This is one of our staff favourites at Regional Wines; Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which is dry, full of flavours of tropical fruit with notes of zingy citrus coupled with tropical fruit and a long finish. 

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

One of the Wairarapa's most deliciously succulent and bone dry whites with fabulous flinty flavours. This Sauvignon Blanc benefits from complexity gained from a little time in old oak on lees. It's made with grapes grown on Martinborough's majestic Te Muna Valley where Big Sky Wines is situated on the windswept plains on alluvial soils. 

Jeremy Corban and Katherine Jacobs founded Big Sky Wines in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough, in 2005. They have since expanded their small vineyard, which is predominantly planted in Pinot Noir and also has a little Sauvignon Blanc, which they give extra textural complexity to with a little time in old oak on lees.

Fruity dark flavours and uber complex in taste, this new Gamay from Dicey offers a spectrum of blackcurrant fruit flavours and impressive depth of flavour from 16% whole bunch fermentation while the majority (84%) of fruit was destemmed. Wild yeast fermentation and natural malolactic fermentation were followed by ageing in old oak barrels (considered neutral in terms of flavour).

The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. 

Meticulous handling and low yield farming create an elegant, concentrated Riesling from Central Otago producer, Prophet's Rock. Vinification methods used in this wine draw heavily from Alsatian winemaking. This is a wine rich with lemon and floral notes, with an underlying mineral backbone. 

Martinborough Pinot Noir at its best with earthy aromas, dried red fruit flavours and freshness. Kereru is the brainchild of lawyer-winemaker, John Porter, who donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every bottle of Kereru Pinot Noir towards the upkeep and maintenance of a block of restored land with the aim of retaining its restoration into native forest for future generations.

This is a lighter Pinot style which still possesses lovely ripe fruit, gentle spice and driving acidity.

Biodynamic Pinot Noir from the Pisa Range in Central Otago. This is Burgundy meets Otago in style, with dark cherries and herbal spice notes on the nose and a medium palate of further dark cherries, licorice spice and nutty oak elements. Acid, tannins and fruit all in balance and delivered in a lush velvet mouthful.

Pair with duck, pork beef and lamb over the next four years.

A steep vineyard in Omihi that was established in 1999 has now been renamed as Damsteep (aptly enough) and is home to the grapes that find their way into this pretty aromatic Pinot Noir with its smooth and savoury flavours of fruity red berries, wrapped in firmly structured earthy notes and a lingering, silky finish. This is a great drink now from a very good vintage for quality and it will age well for up to five years, possibly longer. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal sulphur.

Winery notes 
"This wine pays tribute to David Herd, who established Marlborough’s first commercial vineyard and winery at Auntsfield in the 1870s. Using David’s original vineyard site and specific Muscat Clone, this wine is made by applying the Methode Ancestrale technique, which can be traced to production of the first sparkling wine “Blanquette de Limoux” in 1531. As in the 153o’s, and 1870’s, fermentation with natural yeast is completed in bottle. The result is a wine that honours the foundational work of our ancestors and celebrates continued discovery and pleasure.

With each bottle being it’s own fermentation no two bottles are exactly the same. With little sulphur in bottle, this wine evolves in the glass. Initially this wine has fresh aromas of fresh apple, elderflower, nashi pear with hints of mint, and wild honey. In the glass, the brighter apple and pear notes dissipate and reveal more of the Muscat floral and exotic spice aromas. The palate has a fresh and crisp acidity, with tangy green apple. It is light and lively. With a slight brioche and almond complexity giving some generosity to the palate at this early stage of life.

The historic Petits Grains Muscat block is exactly where it all started at Auntsfield in 1873. These vines are trained along the old wire and Manuka posts as they historically were. This block has the potential for heavy crops, so we spend a lot of time carefully removing leaves very early in the season before flowering to reduce the bunch sizes and number of berries that set. Each bunch is carefully tended to during the growing season as this variety is fragile and requires optimum conditions to fully express the incredible aromatics of Muscat.

Limited Edition of just 820 bottles produced."

Soft plush Merlot with the black olive flavours of Cabernet Sauvignon’s impressive structure both add great balance to this powerful wine from Clearview Estate in Hawke’s Bay. Flavours here are dark and brooding black olives, dried woody thyme with all its aromatic intensity, supported by the velvety smoothness of Malbec, which makes up a small portion of this wine. 

This is a wine that drinks well now and can age to evolve even more impressive flavours for up to 10 years. 

About Clearview Estate

Clearview Estate is one of oldest, most well established wineries in Hawke's Bay and is situated on the Te Awanga Coast, south of Napier. It's a great place to visit for tastings at the cellar door as well as lunch in the dappled shade of the established courtyard area. The winery was founded by Tim Turvey, winemaker and co-owner. The current winemaker is the multi talented Matt Kirby.

Rosie's Block Chardonnay captures the best of Nelson in a full bodied, beautifully balanced and crisp Chardonnay with creamy nuances and a lingering dry finish. 

It is named after Rosie Finn, second generation wine family member and daughter of Tim and Judy Finn, who co founded Neudorf Vineyards.

Winemaker Karl Johner has a foot in at least three wine camps; the lime-clay hillside slopes of Lime Hill Vineyard is the smallest of them and is situated on the road to Castlepoint in the northern Wairarapa.

An outstanding New Zealand Chardonnay made from that site; its production is tiny but its fleshy, full body and creamy style more than make up for that. 

He also makes wine every year at Gladstone in the Wairarapa and, since the seasons are reversed in each hemisphere, in Germany.

The Fifth Wave is Langmeil’s best old vine Grenache with its powerful flavours of dark cherries, red fruit, vanilla and a touch of green herbs, all combined in a gorgeous approachable red wine with a lingering finish and full body. 

Langmeil is owned by the Lindner family, which has been making wine for six generations in the Barossa Valley.

Bouscasse represents the most open and polished wine from Alain Brumont's extensive holdings in the region. The vines are planted on hillsides with yellow and white clay layered over fissured limestone. Bouscasse is meant to reflect the history of the region, made in the style of the 18th century heyday of Madiran.

The wine is big and bold, packed with both fruit and tannins. It has great structure and a dense dusty tannic character that promises great aging but which will be drinking now with a dcent decant.

Tannat 40%, Cabernet Sauvignon 35% and Cabernet Franc 25%