TASTING NOTE Dark purple and ruby appearance with a pink rim leads to a bouquet of ripeness, concentration and power. On the nose, the wine bursts with aromas of fresh crushed blackcurrant, rosemary flower and violet, layered with smoky clove and new leather. The palate is opulent and velvety in texture, with concentration, ripeness and power. Plum, dark cherry and cocoa beans are vibrant and lingering. This wine is both intense and delicate.  A lovely reflection of the 2021 season. 

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE Our Waiheke Vineyard is entirely owned and managed by Cable Bay Vineyards to ensure we produce the best quality fruit possible. We practice regenerative viticulture, and we are accredited with Sustainable Winegrowing NZ. We are located on the sun-drenched, western side of the island, on steep slopes overlooked by Rangitoto volcano. We have predominantly mineralised clay volcanic soils over Jurassic era rock. This type of geology and soil provides wines with great mid-palate weight and minerality. This wine is made from the Hermitage MS clone of Syrah. 

WINEMAKING These Syrah grapes were hand-picked in March 2021, on a cool morning, and immediately taken across the road to our winery. The ferment was 100% whole berries, which helps to enhance the floral and bright fruit characters in the wine. At pressing, only the free run wine was retained to ensure delicacy, and run to French oak puncheons and barriques. In 20% new oak, it aged for 21 months before assemblage and bottling.

Commercial Description

We are lucky at Čuvar to have arguably one of the best red wine vineyards on the Gimblett Gravels, which meant that the Syrah weathered the early cyclone and continued to ripen to produce fruit with depth of flavour and ripe tannins – the perfect palette to create this wine.

Firm, ripe tannins create a backbone enveloped in juicy sun kissed fruit that lengthens on the palate to leave you wanting more.

Commercial Description

made from fruit sourced from Ballochdale in the Awatere Valley. Proudly sitting 300m above sea level, the vineyard’s spectacular inland location provides the most desirable conditions for producing wines of identity and intensity.

Čuvar Guardians Pinot Noir 2023 is the first wine Sir George made from this vineyard he acquired in 2023. This wine displays vibrancy and a ripe red fruit profile typical of the regions, along with added depth, structure and spicy nuances from ageing in French oak barriques. While still youthful, the wine already shows nice complexity from the oak maturation and will age gracefully well into the end of the decade.

This bright ruby red Pinot Noir has aromas of ripe red cherry, cranberry and accented hints of savoury earthiness.

This Reserve Cabernet Franc is very robust with plenty of fruit on the nose along with some fine, dark red berry aromas. The barrel maturation has given a style with dark red fruit, cassis, sweet cedar and spice characteristics and that floral perfume characteristic of the Cabernet Franc variety.

Nautilus Albarino is a limited edition wine made by Clive Jones at Nautilus winery where the cool temperature fermentation preserves the briny, salinity of Albarino's refreshing dry flavours. A brief period of ageing on yeast lees following fermentation adds a creamy balancing textural note to the taste and mouth feel of this lovely wine. 

The Albarino grape is originally from north west Spain and north west Portugal, where it's known as Alvarinho; same grape, different name. In Portugal it is used to make refreshing light bodied whites such as Vinho Verde and an increasing number of great dry single varietal white wines. 

This lovely new rose on our shelves from a well established winery in a remote corner of our nearest wine region, Matahiwi Estate in the northern Wairarapa. Deep pink in colour and deeply fruity in flavour, this lovely medium dry rose is made 100% from Pinot Noir grapes. 

Small but beautifully formed Pinot Noir from Central Otago with delicate red fruit flavours supported by structured notes of spice and firm cedary aromas on the long finish.

Amisfield wines began life on the shores of beautiful Lake Hayes, which remains home to this brand's cellar door and restaurant while the majority of grapes grown for these wines are now in the Cromwell Basin, most notably in Pisa which is where the winery production takes place. Ths wine is made from hand harvested grapes, which are treated to a natural ferment (no added yeasts) with approximately 10% whole bunchclusters added and maturation for 15 months in 20% French oak. This Pinot Noir is dry, full bodied and smooth with elegant spicy notes. It drinks well now and can definitely age well for the medium to long term; up to and beyond 10 years.

Hieronymus is a blend of grapes and of vineyards and is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 12% Malbec and 8% Tempranillo with 58% from the Gimblett Gimblett and 42% from the Bridge Pa Triangle.

Grapes were harvested in three separate hand picked lots and fermented separately in oak cuves, then drained to barrel without pressing. The wine was aged for 26 months in 50% new French oak.

The wine's name pays homage to an ancestor of the winery's owners, the Weiss family.

BIG Ted Pinot noir 2023
Classic Central Otago Pinot Noir in classic packaging

Organic, soft, supple and Otago delicious fruit with red fruits, cherries, plums and all in between– everything you want in premium Pinot Noir.

Yes  - it is wine with a tap. it's really good wine, yes again. We have sourced the very newest packaging that allows us to put this high end wine in a cylinder, allows you to have a glass when you want with nothing to worry about including not finishing the bottle. Finally premium wine with convenience.

New tech delivers no wastage, fresh with every glass, lasts up to a month once opened, fully recyclable, and less than half the carbon footprint of the same wine in bottles. Times are a changing so get with a new programme - BigTed

Grapes from our Estate vineyards, destemmed, wild yeasts all aged in French oak.

100% organic, vegan friendly.
2 litres, 2.67 bottles

Artwork by Callum Robertson

TED  - redefining wine culture

From Jules Taylor...

Forget what you think you know about Pinot Gris and try this tasty little treat. Jules conjures up some winemaker witchcraft to coax every last ounce of personality out of this subtle little grape. Modern clones combine with traditional wild ferments, barrel aging and lees stirring to supercharge the aromas and textures of this wine. The end result is a flavour-packed mouthful of peach and citrus with an elegant spicy dry finish: a wine that will keep everyone happy.

Bold, dry deliciousness and peachy perfection with just a hint of hint of spice come together in the perfect party pour.

Dry, full bodied, iconoclastic Riesling from New Zealand's king of spatlese styles, Mat Donaldson and his winemaking team at Pegasus Bay Winery, which is New Zealand's greatest Riesling producer. 

This wine, Bel Canto, is the queen of the winery's Riesling range. It is bone dry with 5 grams per litre of residual sugar due to high brix (grape sugars) at harvest time and a small percentage of noble rot (also known as botrytis). It drinks well now and can age for the long term; up to and beyond 10 years. 

Extended hang time on the vines has resulted in the intensely ripe, tropical fruit flavours in the grapes which were picked to retain refreshing, high but balanced acidity. The free run juice was fermented slowly at cool temperatures to retain fruit characters and varietal purity. Alcoholic fermentation was left to continue until residual sugar of 5 g/l was achieved. Retention of a little of natural carbon dioxide gives spritz character to add liveliness and accentuate freshness.

Barrel fermentation adds a noticeably delicious depth of flavour to this zingy, dry and refreshing Chenin Blanc from one of those who know the grape like the back of their proverbial winemaking hand - Simon Waghorn. He is an ardent fan of Chenin and gives it all the bells and allows its own personality to shine in this wine. 

Grapes were grown on the sunny, north facing Wrekin Vineyard in Marlborough with partial barrel ferment to add body while wild yeasts add savoury flavour notes. 

This is a deliciously complex Chenin at an extremely affordable price with flavours of green apples, liquid honey and notes of dried grass, which make it feel like a hot sunny day with a cool crisp dry white. 

This wine drinks beautifully now and can certainly age for up to a decade, potentially longer. Longevity is one of the hallmarks of the Chenin Blanc grape variety and the wines made from it.

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.