David Moreau is a rising star in Burgundy, based in the village of Santenay. Having studied oenology and worked in both New Zealand and at Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, he returned to Burgundy in 2006 to take over his family’s estate. David brings a modern touch while maintaining the traditional values of his ancestors, focusing on sustainable viticulture and minimal intervention in winemaking.

The vineyards for his Santenay 2022 are planted on classic Burgundy terroir, primarily limestone and clay soils with a high mineral content. This contributes to the wine's structure and purity. The vines are relatively old, averaging 40–60 years, which adds depth and concentration to the final product.

With white flowers, stone fruits and toasted bread aromas lead to a balanced fruity palate. Drink over the next five to six years.

Rays Road is Kumeu River’s new vineyard site in Hawkes Bay. This limestone hillside is at 180 m altitude, with a northerly aspect. It is dry-farmed to yield high quality grapes for wine under the Rays Road name for our Kumeu River label.  This Chardonnay was hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed and fermented with wild yeast in older French Oak barrels to give a wine that is zesty and fragrant, with mineral complexity that is very true to its site.

Kumeu River Wines is New Zealand's top Chardonnay producer and best known globally. 

Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay is the flagship white from the winery. It is made from  grapes grown on six different vineyard sites in Kumeu and is consistently one of New Zealand's greatest dry, full bodied whites with outstanding freshness and complexity.

The winery is in the West Auckland village of Kumeu where it 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. 

VINEYARDS: Cactus Merlot/Malbec, Lunatic Syrah, Owhiti Malbec, Ponui Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc. 

BLEND: Malbec 35%, Merlot 32%, Syrah 28%, Cabernet Franc 5%

WINEMAKING

The vintage of 2023 was a challenging year climatically, very wet and humid with low sunshine hours and periods of intense rain culminating in flooding in late January and Cyclone Gabrielle in early February.  The weather improved for the harvest months, but low sunshine hours resulted in wines with a light elegant touch, fresh, lively and delicious in their delicacy. Our Pinque Rose is harvested from select coastal sites on Waiheke and Ponui Islands made up of individual vineyards planted in Merlot, Malbec and Syrah which are designed with Rose production in mind. Picking early in the season but still showcasing red berry characters, the f ruit is whole bunch pressed in the champagne style liberating only the cleanest and most pure of juice. Fermented cool in stainless steel tanks and blended in the winter. 

TASTING NOTE

Pinque is a pure expression of Rose. Beginning with a classic pale salmon colour the wine has aromas of crushed rose petal, musk candy (pink smokers) strawberry flesh and a maritime scent. The palate is fresh and delicate with shades of stone and citrus fruits with fresh herbs finishing clean, crisp and delicious. 2023 Pinque is an uplifting and refreshing response to a challenging vintage.

Dark crimson in colour, this wine is brooding with a rich, bold, and powerful bouquet of savoury red berry fruit, aromas of sweet raspberries, framboise liqueur and sweet vanilla. Lush, juicy, and very appealing savoury tannins give the wine great texture.

We expect this wine to reward careful cellaring over 7-10 years.

Chateau Larroque is based just outside the 'Graves' appellation in the southern part of Bordeaux.  Made from the classic blend of Bordeaux grapes, and matured for 12 months in French oak before further aging in bottle.

On first opening, medium bodied on the palate, red cherry and dried fruits, toasted almonds with dusty savoury bramble and spice. Once given a chance to breathe opens up to offer generous plump juicy dark fruits, cassis and liquorice.

Superb value for 'left bank' Bordeaux.

TASTING NOTES
Aromas of ripe dark berry fruits dominate the nose with hints of spice and mocha notes in the background add complexity. Rich yet soft tannins form the backbone of this succulent and vibrant Pinot Noir. Spice flavours come through on the mid palate along with ripe dark cherry flavours and underlying savoury notes. This is a superbly balanced, elegant and weighted Pinot capable of ageing for up to ten years.

THE VINEYARD
This family owned and operated vineyard is on an old river terrace at the south end of Te Muna Valley. The stony soils with an underlay of limestone, a gentle north facing slope and exposure to westerly winds produce low volume crops of high intensity.

VINIFICATION
All fruit was carefully hand-picked over two vineyard passes. In the winery we destemmed all fruit and fermented in 3T open top tanks. The wine spent between 21 and 23 days on skins including punching down by hand once a day, before being pressed to French oak barrels. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and remained on its lees for ten months before racking, blending and bottling. Indigenous yeasts are used which add to the wine’s complexity in addition to traditional methods of punching down the ferments by hand.

This blend of 66% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon shows off a bright deep red colour with purple reflections. Red fruit aroma dominate the nose overlayed with subtle peppermint notes. Balanced and smooth with fine tannins, this is classic Bordeaux in style with a spicy rich finish.

Treixadura (90%), Albariño (5%), Godello (3%), Loureira (2%)

Appearance:  attractive pale yellow , steely border with greenish tinges

Nose: Great intensity with aromas of Fuji Apple and Williams Pear, stone fruit (white plum, lychee, peach).  Subtle notes of yellow flowers which lead to freshly-cut grass, moss, balsamic herbs and a mineral base of riverbed stones and a delicate smokey touch

Palate: Creamy, full entry leading to citrus notes (lemon peel, mandarin) and stone fruit.  Subtle hints of fennel. Vibrant and well-structured.  Powerful yet elegant.  Intense minerality (granite, riverbed stones).  Great character and structure with a long finish.

Food matching:  Shellfish (langoustine, soft shell crab, spider crab), oysters, clams and coastal fish (sole, bream, John Dory). Also poultry and game (rabbit, hare and quail)

Made with 95% Cabernet Franc and 5% Malbec with fruit from Stellenbosch and Paarl grown only on decomposed dolomite granite, which gives a great acidity and freshness to the wine and adds minerality to the finish. Beautifully ripe and oozing with brooding dark fruit flavours of cherry and blackberry.  

This Bourgogne Blanc from La Soeur Cadette is made with Maconnais Chardonnay gapes sourced from the communes of Uchizy and Peronne.

The wine is directly pressed and the juice is transferred to large steel tanks where it remains until ready to bottle (usually about 8 to 10 months). The whites from Cadette are always clean, clear, sharp, energetic and a delight to drink.

Made from a blend of 60% Waiheke and 40% Gisborne Chardonnay grapes, this wine is perfectly balanced with a delicious long finish highlighting the almost 12 months the wine has spent in barrel.

Rich and concentrated with nectarine, lime and passion-fruit with toasty vanilla slight, buttery element and butterscotch undertones.

This is fruity yet mineral, with a perfectly balanced body and acidity. It's a blend of Grenache Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and a little-known grape called Terret. Zingy, zesty and full of notes of green apple, kiwifruit and lime zest.

A rare and special Cotes du Rhone made entirely from the dark spicy Syrah grape which delivers big time in this full bodied dry red that has ageing potential to burn - and it drinks beautifully now, especially with meaty savoury dishes. 

Buy two and age one. Supplies are limited. Get in fast.

Churton Pinot Noir  

WINEMAKING
The grapes were 100% handpicked and gravity fed into open top fermenters with 20% whole bunch inclusion. The skins were gently pumped over twice a day. The total time on skins was 21 days before being gently pressed off and matured in French oak for 16 months. The wine went through 100% malolactic fermentation in early spring before blending and bottling.


TASTING NOTES
On the nose fragrant and bright aromas of red liquorice, rose petals, dried spices, cranberries, cherries and blackberries. On the palate a core of wild strawberry and bramble fruits flavours is underpinned by silky tannins and fine acidity, with a long, crisp finish of slate and spice. This wine is concentrated but elegant.