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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Sam Neill’s latest Pinot Noir is youthful, bright, boldly fruity with firm tannic structure and the ability to age, all of which makes it a good contender for decanting prior to enjoying right now. It’s a complex and interesting Pinot Noir as a blend of Neill’s four small certified organic Central Otago vineyards with 37% from The Fusilier Vineyard in Bannockburn, 7% from the elevated, cool climate of The Last Chance Vineyard in Earnscleugh, Alexandra, 40% from The Red Bank Farm & Vineyard and 22% from The First Paddock in Gibbston. All grapes were hand picked, 54% destemmed and all fermented with wild yeasts. The wine was given 10 months aging in French oak, 18 per cent new. It’s a very good wine and will reward further cellaring.

Saddleback is the second label of Central Otago winery Peregrine. The region offers a cool climate with large diurnal (day to night) shifts in temperature, perfect for developing the subtle flavours and keen acidity that really makes Pinot Gris tick. This superb value wine is made with grapes from the Bendigo (39%), Pisa (34%) and Gibbston (27%) sub regions of Central Otago, is 100% hand harvested and fermented on the lees for 2 months prior to blending and bottling. A dry Pinot Gris  with floral, citrus and ginger aromatics and flavours of fresh pear, apricot and stonefruit.

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.

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.

This barrel fermented Pinot Gris is a great alternative to Chardonnay, which was inspired by the classical French approach to Pinot Gris, using lees stirring and partial malolactic fermentation to add texture, weight and dryness to burn. 

This wine is made from 100% Martinborough grapes, all grown on Te Muna Road, 9 kilometres east of the township on a vineyard first planted in 1999.

Winemaker Larry McKenna recommends cellaring it for up to five years - or enjoy right now. 

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.

A beautiful Blanc de Noir made entirely from lightly pressed Pinot Noir grapes and made by Clos Henri in Marlborough. The light pressing provides no colour to the wine but retains all the savoury, earthy, toasty flavours you'd hope for and expect from this great red grape variety. 

All grapes are hand picked grapes and the wine is aged on fine lees for 10 months, partially in stainless steel and partially in old oak. The wine was stored in the winery's cellar to allow a slow bottle fermentation and secondary aging on yeast lees for a minimum of 18 months. A few hundred bottles are disgorged at a time to release onto the market, leaving the remainder aging on its lees (sur lattes). 

Clos Henri began 22 years ago in Marlborough when the French Bourgeois family expanded their winemaking from the heart of Sancerre in the tiny village of Chavignol to Blenheim, in 2001. Now that their vines are 22 years of age , the family feels that they are only now starting to reflect and express the taste of the land. This family retains their land and winemaking in Chavignol where they have made wine for 11 generations.

One of the South Island's most powerful, full bodied, dry and rewardingly complex Chardonnays. The talented Pegasus Bay winemaking team produce this exceptional wine with its flavours of ripe citrus, honeydew melon and stone fruit (peach and nectarine). Notes of flintyness add complexity and a long finish. There are also some underlying savoury notes (toast and brioche) as a result of the secondary fermentation and lees contact in the barrel. The palate is concentrated, however, the earlier picking has resulted in a wine that remains elegant and focussed, with refreshing acidity and a lingering finish.

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. 

Pierre Emmanuel Taittinger runs this famous champagne house with his son Clovis and daughter, Vitalie, who both work beside him in the day to day running of Champagne Taittinger. It is one of the grand marques champagnes. This means it is one of the top tier, best known and most highly respected producers in the Champagne region and it has built its reputation on Chardonnay dominant bubblies, with the Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blanc being the pinnacle of its production.

This non vintage (NV) champagne is also Chardonnay dominant, which is where its bright, clean, fresh and refreshing acidity and creamy notes come from. 

It is a beautiful and classic champagne. One of our favourites.