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.

Here’s a deliciously different wine from South Australian brothers Peter and Duncan Lloyd, who were brought up with wine in McLaren Vale, South Australia, which is an experimental hotbed for interesting varieties. Flavours here are all about ripe licorice balanced by soft plummy fruit flavours balanced by firm acidity which adds structure and length to every interestingly quirky sip.

They used five grapes which originate in five different countries to make this interesting new take on Australian red wine. The grapes are Touriga (originally from Portugal), Grenache (French), Negroamaro (Italian), Mourvedre (French/Spanish) and Shiraz (Australia’s stock in trade).

Vallformosa, is a family owned operation that has been around for 150 years. 

Appearance: Pale yellow with greenish reflections in the glass

On the Nose: Good aromatic intensity of fruity aromas, including green apple and fresh herbs like fennel welcome the nose. These fruiter elements also combine with notes of white flowers and citrus in the bouquet to offer complexity.

On the Palate: Vallformosa Cava is a bright sparkling wine with fine persistent bubbles. The palate is balanced and dry while soft, resulting in well balanced acidity and a fruity aftertaste.

About Cava...

Cava is one of the great sparkling wine secrets of the world and you could call it poor man's champagne because it's made the same way, only with slightly shorter aging time and therefore a little less complexity on the palate. Still, given that it costs a fraction of the price and has had its secondary fermentation in the same bottle that you buy it in, this really is superb value for money.

It can be made with grapes grown anywhere in Spain. These days, producers are allowed to use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to make cava but this one is from the traditional Spanish grapes, namely, Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada, each of which combines to create a fruity but dry and lightly yeasty fresh taste. A stunner at the price and an extremely fresh, refreshing dry bubbly. Awesome value for money.

Dry, full bodied, iconoclastic Riesling from New Zealand's king of spatlese styles, Mat Donaldson and his winemaking team at Pegasus Bay Winery, which is New Zealand's greatest Riesling producer. 

This wine, Bel Canto, is the queen of the winery's Riesling range. It is bone dry with 5 grams per litre of residual sugar due to high brix (grape sugars) at harvest time and a small percentage of noble rot (also known as botrytis). It drinks well now and can age for the long term; up to and beyond 10 years. 

Extended hang time on the vines has resulted in the intensely ripe, tropical fruit flavours in the grapes which were picked to retain refreshing, high but balanced acidity. The free run juice was fermented slowly at cool temperatures to retain fruit characters and varietal purity. Alcoholic fermentation was left to continue until residual sugar of 5 g/l was achieved. Retention of a little of natural carbon dioxide gives spritz character to add liveliness and accentuate freshness.

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.

Extremely aromatic with pear, white flower and stone fruit characteristics. Barrel fermentation adds complexity. Zesty citrus fruit notes on the palate with soft, acid freshness. A light, well balanced wine. 

This West Auckland Pinot Gris is made in a dry style with grapes from Kumeu, fermented with indigenous yeasts and given extended maturation on lees following fermentation. This adds richness and complexity to this youthful white. It drinks well now and can hold for a couple of years as a good quality dry white. 

Kumeu River Wines began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Katé Brajkovich, bought a small property with a vineyard on it. Their descendents now own and run Kumeu River Wines, which produces 250,000 bottles of wine annually from its owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Kumeu and from another 10 hectares, owned by local grape growers. 

A complex aroma of black plum and cocoa, black olive, with fine cedary notes and hints of leather, star anise, clove and aromatic spices. The palate is plush and rich, with seamless tannins and concentrated black Doris plum flavours, complex spice notes and a long savoury finish. This wine will improve with cellaring.

The Cover Drive is named after the Penola cricket ground on the southern boundary of Coonawarra in South Australia. This famous cricket ground was retired in 1996 and Jim Barry bought the land to plant with grapes. This full bodied, dark and smooth red wine is the result. It's earthy, smooth and has complex flavours of black olives, dried herbs and bold blackcurrant notes. It drinks well when young and can also age for four to five years, evolving interesting savoury notes as it does. 

This rosé will change your perceptions of what pink wine is all about. It's from Abruzzo, a region in Central Italy where Montepulciano is the most planted red grape and is responsible for high volumes of tasty, full bodied, smooth Italian red wines and also as a key ingredient from which to make rosé, such as this refreshing dry one.

This wine is 100% Montepulciano and the grapes were grown to comply with certified organic guidelines then hand picked and fermented at cool temperatures to preserve fruit purity and freshness. 

If you're looking for complexity and a deliciously refreshing rosé at the same time, here it is. 

This is a great example of Chardonnay without the influence of oak. It remains smooth and full bodied with balance from crisp, fresh, food friendly acidity adding great depth and appeal to the refreshing flavours of green apple note on the nose and palate.

* Chablis is the northernmost wine region in Burgundy, which produces only Chardonnay. The cooler climate gives these wines crispness, acidity and a flintyje ne sais quo. 

Drinks beautifully with great seafood dishes and roast tender chicken. 

If you're looking for next level Sauvignon Blanc, here it is.

Framingham is one of Marlborough's oldest, most established wineries and this Sauvignon Blanc is a classic from the region's (and this country's) most popular and widely planted grape variety. Five per cent of this wine was fermented on skins to add texture and weight. This provides delicious balance and texture to Sauvignon Blanc's innate refreshing and zesty acidity. 

The first year Kevin Judd made his Wild Sauvignon was in 2009 and the winemaking has remained consistent ever since with complexity, creaminess and a full body coming from the 100% barrel fermentation with wild yeasts followed by malolactic fermentation to soften the acidity for two thirds of the wine. It then spends approximately 11 months maturing in barrel and remains in tank for another six months for battonage (the French name for stirring the lees - the decomposing yeast cells left over in the wine).

Top value from North Canterbury, one of the great Pinot Noir regions of New Zealand thanks to its dry hot summers and long autumns, which allow the flavour development of ripe black cherry aromas and deep earthy notes, which make this incredibly affordable Pinot so inspiring.