From Marlboroughs' Ukrainian wine making duo Alina Tenetka & Masha, bringing their experience from Europe to make really elegant wines out of different sites in Marlborough, teasing the potential out of grapes in ways we don't often see in New Zealand wines. These wines are full of poise, elegance & are hot off the lips of many a wine critic. 

When Alina turned up with her wines at Regional's we were taken aback, why hadn't we heard of this any sooner? The wines all were a departure from the styles New Zealand had previously offered & placed themselves in some of the best examples of each variety they make that NZ has to offer!

Region: Lower Wairau Valley, Marlborough

The Story
Viognier is a winemaker’s gamble, a fussy grape that rewards patience with aromatic opulence. We aimed to capture its rich, silken texture, a contrast to the sharp-edged Marlborough whites. Our goal was to coax out its exotic perfume, creating a wine of texture and grace—like sunshine woven into a golden thread.

Tastes Like
Lush Apricot, ripe Peach skin, and fragrant Honeysuckle, with a rich, textural palate that finishes with a hint of toasty oak.

Pair With
Sublime with Moroccan chicken tagine, creamy lobster risotto, or a cheese board featuring soft, pungent cheeses like Epoisses or Taleggio.

For the Geeks

Bathed in sunlight, this ideal site allows our Viognier to ripen perfectly. We harvest in two distinct stages: an initial pick for crisp, natural acidity, followed by a later pass for the grape's full, aromatic bloom. Fermented and aged on fine lees in seasoned French barrels for 10 months. Complex, powerful, and elegantly refined.

Residual Sugar: 3.2 g/L (Dry)
Acidity (TA): 7.1 g/L
pH: 3.37
Alcohol: 14.2%

Accolades: Cam Douglas MS - 95 points Outstanding

Pinot Gris is the fourth most planted grape in New Zealand with a massive 2,488 hectares nationwide, inching slowly up to Chardonnay’s 3,167 hectares. It’s huge growth from just 157 hectares of Pinot Gris as recently as 2001, but numbers aside, it’s the taste that counts and Greywacke is next level in flavour. 

The grapes in this wine are from the Wrekin Terrace Vineyard in Brancott Valley where they grow on gravel over clay-loam soils, typical of the Southern Valleys in Marlborough. Three clones of Pinot Gris were all hand picked separately at high ripeness levels to provide rich fruity flavours in the finished wine, which was fermented in a combo of old French oak barriques and stainless steel tanks, all with wild yeasts to a finished 14.4% ABV with 10 grams per litre of residual sugar. 

Fresh, full bodied, off dry and intensely concentrated; one for the large glass on a decadent spring evening. 

MiruMiru translates to sparkling in Maori and has been trademarked as the name of Jane Hunter's bubblies. Hunter is a fan of pink bubbly and her winemaking team produce this one mostly from Pinot Noir as 55% of the blend with the balance being 42% Chardonnay with a 3% touch of Pinot Meunier. This trio is the classic combination used in the Champagne region where wines must be aged for at least 18 months prior to release on the market. That?s the exact timeframe that Hunter?s winemaking team decided to age this lively, dry pink bubbles for too. It contains 6.4 grams of residual sugar per litre and is a deliciously full bodied expression of sparkling Pinot with Chardonnay adding crispness and balance. 

Member of Methode Marlborough 

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.

From the winery:

"The 2020 single vineyard, barrel fermented Chardonnay offers sophisticated soft wine with restrained flavours of grapefruit, melon and a subtle blend of nut, spicy oak and lees characters.

Barrel fermented and Barrel aged in new and older French oak add complexity and texture."

A classic expression of Gewürztraminer, this wine opens with fragrant notes of lychee, tangerine, maple, spruce tip, and rose petal, lifting effortlessly from the glass. The warm 2024 season imparted a soft, polished texture to its savoury phenolic structure, lending grace and lightness to this opulent variety. Hints of chamomile and cookie dough weave through the palate, enriched by a touch of residual sugar. With pristine fruit and no botrytis influence, this is a pure and elegant example of the style.

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.

Fermented on skins for 190 days this wine is Grown traditionally and fermented without intervention. A pure expression of The Opou Vineyard, home to Chardonnay for 50 years now telling us its stories with a new voice. Unfined and unfiltered, this uncompromised wine offers a perfect journey from our place to your glass. With love and gratitude.

Alc 13.5%

Vegan and Vegetarian Friendly

Escarpment fashions Pinot Noir from the Martinborough district in New Zealand. Part of our ethos is to explore boundaries and create wines of interest and complexity.

W I N E M A K E R S   N O T E

The Noir label brings together over three decades of wine making experience, creating a soft, bright, fruit forward wine which can be enjoyed immediately or will cellar successfully for several years. Made using traditional techniques from fruit grown on the Martinborough terrace. The fruit was destemmed into open top vessels and fermented using indigenous yeast. After an average vat time of 20 days the wine was pressed off and aged in predominately older French barriques for 10 months. Bottled without fining or filtration, the resulting wine is a blend of 24 individual parcels. Structure and texture sit perfectly with ripe fruit flavours and gentle tannins that combine with intriguing complexity. Enjoy with many types of cuisine or cellar confidently for up to 5 years.

T A S T I N G 

Bright ruby red in colour, the wine opens with lifted perfume and fresh summer berries. An elegant vintage has given us softness and focus. It is very fragrant and attractive with fresh red berries, underpinned with turned earth, subtle spice and savoury notes, which add to complexity. The fresh berries continue on the palate with ripe cranberry, fresh cherry and strawberry, creating a bright vibrancy and crunchie freshness. Soft, fine-grained tannin also intertwine on the palate, creating texture and poise. This is an attractive wine that is immediately appealing but will also reward with a few years in the cellar. Serve at 16°C and enjoy with any red meat and rich pasta dishes, or as a perfect accompaniment to a barbeque.

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.

Winemaker Grant Edmonds crafts this deliciously dark fruited and complex Syrah with its subtle floral characters along with slightly more muscular tannins define this elegant and complex wine. Finely balanced, it will develop over the next seven to eight years in the bottle.

Hand harvested Syrah from the famed Two Terraces vineyard. 100% whole bunch fermented with 128 days on skins. The wine was pressed to a single seasoned French oak barrel for 9 months. Aromas of dark berry fruits, wild thyme and violets and an elegant tannin structure

The 2018 Grand Amateur Merchant is a fresh, cool climate red made exclusively from one of Hawkes Bays most exciting Cabernet Franc vineyards - The Howell Family Vineyard. In the tradition of the finest barrel aged Loire Cabernet Francs where Sam worked for 6 years, this fresh, elegant and perfumed red will reward patient wine lovers for 8-9 years from the vintage. Blueberries, raspberries, Damson plums, dried thyme and background cedar notes from oak ageing.