Lovely dry, full bodied French Chardonnay, made by Cave de Lugny, a cooperative of over 250 winemakers in the Macon region in southern Burgundy. The Macon region is the warmest area of the world's most famous Chardonnay wine region and provides high quantities of grapes to make accessibly priced, very good quality dry whites like this one. 

Two Paddocks Pinot Noir is actor and winemaker Sam Neill's introduction red to his range of wines from Central Otago. It's made from hand harvested grapes which are fermented and matured in French oak barriques. It is 100% certified organic, which reflects the Central Otago wine region's pre-eminence as New Zealand's leading organic wine region - 16% of the region's vines are certified organic with another 7% in the conversion process, which means that by 2023, 23 % of the vines will be certified.

Riesling is the greatest lower alcohol wine because it has more flavour than most grape varieties which lends itself to higher intensity of taste, balanced by naturally high acidity for freshness. Flavours here span the gamut of freshly picked apples, lemon sherbert and crisp lime juice in a refreshing, lower alcohol Riesling with its 9% ABV. This wine has a beautiful balance of flavour, natural acidity and great length with a long finish. This wine is a great way of enjoying a glass or two, without feeling the same impact of the same amount of wine with more typical alcohol levels of over 12% ABV.

The aim of the game here was to create a lower alcohol wine naturally without doctoring it, if you'll excuse the pun, by removing alcohol. The Riesling grapes in The Doctors' Riesling were fermented to a medium sweet level so that natural grape sugar is retained and the alcohol remains lower than usual. 

Winemakers John and Beth Forrest (a father-daughter team) strike an excellent balance between fruity sweetness and bright acidity in this tasty wine.

Winemaker Paul Pujol is a dab hand at making this pale light bodied red from Pinot Noir. This refreshing lighter take on Pinot Noir has flavours of red berries, spice, excellent freshness and a long finish. 

Limited skin contact, wild yeast fermentation and no secondary fermentation has resulted in an intense, red cherry laced wine with fresh acidity and brightness. 

This is made to be served lightly chilled. 

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. 

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.

Chillable reds are a fabulous new wine trend where softer styles of red winemaking lend themselves ideally to a light chilling. This is a great example from Chaffey Bros in Australia. It is a juicy little blend of Grenache and Mourvedre, made to satisfy red and white wine drinkers alike. This is a pale red wine with bright ruby colour and flavours of bold raspberries and ripe cherries. It's made to drink lightly chilled and works a treat in the hot Australian heat, the country in which it was made. It travels well too… Buy at least a bottle to enjoy on warm days and nights.

Domaine Denis Race is a small, family run winery in Chablis. This Chardonnay uses no oak, resulting in a focused and linear wine. Steel ageing results in a very pure expression of terroir. The nose is fresh and mineral, with grassy and citrus notes. On the palate there is a textural richness, which is balanced by citrussy acidity and savoury minerality.

Certified organic grapes were used to make this new 2019 Pinot Noir from Churton Estate's second generation of winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver. Fermentation was with indigenous yeasts and the result is a youthful, fruity Pinot with a lively flavours and a light to medium body. It's a great wine to drink lightly chilled in summer or as a light bodied winter red. Satisfying, refreshing and with complex notes; a lovely Marlborough Pinot Noir. 

Churton founder and winemaker Sam Weaver cut his teeth on the classic wines of the world while working in fine wine retail in the United Kingdom. His background is in microbiology and he was raised on a farm, so when he and his wife Mandy founded Churton Estate, it combined all of his passions. The couple and their adult sons, have created one of this country's most high quality small wineries, which lives up to the dream of creating 100% estate grown grapes, 100% certified organic production and 100% bottled on site, nearly all of the wines without fining or filtration. All grapes are hand picked and natural yeasts ferment the majority of Churton wines. These incremental qualitative decisions impact at every step of their winemaking provides exceptional quality grapes which in turn express themselves in outstanding wines.

The Natural State wines are the brainchild of second generation family winemakers, Ben and Jack Weaver.

The Abarino Brothers consist of winemaker Ollie Powrie, Shaye Bird and Ant Saunders who all share a passion for Albarino and a wealth of experience in the NZ wine industry. This is their Gisborne release with oodles of varietal typicity in the form of zingy zesty flavours, bright acidity and a splash of salinity. The perfect match for seafood.

Very pretty pale golden yellow in colour with light greenish glints. Bright, luminous and limpid. The nose is young, fresh and vivacious in a whirlwind of floral, fruity scents. The taste is lively, pleasant and perfumed, revealing lemon and verbena on a fine mineral background. We discover the pleasure of drinking for sheer enjoyment. The finish is pleasant leaving the mouth tingling with an airy freshness.

Tasting Notes
Nectarine stone, honey dew and lemon zest on the nose lead to a rich creamy texture, finishing with freshness and poise. A fantastic aperitif style that is also well matched with richer dishes of cheese, pork, charcuterie, seafood and poultry.
About the Wine
Grown at Red Bank Vineyard, Alexandra and featuring the Proprietor’s Grandfather, Sydney Neill Wine Merchant, on the label, Picnic Riesling is our perennial favourite and a wonderful introduction to the pleasure of Central Otago Riesling. We think it is just as much a dinner wine as a luncheon – equally enjoyable at home outdoors, as at the Captain’s Table. Hand harvested and crafted in to a delicious refreshing off-dry style appealing to just about everyone on the planet.

Vintage Comments
A mild, wet 2022 winter meant soils held a lot of water going into the spring and inter-row companion crops including clover, phacelia and barley got off to a strong start. Early spring was very cold and then as spring warmed up in November shoot growth was strong. Flowering started the first week in December and fruit set was considered good on most blocks. Mid-summer heat was high and growing degree days were above 2022 and on par with 2019 by the end of the season.

Picking dates were moving forward until the second half of March when the heat ran out and the final ripening was slow and cool. Harvest started on the 27th of March at Red Bank Vineyard and finished on the 21st of April at The First Paddock, Gibbston. Cropping levels were just short of the optimum 2022 crop.

VINEYARD MANAGEMENT - Soils are schist based gravelly loams. Own roots – cane cuttings from Felton Road. Single cane, one bunch per shoot and very close planted at 5500 vines per hectare. Both shoot and lateral thinned to reduce crop load. Leaves that expose the grapes when ripening are also plucked off to increase sunlight exposure in to the vine canopy. Hand harvested.

WINE MAKERS NOTES - Hand harvested on the 17th April 2023 at 21 Brix and whole bunch pressed, meaning that the press was loaded with the grapes as intact bunches, versus removing the stems first. This pressed juice was then steeped on those skins (in wine language we call that ‘skin contact’) for 14 hours to extract aromatics and flavour and then it was inoculated with yeast and fermented to ‘just off-dry’ wine. We then left the wine sitting in tank on its lees (spent yeast cells that boost body and complexity) for three months before bottling. Please note the International Riesling scale on the back label.

From a 40-year-old Sauvignon Blanc planting, the oldest in the region - this wine shows a deeply aromatic nose of honey suckle, lime and jasmine. On the palate it is silky with a phenolic grip that helps balance the acidity which is long but subtle. Notes of gooseberry and white peach. This is a wine to drink now or to cellar

A field blend of Pinto Gris and Riesling from Otiake in the Waitake valley.

Delicately poised and floral on the nose with white fruit and lemon pith and a touch of complexing minerality. The palate is ripe and deep with stonefruit, citrus and further floral notes leading to a deep and spicy finish. A pure cool climate, aromatic wine.