineyard site, organically certified and hand harvested. A great introduction from an iconic producer into Loire Cabernet Franc's spicy refreshing charms. Can even be served lightly chilled. 2016 Olga Raffault Chinon Picasses RRP $51.99 One of the greatest Cabernet Francs made in this part of France. Deep blackberries and blackcurrant leaf aromas lead into a structured, broadly mouthfilling wine with refreshing succulence and velvet smooth appeal.  2019 Olga Raffault Chinon Barnabes RRP $37.99 Another great Cabernet Franc from Olga Raffault, made from a single vineyard site, showing strength and power as well as elegance.  2017 Olga Raffault Champ-Chenin RRP $68.99 Freshness doesn't come better than Chenin Blanc, especially from such an outstanding producer as this one.  Buy Olga Raffault wines here The story of the winery is a bittersweet tale of a couple working together, until one of them died just prior to harvest in 1947. That couple were Olga and Pierre Raffault. She was left with two small children when he passed away but she was helped by a German refugee, Ernest Zenninger, who worked for her after World War II. He stayed on, became the winemaker and worked closely with the family, until Olga's children took over the winemaking.

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Join Organic Wine Week - 19 to 25 September

by Joelle Thomson on Aug 09, 2022
This year is the fifth Organic Wine Week in New Zealand and it's looming faster than you can read this and pour yourself a glass of wine. The event is run by Organic Winegrowers New Zealand and this year it runs from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 September. Organic winemakers can only use the 'o' word, if their grapes and winemaking practices are certified organic. Most of the time this is by BioGro New Zealand but other independent organisations can also approve organic certified practices. The tastings, activities and events nwill run throughout the country, including organic wine tastings at Regional Wines where we will have a focus on high quality certified organic wines from around the world.    Join us in store and online for our organic wine focus from Monday 19 September for the week.  Read our newsletter each week (free to sign up to, if you haven't already) for more on the tastings we'll hold to promote this great week on the New Zealand wine calendar.  Organic Wine Week is an opportunity for people from all over the globe to come together to share, learn and sample New Zealand organic wine. “There has been a major upswing in demand for organic wine over recent years and the conversation is definitely changing in favour of organics.  Consumers want to know what is going into their wine, where it comes from, how it is grown and the impact on the environment,” says Clive Dougall, chair of the producers’ association Organic Winegrowers New Zealand. Buy organic wines here  

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Meet The Marlborist - wild yeast, full malo, subtle Grande Sauvignon

by Joelle Thomson on Aug 09, 2022
Meet The Marlbororist Grande Sauvignon. A collaboration between three friends led to the creation of Marlborough's newest dry white wine and it's not the usual style from this country's biggest white wine region. A portion of whole bunch fermentation, wild yeasts and full malolactic all adding creamy bells and subtle nuances to the lively and lovely new The Marlborist Grande Sauvignon. It is in store now and superbly tasty - buy The Marlborist here. And read on to learn more.  The friends are Richard Ellis, winemaker; Stuart Dudley, viticulturist and David Nash, brand man.  The Marlborist Grande Sauvignon RRP $37.99  The newly launched 2021 The Marlborist Grande Sauvignon is a creamy, fresh and soft take on the country's most popular white grape - Sauvignon Blanc It has all the flavours that make it recognisable as Sauvignon Blanc but it's also imbued with complexity from fermentation in a mixture of older French barrels and older French oak puncheons (300 litres) in which the wine went through spontaneous malolactic fermentation with what Ellis describes as "occasional lees stirring", a winemaking technique also known as battonage which builds texture and mouthfeel into this wine. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered to retain flavour and mouthfeel. "The 2021 year was arguably one of the best vintages in recent times and our latest release provide a good indication as to the direction The Marlborist wines are headed," says Ellis.  We have two of The Marlborist wines in store at Regional Wines & Spirits, the new 2021 The Marlborist Grande Sauvignon and the 2020 The Marlborist Chardonnay. "A gentle, hands off approach is applied in the winery with the aim of creating beautifully expressive, elegant wines that reflect and respect the site, the season and the region," says Ellis.  The new 2021 The Marlborist Chardonnay is a subtly smooth, full bodied and bone dry white with oatmeal nuances and a creamy mouthfeel, layers of fresh citrusy flavour and a lingering fresh finish.  * Both of these dry full bodied white are in store at Regional now Buy The Marlborist Chardonnay and Grande Sauvignon here
Fremont Baxter Cold IPA and the rise of the light and lagery...

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Fremont Baxter Cold IPA and the rise of the light and lagery...

by John Shearlock on Aug 08, 2022
There’s a saying that every dog has its day and going by the chit chat in current beer circles - at this moment in time, that dog would seem to be lager. And yet, this lager dog (sorry, sounds a bit strange I know… but stick with me on this one) isn’t exactly what I’d call a pure breed.Brut IPAs and IPLs are part of the recent trend; one a hoppy beer made in a dryer lager-like style and the other, a lager pumped full of hops to bring it closer to an IPA. So, we’ve apparently decided we like lager - but we just want those lagers to be big and hoppy and more like an IPA - less like a lager. Fair enough.The Cold IPA continues the theme, which is essentially about creating lighter styles, that are still brimming with flavour and yet possess the drinkability to induce the next sip. The style was created by Kevin Davey, brewmaster at Wayfinder in Portland, which - funnily enough - is famous for its lager-centric brewing, making lagers and IPAs in equal amounts. The perfect hot bed for a lager/IPA crossbreed one might say!Kevin Dacey wanted to create a drier styled IPA with big hops and a clean finish and he did this through a combination of techniques. First he added the old faithful American adjuncts of corn and rice into the mash bill to provide a certain leanness and balance. Then he deployed lager yeast and fermented warm so as to avoid high levels of So2. Both of these techniques allow hops to shine through and so, of course, his last move was to dry hop at the tail end of the fermentation. Voila, the Cold IPA was born (or should it be a Warm Lager??) - its first incarnation being Relapse IPA (which also sports some super sexy can art too). The style is now drifting around the world and, no doubt, evolving as we speak.Which brings us to our Fremont Baxter Cold IPA. Here, the hop mix is different and 2-Row Pale and Pilsner malts have been joined by flaked corn, but no rice. Baxter, according to the brewery, is named after the pets of Fremont Brewery and that 'Love is a four-legged word'. Which brings us squarely and oddly back to our lager dog.Let’s see what it’s like.It’s a pale amber colour in the glass. The nose is lighter than I expected but maybe that’s the corn element diluting the malt and the absence of ale yeast esters. Nevertheless, there is a decent smattering of juicy citrus and apricot fruit which is seasoned with green, vegetal hop notes. It’s beautifully clean and the lightness continues into the palate which has more sweetness than I expected too and which is presumably thanks to juicy hop sweetness and possibly some impact from the corn, seeing as the malt is very much playing second fiddle to the hops. A totally intriguing brew this one, which does feel new, different and somehow familiar at the same time. It certainly has a clean quaffability that quite a few IPAs don’t possess, or do, but lose about half way down the glass.The ebb and flow of drinks styles is always fun to watch and, although what is essentially a big hoppy style, doesn’t sound like anything new - the Cold IPA and the current fad for all things light and lagery may well be proof that the tide is finally turning in the beer world. Our love affair with big, adjunct heavy, mashed up and mixed up craziness hasn’t exactly disappeared - but our collective palate certainly seems to be opening up to elegance and lightness once again. Amen to that. Buy here

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Trends in whisky...

by John Shearlock on Jul 27, 2022
Whisky is an industry steeped in tradition but at the moment, change is in the air.With new distilleries appearing all around the world and an apparent insatiable thirst for the stuff, the market has become increasingly crowded and cluttered, which is pushing a need to differentiate and diversify.

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A bubbly tale from Marlborough

by Joelle Thomson on Jul 25, 2022
Diamond Heart is brand new in store at Regional and is full bodied, impressively creamy new bubbly made the same way as champagne but from grapes grown in New Zealand's biggest wine region, Marlborough. This tasty new wine is made from world's most popular white grape variety - Chardonnay. Marisco Wines founder, Brent Marris, was drinking a glass of champagne when he was inspired to try producing his own high quality bubbly.  The story has its genesis in 2017 and is a tale of less than six degrees of separation. Brent Marris was having lunch with his senior winemaker Jeremy Brown, enjoying a glass of bubbly under the Highfield Fizz label. It turns out that Brown been involved this bubbly and Drapier was the original consulting Champagne house used by Highfield to develop the fizz programme”   It turns out that Brown made this bubbly, which inspired Marris to throw down the gauntlet in a challenge to produce a similar style of wine from Marlborough. Long discussions and lots of research followed, only this time it was research into sites and soil types that would be most suitable for the production of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; the queen and king of champagne grapes.  Fast forward five years and there are now two bubblies made by Marisco Wines, both from Marlborough grapes. We selected one for our sparkling wine shelves - at least initially - and we chose this beautiful blanc de blanc, which is French for white of and means that the wine is made entirely from the Chardonnay grape.  Most winemakers enjoy a challenge and for Jeremy Brown, it was a full circle one that combined his New Zealand winemaking expertise with his experience of making wine in France.  Buy Marisco Blanc de Blancs Diamond Heart RRP $43.99 here

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Journey through Spain at Regional Wines

by Joelle Thomson on Jul 23, 2022
Spanish wine is hot. It is literally as well as figuratively steaming. It is the produce of an intensely arid, sun baked land, Spanish vino is nearly all grown on dry earth in regions with low rainfall and is most famous for soft, smooth wines with immediate appeal and approachability. Its new wave Chardonnays and super good value Cavas (bubbly made the same way as champagne, only aged for a shorter period of time) are among the many treasures that offer great value for money. The zesty cooler whites from the north west corner of the country are the only ones to benefit from a maritime climate and mostly famous for Albarino, but other intriguing whites and lighter bodied reds also come from there.  Which brings us to our new winery of the month, a modern company with deep roots, owned by the maverick winemaker, Telmo Rodriguez. That company is called Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodrigue and it was established in 1994 The aim of the game was to re establish old vineyards full of native Spanish grape varieties in forgotten regions where wines could be made using modern and ancient methods. This means that stainless steel and concrete fermentation vats co exist happily alongside the occasional new oak and, far more frequently, large old oak foudres and barrels in varying sizes. No oak is a strong theme in these wines, as you will discover when journey through Spain with us this month.  Our wine tour of Spain will take us through the regions of Navarra, Rueda, Alicante, Toro, Aragón, Valedorras and Cigales where we will taste Tinta de Toro (aka Tempranillo), Garnacha, Monastrell, MencÍa, Verdejo, Viura and Godello, among other grapes.  Spanish tastings Wine Wednesdays Join us on Wine Wednesdays every week in store to taste Spanish and other wines we have open - we are bringing the Coravin back in store and look forward to seeing you.  And wait there's more... Saturday 27 August from 2pm onwards  Join us store for a complementary taste of Telmo Rodriguez wines, hosted by myself and Georgia Limacher of Vintners NZ, which imports these wines.  Spanish wine highlights 2019 Telmo Rodriguez Corriente RRP $30.99 / Special $28.99 Buy here Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano grapes grown on bush vines create the dark, delicious stewed fruit complexity in this full bodied Rioja. It's made from vineyards in the cool Lanciego area in Rioja Alavesa on flat shallow soils on stony ground with low fertility, which typically leads to impressive fruit concentration, which certainly shines in this wine. Flavours of blackcurrant, plum and dried fruits are supported by smoothness from aging in a combination of large and small oak barrels and foudres, of varying ages. This adds delicious notes fudge and vanilla to the exciting structure and taste of this wine. 2020 Telmo Rodriguez Gaba Do Xil Godello $31.99 Special $29.99 Buy here Godello is a white grape that is native to Spain and most at home in Valdeorras DO in Galicia, north west Spain. This region boasts a mixture of maritime and continental climates with high rainfall and high altitude enabling the retention of concentrated flavours of zesty citrus alongside dry, full bodied wine styles. Sign up to our newsletter and join us in store for more... 
Firestone Walker Hopnosis IPA and the rise of Cryo Hops

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Firestone Walker Hopnosis IPA and the rise of Cryo Hops

by John Shearlock on Jul 18, 2022
Today’s beer scene is one of constant innovation and change and as the number of new breweries and customers swells in size, the need to keep offering new styles, expressions and variations increases.Firestone Walker were there in the mid 90s when the current craft scene began its ascent and have been going strong for over 25 years. The original brewery was located on a family vineyard in Los Olivos, California and the beer to get them on their way was the Double Barrel Ale (which you can read more about here). It was made in a patented variation of the Burton union system and set out the brewery’s stool as serious brewers using traditional techniques to make modern beersMatt Brynildson joined as brewmaster in 2001 and things really began to heat up for the brewery with Matt being named Champion Brewmaster four times at the World Beer Cup and Brewer of the Year six times no less.Hopnosis is one of Firestone’s more recent offerings and could be seen as an escalation in the IPA hop arms race that seems to be gathering pace round the world. This brew ups the hop ante by making full use of one of beer's latest innovations - the Cryo Hop. Think of these as concentrated Lupulin pellets if you like - resinous nuggets heavy in aromatic and bitter compounds where the ratio of lupulin (extracted from pollen-like lupulin glands in the middle of the hop cones) to green leaf material is much higher.In Matt Brynildsons words Cryo Hops “provide intense hop flavour and aroma, enabling us to efficiently produce a highly delicious and more sustainable beer.” This sounds great right - big flavours made with an extraction process that essentially creates more from less hops - and takes some of the pressure off the farmers.Let’s give it a whirl…Pours a lovely amber gold with a white head. Boom - the nose is dank alright - but not like a musty old basement - this is juicy hop expression at its best with layers that unfold. First it’s sweet sherbet and citrus, followed by tropical notes of pineapple and guava and then fresh tobacco, earth, spearmint and pine. You can really get lost in this one. The palate offers much of the above and has a lovely lifted, ethereal cleanliness about it - with bright white bitterness and fruitiness that speaks more of hops than of malt.Well, those Cryo Hops have certainly done the job on this beer, which is really rather splendid, and will bring a smile to any IPA enthusiast. Intense is certainly the right word with bucket loads of concentration.Innovation in brewing such as the Cryo Hop might not exactly be the application of cutting edge science, but it doesn't need to be. Beer is steeped in thousands of years of tradition and anything that maintains a sense of authenticity but delivers enhancements to flavour and stunning brews is certainly most welcome.

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New special Prophet's Rock Pinot Noir

by Joelle Thomson on Jul 15, 2022
Olearia is the newest addition to Prophet's Rock Pinot Noirs and is at home in our fine wine cabinet after we discovered it in June at Winetopia. This lovely dark, earthy Pinot Noir is made from a small section of grapes grown on the steepest part of the Rocky Point Vineyard in Bendigo where schist soils dominate the ground and an earthy, dark wine is the result. Winemaker Paul Pujol wanted to explore this small area of the vineyard to see what style of wine would result from this small parcel of land.  Hand picked and wild yeast ferment  All grapes in this wine were hand picked, fermented with wild yeasts and the finished wine was aged for 17 months in French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered. Just 321 cases made. We have five bottles and suggest this is an excellent wine for adding to your cellar or drink now in large glasses, decanted.  What is Olearia? The name comes from the Olearia Lineata, a small dense tree with elegant fine branches and tiny drought­ resistant leaves that once carpeted the valley floors of Central Otago. There are large numbers of these officially at risk trees in and around Bendigo, which is home to Prophet's Rock vineyards.  Buy 2019 Prophet's Rock Olearia RRP $62.99 here

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A for Albarino - the biggest new Kiwi wine success

by Joelle Thomson on Jul 11, 2022
Albarino is the most successful of all the experimental grape varieties currently in New Zealand and is also one of our most popular lesser known, alternative white wines in store here at Regional Wines. One little known fact about Albarino is that it is actually regarded as a Portuguese grape and is called Alvarinho. The two different names refer to the same grape and it grows in both north west Portugal and in north west Spain. Both regions have high rainfall and the most famous home of Albarino is Galicia in north west Spain in an appellation (legally defined wine region) called Rias Baixas, where 90% of the grapes are white and mostly Albarino. The Albarino / Alvarinho grape has thick skins and high acidity, both of which suit maritime climates with high rainfall throughout the year. Its tough skins suit wet climates because they have a good resistance to fungal disease – the bane of most winemakers’ lives.  Styles of Albarino * Small amounts of many other experimental white grape varieties grow in New Zealand today, most of which have arrived in this country via Riversun Nursery in Gisborne, which has a 25 year contract with INTAV in France; a highly respected vine nursery that guarantees both the authenticity and disease free status of the grape variety cuttings it brings into this country. Buy Spanish Albarino here, here and here.  Buy New Zealand Albarino here, here and here. Interesting alternative white grapes in New Zealand Arneis (north west Italy),Gruner Veltliner (Austria), Vermentino (Italy), Viognier (northern Rhone, Italy), Marsanne and Roussanne (northern Rhone, Italy), Semillon (Bordeaux, south west France).
Unibroue Maudite and the deal with devil...

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Unibroue Maudite and the deal with devil...

by John Shearlock on Jul 11, 2022
The deal with the devil is a story that permeates many cultures. It begins with the German legend of Faust, who traded his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures at a crossroads. Then, it is revisited with Robert Johnson, once again at a crossroads, who follows suit in exchange for unmatched prowess on the guitar. The theme carries on with the tale of La Chasse-galerie or "The Bewitched Canoe" as it is also known. This is a popular French-Canadian tale of lumberjacks who sell their souls to the devil to get back to see their loved ones for Christmas in a flying canoe. If you take a peek at the label of today’s beer, you will spot said canoe and its crew of frantic lumberjacks as they try to avoid eternal damnation.The early French settlers in Canada combined a French myth about a nobleman called Gallery with a First Nations legend about a flying canoe and the result was the bewitched canoe - a subtle variation and mash up of stories if you like.In the same fashion, the beer itself is inspired by the lineage of abbey beers and Belgian dubbels and, like our lumberjack myth, it is essentially a subtle reworking of a well versed tale, or a beer story - if you like. We often talk about the seven basic plot structures of story and film and beer strikes me as similar. Even though we have seen an explosion of styles over the recent years, at the end of the day, they are almost always a reworking of just a handful of original key styles. Let’s have a look at Maudite (which translates into cursed) and see how it tastes. It pours a deep red that is reminiscent of the flames of hades itself (I am told) with a slightly off white head. The nose is as spicy as hell, with layers of orange rind and coriander, liquorice and caramel which are super enticing. The palate is superbly layered too with deep malts and gently bitter hoppy elements combining nicely. It's certainly a dubbel, and the abv is right up there, but you wouldn't know it to drink and you could certainly be led astray by this wicked little number.So here the Belgian dubbel is taken to Quebec and subtly riffed on to generate something new yet familiar. This is how beer somehow stays constant and, yet, evolves at the same time. Superb stuff and proof that you don't necessarily need to sell your soul to the devil to gain unlimited worldly delights - they are readily available for just $9.50 at Regional Wines. Click here to buy Unibroue Maudite.

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More than one meaning to Dry July

by Joelle Thomson on Jul 07, 2022
No pun intended but dry July has a number of meanings from drinking dry styles of wine to remaining 'dry', so to speak, and not consuming any alcohol based beverages for the month.  Fortunately, we have rounded up a bunch of the best dry wines that tick both boxes for customers to enjoy throughout July.  Here they are. Drink dry wines this Dry July 2019 / 2020 Clearview Estate Cape Kidnappers Syrah RRP $26.99 Special $23.99 What’s not to love about this stunning Syrah from Clearview Estate in Hawke’s Bay? It’s made entirely from grapes grown at Te Awanga, home to the winery and its vineyards. Flavours in this wine are dark, bold and powerful with aromas of ripe blueberries and dried fruit... Buy here   2020 Clearview Estate Whitecaps Chardonnay RRP $23.99 Special $21.99 Our best value big buttery Chardonnay, full of appealing creamy malolactic flavours and buttery aromas adding softness, richness and depth to this intensely powerful Chardonnay, which represents fab value for money. Buy here All of our wines of the month from Clearview Estate are dry, bar one - the ever popular sweetie, Sea Red. Pop in store to try and buy this great range of wines this July or buy Clearview online here.   Drink zero alcohol wines Vallformosa Cava Zero % RRP $19.99 Dry, light bodied and deliciously yeasty Spanish bubbly. Buy here Giesen Alcohol Removed Riesling RRP $16.99 Succulent 0% alcohol Riesling tastes of concentrated lemon zest with notes of grapefruit and juicy freshness. It is one of the best zero per cent alcohol wines we have tried yet... Buy here Bosca Non Alcoholic Prosecco Special $10.99 A refreshing, crisp Prosecco with a light body and a touch of fruity appeal. No alcohol content. Buy here
Migaloo and beer's role in saving the planet...

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Migaloo and beer's role in saving the planet...

by John Shearlock on Jun 27, 2022
Single use plastics and the plastination of our ecosystem through microplastic pollution is a big deal - especially for the beer industry that requires clean water to survive - so brewers are invested in this issue whether they like it or not. They might not be the cause… but they could well be part of the solution.

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Clearview Estate - our new winery of the month

by Joelle Thomson on Jun 24, 2022
If asked to imagine a great name for a winery, the words Clearview Estate would easily conjure up images of exactly that - a clear view. And it's an apt name for our new winery of the month, Clearview Estate, which is situated on the coast at Te Awanga, south of Napier, where it has an unimpeded view of the wild coastline. Clearview Estate is one of Hawke's Bay longest established wineries and was first established in 1986 on the neglected Vidal's No.2 Vineyard at Te Awanga on the coast south of Napier. This property was first planted in grapes by Antonio Joseph Vidal from 1916 onwards. It's also home to the olive tree that is now over 100 years old and features in the Old Olive Block Vineyard.  This beautiful setting was the choice of business partners Tim Turvey and Helma van den Berg. They were inspired to breath new life into this old established vineyard by hand grafting their own vines, planting the first new vines in the winter of 1988 and making their first red the following year.  Today the winery is best known for many things, including top notch Chardonnays in a range of full bodied, popular styles, a dessert red called Sea Red, and also a bunch of big full bodied red wines. The first Chardonnay was released in 1991 by Turvey and van den Berg, and they have never looked back, adding a range of Chardonnays to their range in the meantime. In the early years, the partners added three acres every year, grafting and planting vines, ramming posts, running wires, training young vines, and for many years completing all of the pruning themselves.  They continue to run and operate the business today and have also employed winemakers Matt Kirby and Rob Bregmen to continue the growth and high quality winemaking that has always characterised Clearview Estate.  * Clearview Estate winery has a cellar door and restaurant on site at Te Awanga. Buy Clearview Estate wines here

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What is Barbaresco and why it's great

by Joelle Thomson on Jun 24, 2022
Wines with names such as Barbaresco can often sound baffling and foreign, which is pretty close to the truth. This Italian wine is made entirely and only from the Nebbiolo grape, widely regarded the greatest red grape in Italy - a country with no shortage of contenders to the throne of such a lofty title.  It’s not exactly a household red wine in the same way that, say, Pinot Noir is, but the wines can be every bit as great as the best Pinots. The word Barbaresco is the name of a village and the wines in the wine appellation of the same name. A wine appellation is a legally defined geographic area and is the only place that wines of a certain style, type or grape variety can be made; in this case, Barbaresco is Nebbiolo and even though other grape varieties grow in the same area, they cannot wear the 'Barbaresco' label. The only other wine that is made 100% from Nebbiolo grapes is called Barolo and for a long time, Barbaresco has lived in its shadow.  Both wines come from Piemonte, a region in north west Italy. Both wines are 100% Nebbiolo and qualify for DOCG status, the highest tier in the authenticity rankings of wine regions and sub regions in Italy. The difference comes in style. Barolo is usually considered to have more structure, firmer tannins and greater ageing potential as a result but this is not always the case.  When did Barbaresco become highly regarded? Prior to 1894, all of Nebbiolo grapes grown in the Barbaresco area were labelled  Nebbiolo di Barbaresco or, perhaps more tellingly, sold to winemakers in Barolo to supplement their wine production. Then a man called Domizio Cavazza came along and gathered together nine Barbaresco vineyard owners, inviting them to make their wine at the castle he owned, which he called the Cantine Sociali. Cavazza was headmaster of the Royal Enological School of Alba and a Barbaresco resident as well as a passionate devotee of the Nebbiolo grape. His Cantina Sociali was essentially a wine cooperative, only an extremely high quality one that was entirely devoted to Nebbiolo. What happened to the Cantine Sociali? Sadly, the Cantine Sociali closed its doors in the 1930s due to fascism but it was revived again in 1958 by the priest of the village of Barbaresco, who saw that the most viable way for small vineyard owners to survive was to join forces. His encouragement saw the formation of the cooperative winery known today as the Produttori del Barbaresco, which is run by Aldo Vacco – a descendent of Cavazza. Fast forward 64 years and today Produttori is one of the greatest wine producers in a great wine producing area. What wines are made by Produttori? There are nine single vineyard wines produced by Produttori del Barbaresco and one blend of them all, sold under a different label and for slightly less money. More of the single vineyard wines (known as cru) are made in very warm, very dry years, and less in not so good years. The nine single vineyard Produttori del Barbarescos Asili Montefico Montestefano Mungacota Ovello Paje Pora Rabaja Rio Sordo * By the way, every one of these nine wines is made exactly the same way in terms of fermentation and oak maturation, leaving the pronounced flavour differences to be entirely due to soil types and the aspect towards the sun as well as other climatic factors on each vineyard.  Buy 2017 Produttori del Barbaresco Cru wines $99.99 here What are the latest wines from Produttori? The nine single vineyard 2017 Produttori del Barbaresco wines have just landed in New Zealand. We have a small allocation here at Regional Wines and have limited the purchase of each single vineyard wine to two bottles per customer. This is to allow all customers to have the opportunity to buy some of these great wines. Not that all of our customers will purchase them, given the recommended retail price is $99.99 per bottle, but what wines they are. Statuesque red beauties with structure to burn and the ability to age for at least 10 years, and then some.  What’s the next vintage? The 2017s are extremely collectible because there were no 2018 cru wines made, which means the blend will be of higher quality than usual – and there will be more of it. The 2018 Produttori del Barbaresco blend is not yet available in New Zealand. ETA is late 2022.   Buy 2017 Produttori del Barbaresco cru wines here   Fast facts on Barbaresco Barbaresco as an appellation was created in 1894 Barbaresco was given DOCG status in 1980 This is a small wine production area with approximately 700 hectares of vineyards registered to make Barbaresco – which must be 100% Nebbiolo and made within the same sub region in which the grapes are grown.

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Mini mid winter wine guide

by Joelle Thomson on Jun 23, 2022
If you've ever walked into a wine store only to wander and wonder what to buy and where to look for it, here is a mini mid winter guide to three great wines in store now that each tick the box of big bodied and fully flavoursome - just the ticket for winter drinking.  Cheeky French Carignan  2020 Mas Des Agrunelles Carino RRP $44.99 It’s rare to encounter red wines made entirely from the Carignan grape in this country so it makes sense that this one comes from the home of this under rated red grape variety, the south of France. In this case, the wine comes from the vast Languedoc region which stretches around the southern coast of France from the west of Provence to the east where it rubs shoulders with Roussillon, another southern French wine region.  This wine has a deliciously deep purple colour, pronounced aromas of sandalwood, hazlenuts and a hints of fresh earth, black cherries and a long, satisfyingly memorable finish with flavours of dark fruit and nutty aromas. Certified organic and a wine of real beauty. Buy 2020 Mas Des Agrunelles Carino here Big buttery Chardonnay 2021 De la Terre Barrique Fermented Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay RRP $24.99 A big old fashioned buttery number with green herbal aromas and very overt malolactic fermentation dominating on the nose of this wine. Rich in style with pronounced creamy flavours and will find favour with Chardonnay lovers but it has some greenness that I find unpleasant.  Buy De la Terre Chardonnay here Seductive Italian red 2020 Corado Visner di Pergola Visciole RRP $28.99 Here's a quirky wine if ever there was. This deeply flavoursome Italian red is made from 60/40 Sangiovese/Montepulciano grapes, which are blended with wild cherries. This makes the wine a more concentrated example of itself, being blended with cherries for a deliciously intense, super rich and concentrated taste, without being cloying at all. A great wine to drink with chocolate. It comes from the Marche region on central Italy's east coast; opposite Tuscany in other words.  Visciole is the Italian name for wild cherries. Buy 2020 Corado Visner Visciole here

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What vegan wine is - and isn't

by Joelle Thomson on Jun 23, 2022
What is vegan wine and why would wine not be vegan since it's made from grapes? Both are questions that we hear more often every year with the growth of interest in plant based diets and more transparency on the part of food and beverage producers. In this sense, it's positive that winemakers are being clearer than in the past and willing to discuss the fact that wine does often go through processes that involve products other than grapes.  The main winemaking process following harvest is fermentation and additives are often used. These additives come in the form of commercial yeasts, which are added to wine. They are not derived from animals. Once a wine has been fermented, it is often aged and if it's a red wine or many fuller bodied whites, then it often rubs shoulders with the plant kingdom again, in the form of oak barrels. This is no problem for vegans or vegetarians there but it's after this gentle oxidative ageing process in oak that animal products might sometimes be used in the winemaking process. Traces are unlikely to remain in the wine but still, what exactly does it mean that animal products were used?  Why use animal based products? It not only sounds dubious but it's hard to understand why animal products may find their way into wine in the first place. The answer is fining.  Animal based products are often - but not always - used in the process of fining wine. This means removing small particles, usually proteins derived from yeasts left over floating in the wine, and the best way to do this is to use a protein based product, which can bind to these tiny particles. Enter animal products. Fining agents include milk and egg whites as well as isinglass from fish but also, increasingly, clay - a non animal based product which New Zealand happens to have in plentiful supply.  Do all wines that are fined use animal products? No. A growing number of winemakers use bentonite (clay) to fine their wines.  Is an unfined wine a vegan wine? Often but not always because if taken to a purist definition, the glue on a wine label is potentially often made from animal derived products too.  Is it a minefield trying to define actual vegan wine? Yes. See above. Does vegan wine exist? Yes.  How do we know if a wine is vegan? We have many wines in store at Regional that have certified vegan back label stamps. These are generally from the European Union and they are certification from an independently audited organisation, such as BioGro NZ, which certifies organic products independently. This is all very well but it means trawling through bottles to look at the back labels.  Vegan labels We have considered putting vegan tags on our wine shelves but this is a potential minefield because many of the wines in store do qualify as vegan but don't say that they are.  The concept of adding vegan tags to our wine shelves is an ongoing discussion at Regional Wines & Spirits. Watch this space. Buy certified vegan wines here Yalumba All Yalumba wines are vegan - buy here Maravedi 2019 / 2020 Maravedi Tempranillo Syrah RRP $15.99 - buy here 2018 / 2019 Maravedi Chardonnay Airen RRP $14.99 - buy here Whitehaven - buy here 2021 Greg Sauvignon Blanc 2019 Greg Pinot Noir 2020 Whitehaven Chardonnay 2020/21 Whitehaven Rose 2021 Whitehaven Pinot Gris 2021 Whitehaven Riesling 2021 Whitehaven Gewurztraminer 2021 Whitehaven Noble Riesling 2020 Whitehaven Pinot Noir Mansion House Bay - buy here 2020 Mansion House Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Mansion House Bay Pinot Gris 2018/20 Mansion House Bay Chardonnay 2021 Mansion House Bay Rosé 2020 Mansion House Bay Pinot Noir    * We will add to this list. Watch this space. 

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New release Pinot perfection from 2020 vintage

by Joelle Thomson on Jun 22, 2022
One of our favourite full bodied Martinborough Pinot Noirs is back in store and it's a tasty new vintage from 2020, which was a superlative year in the small, arid wine region of Martinborough. This little region is a Pinot Noir stronghold. This great red remains the most planted grape in this region, even if Sauvignon Blanc is catching up. Martinborough is home to approximately 1,100 hectares of producing vineyard land and is the southernmost, driest wine region in the North Island. The dry weather really came into its own in 2020, a summer in which water restrictions came into full force in January and continued through to the drought that ensued just around the time that harvest began. This made for excellent quality, ripe grapes which were disease free and have produced stunningly good Pinot Noirs.  Te Kairanga Runholder Te Kairanga winery was founded in 1984, making it one of the earliest wineries in the region and it has a long history of great Pinot Noirs.  Where does Runholder come from?  Runholder is made with grapes grown on the Te Kairanga Home and McLeod vineyards, which were destemmed grapes then fermented in stainless and aged in French oak for 10 months for structured, smoothness and a velvety texture.  It's bone dry with .29 grams of residual sugar per litre and it is made from seven clones of Pinot Noir: Abel, 777, 6, 5, 115, 667 and 828. Winemaker John Kavanagh has a long history of making great Pinot Noirs, both in Martinborough where he has headed up TK for the past decade and previously at Neudorf Vineyards in Nelson.  Buy 2020 Runholder Martinborough Pinot Noir RRP $35.99 here
Unibroue Saison 13 and the appropriation of beer styles...

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Unibroue Saison 13 and the appropriation of beer styles...

by John Shearlock on Jun 20, 2022
The beer and rock combo isn’t exactly a new thing. Robinsons brewery has been making Iron Maiden beers for yonks and there’s a string of Motorhead beers made by Camerons, the latest of which is an APA following on from the imaginatively titled B*stards lager. These beers are commercial tie-ins triggered by the bands themselves and, as large outfits with big followings, a market opens up with just the mention of their name on the label. Today’s beer, however, is slightly different.Unibroue Saison 13 is a beer and rock mashup created through an apparent friendship. Unibroue brewmaster Jerry Vietz and Dave Mustaine, lead singer of Megadeth, have made a beer inspired by the Megadeth song “A Toute le Monde” and the iconic Megadeth talisman, Vic Rattlehead, is emblazoned on the front of the can. It’s an odd image with which to promote a saison, you might think, but in the experimental world that is craft brewing, it fits nicely with a beer that is an extreme offering of a style with a modern identity issue. A quick history lesson shows what I mean.Bière de saison is first mentioned as a style in the early 19th century, associated with the industrial town of Liege in Belgium and brewed from predominantly malted spelt and unmalted wheat at a low abv.It didn’t become the farmhouse ale we often think of today until Brasserie Dupont's saison was imported into the USA in the 1980s and restyled as such. The modern saison is now higher abv, and made with a cocktail of grains and sometimes spices too but with a mash bill that is typically driven by malted barley. Somehow, the rustic flavours fit perfectly with the notion of farmhouse, even if beer history tells us that the two were separate entities and rather different offerings.Sounds very much like an example of beer style appropriation if such a thing exists! As our Saison 13 proves, anything goes these days and, well, why not if the end result works. But, does it work?It pours a lovely deep orange in the glass which points to the use of some darker malts other than your typical pale and pilsner malts. The nose is spicy, floral and complex with some confected orange peels and stone fruits thrown into the mix. On the palate everything is clean, linear and highly attenuated (the sugars have been converted to alcohol). The result is dry, tart even, and beautifully refreshing, allowing the hops to create a real blast of bitterness on the finish.The name Saison 13 refers to a collection of 13 ingredients that go into the beer (presumably it’s also a nod to the Megadeth song Hangar 18?) and this is reflected beautifully in a complex, layered beer.So, an (arguably) unfashionable beer style, pumped to the full, inspired by a Megadeth song with a French title and branded into the world of death metal. It’s all quite superbly odd but, somehow, like a lot of today's brewing - it somehow works.
Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale in a... can

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Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale in a... can

by John Shearlock on Jun 13, 2022
I do love that there are so many beers out there with their own little story to tell. Dale’s Pale Ale from Oskar Blues is one such beer in that it kick-started the use of cans in craft brewing when it was released back in 2002. That sounds pretty cool right - but then you remember that misspent youth swilling Hoffmiester out of a can in the early 90s and you think… “Wait a minute - wasn’t beer always available in a can?”For anyone alive today (that includes you even though the pandemic has sucked the will to live from us all) the answer is basically yes - beer was first canned back in 1935 by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey.There were various stages of can development over the next 30 years or so but, to be fair, the history of canning isn’t exactly riveting (is that a pun?) so we’ll leave our history lesson there for the time being. What this fact does point to though are a couple of things. The craft beer scene was actually quite slow on the uptake when it comes to cans and, also, that craft brewing is somewhat narcissistic and egocentric; beer has been canned for almost 100 years but we celebrate when it first appeared in craft brewing?! Cans are certainly popular now and it's a decent means of delivering beer to the masses. They are, of course, recyclable and lightweight but electricity used in smelting is high and the carbon cost involved depends on how clean the power source is and therefore can be quite high. The carbon footprint of aluminium recycling is also about 0.5 tons CO2 per ton of aluminium, which isn’t negligible. What would be really great would be to see our ground breaking and environmentally minded craft beer scene help push forward some of the new packaging that is slowly appearing; recycled PET plastic, biodegradable seed oil plastics and cellulose fibre instead of glass - not to mention square format packaging to make for greater efficiency in transport. The carbonation element of beer makes things trickier, but we like a challenge don't we... especially when there's an apparent willingness to pay extra for sustainability.Ok, got that off my chest, so let’s try this ground breaking beer, from a can…It's a beautiful opulent orange gold in the glass. The nose screams classic APA brimming over with malt and tropical hop aromas; guava and mango balanced by some lovely earthy elements. The palate is smoo-ooth with super bright bitterness keeping the malt in check but still allowing those tropical notes to have their say. Marvellous!Well that was about as American as a pale ale can be - the sort you'd expect the Dukes of Hazard to drink after getting out of their Dodge and walking into the local bar. And, yes, I'll admit, the can did do an admirable job delivering the beer to my glass. Well done can.