Juicy smooth blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec in a bold and powerful red made by Hawke's Bay winemaker Jenny Dobson, whose extensive winemaking experience in Bordeaux and Hawke's Bay shines through in this fleshy flavoursome wine. 

Doris was named after her grandmother, Doris and this is the first vintage of this medium bodied, dry and fleshy wine, which has flavours of red plum, red fruit and lightly toasted spice. 

Vieux Cha?teau des Combes is located in Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes, just five kilometres away from the historic village of Saint-Emilion. This is a deep, ruby red wine. Complex aromas of ripe berries and spice lead into a palate rich with flavours of dark red fruits and coffee.

Clearview Winery was founded by wine lover and winemaker Tim Turvey, who was the first to plant grapes on the coast at Te Awanga, south of Napier; it's a beautiful, if windy, site, and home to a tasty fruit salad of reds with Chardonnay his leading white.

This affordable full bodied Hawke's Bay red over delivers with soft, plush Merlot playing the lead role and balanced by a robust, spicy 12% Malbec, which adds oomph and power to the wine. 

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.

Plush, smooth and full of ripe red plum flavours, this wine is made with grapes grown a vineyard formed on the ancient riverbed of a river that once carried rock from the steep Ruahine ranges and deposited masses of free-draining gravel which is locally known as red metal. This is a plush wine from a very good vintage and punches well above its weight. Juicy ripe berry flavours from the Merlot are balanced by grunty darker earthy elements from the Franc.

Exceptional half bottle of deliciousness from an unlikely corner of the country, Matakana, which is one of the smallest wine regions in New Zealand and situated north of Auckland. This wine is made by Toby Gillman, who fell in love with the idea of making wine after he spent his first student allowance on a bottle of Matakana red. 

He and his father John volunteered to work at the iconic Providence vineyard in Matakana on weekends, and later set up their own vineyard, which is home to the Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec grapes that go into this little half bottle of deliciousness. 

We really enjoyed tasting the concentrated cassis and blackcurrant flavours in this six year old red, which is an outstanding wine to drink now, and has further potential for aging. Its weight, richness of flavour and big but smooth tannins all show impeccable balance for a high quality red based on a classic Bordeaux right bank style.

This red is predominantly a Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend, with smaller proportions Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot to add further complexity and interest. Cherry/plum flavours and the suppleness of Merlot combine with the blackberry/blackcurrant flavours, structure, and freshness of Cabernet Sauvignon to produce a serious yet eminently drinkable wine. 

Each individual vineyard parcel was harvested separately and gently de-stemmed prior to fermentation. Gentle daily pumping over of the skins during fermentation helped extract a soft, complex structure. Extended maceration on skins following fermentation helped to further integrate and soften the tannins. Following aging in stainless steel tanks, and a short time in seasoned French oak, the individual blocks were blended to create the ideal wine. The Wine:

Winery's notes...

A stylish Hawke's Bay blend that has chartered our way, a wine with a strong character and a strong following. Blended from the best blocks from our estate, we use a variety of clones, each block fermented then matured in oak barrels as stand alone parcels. After 12 months initial maturation, each barrel was tasted and scored with only the best making the cut for The Navigator. Softly concentrated with deep and dense aromas of plush red fruits, cocoa, spice and cedar, the palate is medium-full bodied with rich and succulent flavours. 

The long finish and fine tannins make this an ideal accompaniment for your beef dishes, richly flavoured foods and cheeses. 

Merlot 34%, Cabernet Sauvignon 31%, Cabernet Franc 19%, Malbec 16%

Maestro is made in the warmest vintages only in North Canterbury. It is a dense, dark, dry, full bodied blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with a smidgeon of Malbec in for good measure.

Classic Graves from an exceptional vintage which favoured the left bank. This shows hallmark cassis and bramble fruit with lovely ripe tannins and keen balancing acidity. Entry level Bordeaux at it's best.

This distinguished Cabernet Merlot is made from ultra-premium grapes (73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc) grown on low-yielding vines in the Mere Road Vineyard, situated in the celebrated stony soils of the Gimblett Gravels district in Hawkes Bay. Medium to full bodied, it bursts with notes of black fruits, plum, chocolate, and liquorice intertwined with beautifully refined tannins, yielding a distinguished silky smooth wine.

The star of the Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon is given pride of place in this French expression of a classic left bank Bordeaux red blend. Its structured body provides a beautiful wintery night's red to enjoy by the fire with cheddar and great company. 

This is a wine made for drinking now or over the next two to three years. 

Charles Wiffen and his family are well known for producing well priced (affordable), well liked (very good quality) wines in a range of styles, all from Marlborough grapes.

While Merlot is the second most planted red in Marlborough, it lags a long way behind the popular Pinot Noir, but wines such as this show another, softer side to the red wine story in this country's biggest wine region. Good drinking now and very good value for money.

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.

Great Esk Valley blend from the great 2020 vintage and made entirely from grapes grown on stony soils of Gimblett Gravels. This wine is one of the top 12 Gimblett Gravels Annual Vintage Selection wines for 2020. It's a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, fermented in open top concrete fermenters and hand plunged. Deeply coloured and complex with jammy and plummy notes.

The Malbec provides smoothness and depth with soft plummy flavours from the Merlot and structure from the Cabernet.

This top drop drinks well now and will also age well for seven to eight years.