This wine is great value for money from winemaker Simon Waghorn, who says Chardonnay is his first love in wine. He makes this creamy, dry and citrusy version from four different clones of Chardonnay, all grown on his family's home block vineyard. 

All grapes were hand picked, whole cluster pressed fermented with wild yeasts in barrel followed by lees aging in French oak with battonage (stirring of the lees). The result is a full bodied wine offering impressive depth and layers of stonefruit and citrusy flavours at a relatively modest price. 

The story of Astrolabe

Diversity, history and family ownership are among the reasons to try the outstanding range of wines from Astrolabe, which was founded in 1996 in Marlborough by winemaker Simon Waghorn and his partner in life and wine, Jane. 

Simon has forged a reputation for being one of New Zealand's most respected producers of aromatic white wines after winning an almost embarrassingly long string of awards for his Sauvignon Blancs. He has also forged a name for adventurously diverse winemaking - he produces dry flinty whites from the most southern vineyard in Marlborough at Kekerengu on the coast about an hour's drive south of Blenheim. He is the only winemaker to produce wines from here. 

He is also one of the few in this country to make Albarino, Chenin Blanc and a consistently outstanding range of wines from the organically certified hillside sloping site that is the Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough. 

The winery remains family owned and is now run by two generations, including Simon and Jane as well as their adult daughters. 

Vigor is made from Sangiovese and Merlot grapes grown in the Marche hills, rolling down the Appennine mountains to the Adriatic sea. Aged for one year in oak cask. This is a very fruity wine with savoury undertones. Medium bodied on the palate with balanced acidity, Vigor is a very versatile wine.

Les Griottes is a perfect example of what makes good Beaujolais so popular. It's made from the youngest vines on the estate so it's all about fresh fruit flavours and juicy acidity. It is called Les Griottes because the bottom of the vineyard is lined with cherry, wild cherry and morello cherry (griotte) trees. 

It's a fruit driven Beaujolais with spicy intense cherry flavours, just like its name suggests.

This wine represents great value for money as it shows what good Beaujolais is about. 

Drink lightly chilled.

If you're a fan of big buttery Chardonnays or like them tight and lean, this wine has a great balance of both to attract and deliver delicious flavours at both ends of the ever popular Chardonnay spectrum - and it offers great value for money too. 

Organically certified with BioGro NZ.

About Greystone

The Greystone wine story began in 2000 when the Thomas Family bought an old sheep farm on the Omihi hills in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. The rolling limestone hills lured this family in and their goal was a single minded one: to make great wines from the limestone rich soils here. Fast forward 20 years and Greystone is one of the great (and, some might say, yet to be fully discovered) wineries in this outstanding wine region. Not least due to the work of winemaker Dom Maxwell and general manager Nick Gill, who began working together in 2005 and has grown along with the brand and quality. 

Aside from the bling bottle design, Brilla Prosecco is a lovely, refreshing, light bodie, lightly sparkling Italian bubbly. Its flavours are of floral, lemon, red apples and  a touch of lime. Good quality prosecco with fresh clean flavours and a medium finish. The mini bottle is also convenient to take to parties for a couple of glasses.

What is Prosecco?

Grapes are grown in the Veneto region in north east Italy and the wine is made by the Charmat method, which means secondary fermentation takes place in pressurised stainless steel tanks. Once the secondary fermentation is complete, the wine is filtered and bottled under pressure. The charmat method is also known as tank method, methode cuve close and methode charmat-Martinotti.

An insanely good red wine at an incredibly affordable price, this spicy Syrah comes all the way from Spain. Dark fruity flavours sit in a robust and beautifully integrated, full-bodied wine, which spent six months ageing in American oak. Lovely drinking now and over the next two to three years. 

Bodega Muga was founded in 1932 and remains in family hands today with 250 hectares in La Rioja Alta and long standing contracts with owners of another 150 hectares of vineyards spread among five main vineyards on clay and limestone soils with a wide variety of microclimates. 

The Muga wines are exciting and interesting Spanish blends of indigenous grapes with Tempranillo in the lead, supported by Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano for the reds. 

If you’re a fan of Spanish wine, try this gorgeous next level reserve out for size. 

It’s not often we come across wines that date back to 1398 but Chianti is no everyday wine, especially when it's labelled Isole E Olena. All grapes in this wine were hand picked. It's a blend of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 5% Syrah, which balance each other nicely with their ripe red berry flavours of cherries and raspberries which sit alongside complex notes of spice, smoky leather and a hint of cedar. This wine's lively acidity adds a freshness and gives length to the wine. 

This great red will benefit from ageing thanks to stellar winemaking and viticulture from Paolo di Marchi, one of the kings of the Sangiovese grape, who took over the winemaking in 1976. He ended decades of sharecropping and focussed on fine tuning work in the vineyards and pioneered Tuscan reds made entirely from the Sangiovese grape, such as the great Super Tuscan, Cepparello; now one of the region’s most iconic wines. 

Isole e Olena Chianti Classico is one of the great Tuscan reds.Try it. 

THE CHIANTI CLASSICO APPELLATION

Chianti Classico is the heart of the wider Chianti production zone and its wines are distinguished by a trademarked black rooster on their labels. The wines of Chianti Classico are higher in quality and noticeably so in taste than wines labelled Chianti, which come from a broader area in Tuscany. The wines taste better because the vines are planted on hillsides with a higher degree of  iron rich soils and a greater diurnal temperature range, which provides more powerful, riper fruit flavours, which are balanced by higher acidity thanks to the cooler night time temperatures. 

The Sangiovese grape must make up 80% of all wines labelled Chianti Classico compared to 70% Sangiovese for wines labelled Chianti. 

Chianti was first defined as a wine producing sub region within Tuscany in 1716 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III, whose wanted to protect the integrity of the wines and prevent fraud. The Chianti Classico Wine Consortium was formed in 1924 with the distinctive Black Rooster trademark chosen to feature on the labels. 

Ripe pear, poached quince and rose petal florals are abundant in our Pinot Gris. The palate is full flavoured & textural which can be attributed to the beautifully balanced fruit at harvest combined with our unique winemaking technique. - Maude.

Charles Wiffen Chardonnay is a fruity, medium bodied dry white offering flavours of lemon, grapefruit and white peach, given depth by creamy richness and balanced acidity.

It's a top buy at this price and a super tasty wine for everyday enjoyment. 

Maravedi is the name of an ancient Spanish coin and this wine is an excellent blend of Chardonnay and Airen (an indigenous Spanish white grape). The flavours are smooth and creamy with Chardonnay strutting its flavoursome, approachable taste in every mouthful. It is made from dry farmed, organically certified vineyards in the La Mancha region of Spain, south of Madrid, which is Spain's largest wine region.

Graciano is one of Spain’s best kept wine secrets - a red grape with thick skins that is a tricky customer to grow, which means there’s precious little of it about, even in the vineyards of the Rioja, where it is one of the traditional ingredients in the wine of the same name.

This is a dark Spanish beauty with soft fruit flavours, medium body and fresh, long finish.

Confidencial is a taste combination of classic native Portuguese grapes Touriga Nacional (aka queen of Portuguese reds) with the better French red grapes, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. These three powerful red grapes each adds oomph and power to this wine, providing it with a full body, dry flavours and earthy complexity. 

We think that Confidencial offers great value for money and has layers of flavours, which will improve over time in the bottle, but also drink incredibly well right now. Decant and serve in your best big wine glass. 

Portugal is the most western country in Europe and home to a diverse range of wines from crisp dry whites in the maritime north to full bodied reds from the hot south, with many delicious variations in between. 

Experience the best sake Niigata Prefecture has to offer with this refined bottle of Manju junmai daiginjo-grade sake. Part of the Kubota series by Asahi brewery, this premium junmai daiginjo variety has a fruity aroma with flavours of honeysuckle and Fuji apple with subtle notes of spiced pear. Best enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.

Dry red wine from the Graves AOC. This is a rich, ripe wine with dark plum, spice and woody notes on the nose. The palate is very concentrated and is defined by its ripe red fruits and smoky intensity.