Crater Rim is a small and high quality winery in the Waipara Valley in the heart of North Canterbury and this is a lovely earthy expression of Pinot Noir from this wine region. 

Savoury layers of smoked mushrooms and bright red cherry flavours combine in this lively red. Drinks well now and can improve for the next two to three years. 

Te Mata Tasting Note

Sparkling with a pale white-gold hue, Elston ’24 immediately reveals its richness on the nose. Aromas of crème brûlée, toasted sourdough, and vanilla intertwine with vibrant notes of grapefruit and ripe yellow nectarine. Subtle layers of oyster shell, hazelnut, and flintiness add further complexity and intrigue.

On the palate, it delivers a commanding presence – rich and textured yet finely balanced by a spine of electric acidity building delicious tension. The vivacious fruit sweetness combines elegantly with an energetic drive, creating a wine of remarkable elegance and fantastic length. The 2024 vintage captures Elston in its ultimate form.

Elston takes its name from the ancestral home of Charles Darwin, Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, the UK, and tastes dry with ripe stone fruit flavours of peach and nectarines, balanced by a citrusy, creamy and lingering finish. 

A great wine to enjoy now and to keep.

This dry white is made from Pinot Noir grapes, grown on Te Kano's Eliza Vineyard and fermented to almost bone dry with 2.5 grams residual sugar adding balance to the linear acidity in this wine. The grapes were given minimal skin contact during fermentation so that the colour is pale and the wine looks white but has depth of flavour, thanks to the earthy notes of the Pinot Noir. 

Flavours here are fresh with notes of nashi pear, peach and citrus blossom leading to a rich and fruity palate with concentrated flavours of peach and pear leading to a dry finish.

Three clones of Pinot Noir were used in this wine with clones 115, Abel, 5 and 6, all hand picked and whole bunch pressed with a cool and long fermentation in stainless steel used to preserve the delicate aromatic fruit flavours, followed by a brief time on light lees to build mid palate texture and depth.

Larry McKenna loves a Chardonnay made in a fresh, crisp style with creamy texture but balanced by bright acidity, a medium to full body and a long finish. So, if big buttery Chardonnays are your thing, this wine will meet your hopes in a textural fashion. Which is another way of saying, try this great white made in a fresh style.

It's made from grapes grown on Te Muna Road, Martinborough, which were planted in 1999. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation with lees stirring to enhance texture and it aged for 11 months in French oak, 20% of it new.

Classic by name and by nature. This is a full bodied, mouth filling, medium dry Riesling that is brimming with flavour, such as ripe orange, peach and mandarin. Its juicy acidity adds tension to the wine, providing a structured and beautiful aromatic white with flavours of ripe stonefruit supported by notes of freshness that lend it a long, succulent finish that tastes dry following the rich mid palate. The palate is vibrant, intense and focused with orange, nectarine and cream flavours and a good line of juicy acidity.

A powerful Chardonnay that is unmistakably rich and creamy with a clear message to 'drink me now', which is Clearview Estate winemakers Tim Turvy and Matt Kirby's aim here. Bells and whistles, big and buttery. This wine derives its flavours from eight months in French oak, which provides barrel ferment characters of malolactic creaminess, balanced by fresh acidity. 

Clearview Estate was founded by winemaker Tim Turvey, who remains as owner and overseeing winemaker of the winery, vineyards and restaurant.

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.

The Main Divide is the name of the majestic Southern Alps, which form the back bone of the South Island, and it is also the name of a range of great value wines which consistently over deliver on depth of flavour and complexity for the price. 

This Pinot Noir is made 100% from North Canterbury grapes, 25% of which were whole bunch fermented with natural yeasts. The wine was given a week long, post ferment maceration in French oak, approximately 20% new.

It's a weighty, earthy style with lively dark and red fruit flavours. It delivers big time for the money.

Deliciously spicy, aromatic red fruit are captured in this silky Pinot Noir from Astrolabe Wines, which is a blend of grapes from four Marlborough sub regions, the Brancott and Waihopai, the Awatere and Kekerengu on the southern coast of the broader region. 

The grapes in this wine were fermented with wild yeasts in open top vats, including a portion of whole bunches to provide structure and add complexity to the pristine red fruit flavours in this wine. Wild yeasts and hot ferments are followed by aging in old French oak barrels where the wine gains its smooth mouthfeel and savoury flavours.

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. 

Barrel fermented, dry style of Pinot Blanc which is aged for 11 months. What more could you ask for in an alternative white wine from Te Muna Road in Martinborough? Winemaker Larry McKenna models this Pinot Blanc on the great dry whites of Germany's Kaiserstuhl district where spicy wines are made to complement rich food. 

This wine is made from vines planted in 1999 on Te Muna Road in Martinborough. It's bone dry with less than one gram of residual sugar and the finished wine spent 11 months aging in barrel prior to bottling. It can age for up to five years and drinks well now too. 

The Prophet’s Rock Pinot Gris comes from both the Home and Rocky Point vineyards. Planting in these warmer areas of Central Otago and practising careful viticulture allows for the production of a very aromatic style of Pinot Gris, while retaining the trademark freshness of the region. This wine has achieved an avid following and wide acclaim, despite very limited production.

The vinification is heavily influenced by winemaker Paul Pujol's time in Alsace where use of wild yeast, multiple small vessels and long ageing are the norm. After long slow ferments the various components are aged on their yeast lees before bottling.

Juicy and refreshingly succulent pale ruby Pinot Noir, which has body and structure, building on winemaker Jannine Rickards' previous Waikura Rosé and is a lighter bodied red wine with structure and flavour interest but freshness that suits being served as a lightly chilled wine. 

Made from old vine 10/5 Pinot Noir (25% whole bunch with gentle pump overs) and new plantings of Abel clone Pinot Noir, all grown on the Stad_Ko Vineyard; the new name for the old Arapai Vineyard in Martinborough.

Wellingtonian John Porter is a lawyer by day and winemaker by night, at least that's how his small production Pinot Noirs began life when he and his family first planted vines in Martinborough in 1992. 

This wine drinks beautifully now at five years old with fresh, delicate red fruit flavours over a core of savoury complexity and great structure providing length and texture to this wine. We think it represents great value for money and still has further time to evolve in the bottle, for those with the willpower to do so.

All the grapes in this wine were hand picked, fermented in small tanks and aged in French oak with a modest proportion of new oak. 

A cracking sparkler from Marlborough's Cloudy Bay. This has more weight and fruit sweetness than the standard Pelorus thanks to a higher percentage Pinot and offers strawberry and biscuit elements on the nose and palate. 

94/100 Bob Campbell
“Reasonably deep copper colour. Full-flavoured wine with hints of biscuit and strawberry. Dry, but not austere, with a rich texture and lengthy finish. Classy sparkler with character.”

One of our best selling bubblies and for great reason' this is a stunner with creamy smooth flavours and gorgeous zesty bubbles. This sparkling wine is made 100% from Chardonnay grapes grown in Hawke's Bay, which were trucked down to the northern Wairarapa winery, Matahiwi Estate, where winemaker Miles Dineen worked his magic to produce this dreamy creamy bubbly. 

This wine is made in the mould of a blanc de blancs (white of whites) champagne, using Chardonnay grapes from the Dartmoor Valley in Hawke's Bay. The wine gains its richness from lees ageing, which enhances  creaminess and yeasty aromatics. It's a deliciously lemon citrusy wine with depth, complexity and character - outstanding value at the  price.

Amisfield Brut is one of Central Otago's great Pinot Noirs, only in this case the grapes were gently crushed and the skins removed immediately in order to make a white wine with bubbles, modelled on champagne. 

All of the grapes were hand picked and the wine went through its second fermentation in bottle where it spent 18 months on yeast lees, retaining freshness, gaining full bodied, yeasty, toasty aromas. It's dry with five grams of residual sugar per litre and a long, refreshing finish thanks to crisp acidity which adds drive and length to every tasty sip. 

This wine represents outstanding value for money and shines another light on Pinot Noir from the deep south.