Fiano's established home is Campania in Southwest Italy, where great examples
are revered for style somewhere between a stunning Chardonnay and a dry
Riesling. Compared to other grapes, it is low-yielding and thus often overlooked by
commercial wineries. However it is well worth the work, showing delicate floral and
spice aromas that mellow and honey over time, giving way to great texture and impressive acidity.

This noble variety seems to have found its home at the stunning Howell Family vineyard, off Maraekakaho Road in Bridge Pa – one of a handful of Fiano plantings in New Zealand.
White floral, stonefruit, lemon zest and hint of brioche on the nose. On the palate these flavours merge with a touch of marmalade and cedar. A rich, textured, ripe wine with a zesty fresh finish. 900 bottle made.

Super peachy, full bodied and dry voluptuous Viognier style - it's mouth filling and rich with great balance and a ligth touch of lively acidity to stretch out the wine to a long, peachy finish with flavour hints of apricot paste and skin. The grapes were whole bunch pressed with 60% barrel fermented to accentuate the body and texture to the wine. The remaining 40% was fermented in stainless steel tanks bringing freshness.

This wine displays classic stone fruit characteristics of apricot, white peach with floral details and subtle creaminess on the palate.

In Te Reo Māori, Waikoa translates to happy waters.

The 2023 Waikoa is a return to a blend of varietals. Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc from friends who own the Grava vineyard. This wine brings me joy for its salivating deliciousness and makes me think of spring and summer sunshine filled days.

Partial whole cluster inclusion and wild fermentation, time on skins give it beautiful aromatics & texture. Karla & Alistair who farm Grava are BioGro certified organic! So good!

A perfumed nose of florals, citrus, wild fennel and honeydew in a beech forest during summer. The palate is driven by refreshing citrus fruits, lime & pink grapefruit and a long pithy textured palate.

Serve lightly chilled on a warm day or served with fresh kaimoana.

An absolute winner that shows a depth of delicious flavour development while retaining freshness in Gruner Veltliner, a grape that is planted in small quantities in New Zealand and originally comes from Austria. In this case, it's grown on the Morrison Vineyard at Pisa in Central Otago. 

The flavours here are all bright yellow fruit with stone fruit notes, a hint of spice and beautiful full body followed by a long finish. 

This wine drinks well now but can be cellared with confidence for a further two to four years.

Organically certified.

Whole bunch fermented blend of Riesling and Pinot Gris, which spent the first part of their wine journey in amphora with two months of skin contact, which results in the orange hue in this lovely refreshing dry wine. Softly white wine with grip and aromatic appeal, which ticks the vegan box. 

Certified organic  

The organic story at Seresin

One of the greatest things about Seresin Estate is the organic certification. This came relatively early on for Seresin, who was dismayed by the amount used and the impacts of man made chemicals, which were routinely and frequently sprayed on vines. His early adopting philosophy of organic certification paved a positive path for the integrity of the wines as well as leading others to follow suit.

Tasting Notes Technical Data Muscat 2024 Nose – Apricot. Nectarine. Jasmine. Alc 14.5% Palate – Intense. Bright. Clean. TA 5.2g/L Drink – over the next 8 years RS 0.1g/L pH 3.73 Harvest date 29.4.24

A dry aromatic Muscat from a cool Gibbston vineyard managed by James. Left hanging late for ripeness and lifted aromatics, wholebunch pressed, wild fermented to dryness, and aged 10 months on gross lees. Hand-bottled unfined and unstabilised—may form natural crystals; best served at room temperature to show texture and aromatics.

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.

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. 

A field blend of organically grown Sauvignon Blanc (33%), Riesling (33%) and Gewurztraminer (33%). Hand harvested and whole bunch fermented as one and left to its own devices and in peace until bottling with no additions apart from a touch of sulphur dioxide – 100 % orange.

Field Notes:
Vineyard | Brawn Vineyard Estate
Picked | 27th March 2024 a Leaf Day
Skin Time | 108 days
Alcohol | 12%
TA | 4.5
pH | 3.66
RS | 0
Colour | orange
Palate | breakfast negroni impersonator | fresh | saline | juicy tannins
Ben Says | “Perfect late at night at the bar with quiet conversation, thoughtful prose and slightly secret intent”
Bottle Date | 6th November 2024 a Fruit Day
Bottles | 4945

This is Astrolabe winemaker Simon Waghorn's delicious take on Albarino and it's made from grapes grown in a quirky location, to say the very least. All grapes in this wine were hand picked from their coastal home at Kekerengu, south of Blenheim. It is the southernmost vineyard in the Marlborough region and only Astrolabe makes wine from the small vineyards planted there. This cool location provides slighter higher acidity and zestiness to the wines made from there.

Whole bunch pressing and fermentation on solids followed by lees aging provide this wine with depth and body, which balances the naturally high acidity that is innate to the Albarino grape - a native grape to north west Spain and Portugal and now at home in New Zealand. 

Flavours in this wine are all about green apples and lemon with a green olive note on its dry finish. 

This is the ultimate wine to drink with seafood on a hot day.

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. 

Arneis and Pinot Gris sourced from the Dolce Vista vineyard. Hand harvested Arneis barrel fermented and aged. Pinot Gris fermented on skins and then pressed to seasoned oak. Blended and bottled after 12 months in barrel. Delicate white flowers and peach, intense citrus with minerality and rich texture.