This Blanc de Blancs is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and is aged on lees for at least two years prior to disgorgement, which gives it a rich, full and creamy flavour combined with the freshness of aging wine on tirage (yeast lees following fermentation) in the bottle.

Number 1 Family Estate is owned by Daniel and Adele Le Brun who are the first to have made traditional method sparkling wine in New Zealand, bringing their experience in France to the early days of this country's modern wine industry. They celebrated 40 years of pioneering methode traditionelle in Marlborough in 2020. Le Brun comes from a long line French sparkling wine makers with family history in the Champagne region dating back to 1684. He has had a profound impact on the style and quality of New Zealand bubbles.

The Charles Wiffen Pinot Gris, is grown in the “Home” Block, which surrounds the Homestead on the farm, which was built in 1882. The block is spur pruned, with a targeted yield of 9 tonnes to the hectare. The grapes are machine harvested in the cool of the morning, transported to the winery, where it is gently destemmed, pressed and clarified. The juice is then fermented with selected yeasts, with the fermentation stopped at the desired residual sugar content.

This estate grown Pinot Gris exhibits aromas of beurre bose pear, hazelnut and white lily with hints of meyer lemon and rosewater on the palate and is refreshingly textured.

RS 5.5 g/L

VINEYARD AND FARMING
Planted in 2002, Doctors Flat is a single 3-hectare vineyard in Bannockburn. The schist subsoil was ground off the Cairnmuir Mountains by glacial ice and deposited here about 480,000 years ago. The glacial action and millennia of weathering have
generated an abundance of clay and fine silt in the vineyard gravel. We know soil texture drives wine texture and this vineyard produces Pinot Noir with density, fine tannin and great texture. We farm organically to help grow and sustain soil biology.
In turn the soil microlife harvest and transport nutrient and minerals to the vine. It’s this connection between vineyard and vine that gives Doctors Flat Pinot Noir its character and sense of place.

WINEMAKING
The winemaking is a simple programme of small open tanks, close attention, minimal inputs and a very light hand in the extraction process with only three punch downs. In 2021 20% of the fruit went directly to tank as whole bunches. Fermentation occurred spontaneously and after 21 to 24 days on skins the wine was drained to French oak barrels (22% new). Malolactic was delayed until spring and SO2 not added until late summer. After a full 12 months in barrel the wine was racked to tank for a second winter, then bottled 20 months after harvest.

White haven Pinot Gris is a versatile dry style with flavours of fresh nashi pears and crisp red apples, a medium body and textural finish. It's a great wine for everyday drinking with or without food, a lovely aperitif style to enjoy at lunch and early evening.

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery.

Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

We're big fans of dry Chenin Blanc and this is one of the best made in New Zealand with its ripe flavours of green apples, clover honey and notes of dried grass and hay  aromas. This is a great wine to drink with fish 'n chips by the river, on the beach or in the backyard. It's also a delicately refreshing drink on its own as an aperitif or late nightcap. John and Beth Forrest are Chenin Blanc devotees and it shows. 

Machine harvested grapes were fermented in large oak barrels (1000 litres) and extended lees ageing brings depth and layers of flavour to this wine.

Chenin Blanc is one of the great white wines of the world, traditionally from the Loire Valley in central France, and also a grape that has found its home happily in many cool climates of the wine world, such as parts of New Zealand.

This is a light, dry and fresh Pinot Gris with flavours of white fruit and a lingering finish. Good value. 

A field blend of Pinot Blanc from the Bentwood Vineyard and Pinot Gris from the neighbouring Cross Hares vineyard. Picked on the same day.

Whole bunch Pinot Gris placed gently in amphora with direct press Pinot Blanc pressed atop. Fermented on skins in amphora for 6 months. The wine was then settled and blended with a puncheon of pinot blanc.

Apricot yoghurt, soft chalky tannin, crystallized ginger, peach ice tea salivating acidity.

Gamey, savoury, deliciously refreshing Pinot Noir from Martinborough's next new big thing - Te Muna Valley, a dramatically majestic sub region for grapes that is situated 9 kilometres east of Martinborough village. 

Big Sky Wines is on the high alluvial terraces of Martinborough's Huangarua River at Te Muna, 9 kilometres east of the village. Low yielding deep gravels, hot days and cool nights result in wines that are deep and complex. This is their flagship wine from a low vigour, low cropping vineyard.  Hand picked, crushed into two tonne open fermenters with 10% whole bunch fermentation and minimal crushing and with wild fermentation followed by 12 months in French oak, 12.5% of which was new. And therein lies the beauty of this insanely delicious Pinot Noir with its ripe berry fruit flavours of dark cherries and plums, balanced by mouth filling savouriness, warm spice, and silky tannins. 

The Big Sky story

Jeremy Corban and Katherine Jacobs founded Big Sky Wines in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough, in 2005. They have since expanded their small vineyard, which is predominantly planted in Pinot Noir and also has a little Sauvignon Blanc, which they give extra textural complexity to with a little time in old oak on lees. 

Albariño is a classic Galician white grape variety from north western Spain, which thrives in New Zealand and tastes of fabulous aromatic lemon zest with green olive and freshly picked apple aromas. Forrest Estate winemaker Beth Forrest first encountered it in Spain and was smitten immediately. This led to Albarino being brought into New Zealand by Riversun Nurseries in Gisborne and, eventually, to growing in Marlborough where Beth and her famous winemaking father, John, Forrest, both love it and produce this fabulous dry white wine.

This wine shows all the classical Albariño elements with a New Zealand touch of vibrant acidity, white peach, pear, apricots and quince, with an orange zest undertone.

Te Mānia’s vineyards, established in 1990, are located near the beautiful coastline of Tasman Bay on free draining, stony clay loam soils which have proved excellent for producing wine grapes of exceptional quality. Te Mania is a two-time winner of the prestigious Bragato Trophy for Best of Show.


Nelson Riesling 2024
When young our Riesling produces fresh, lively wines which are great for relaxed summertime drinking; however this wine also has a wonderful ability to age, allowing a wider spectrum of flavours to unfold.

Nose: Honeysuckle and citrus/lime characters on the nose with some underlying mineral notes.  

Palate:  Luscious and juicy sweet apple is balanced beautifully with fresh lemon zest. Some delicious honey notes and a long fresh finish.
Vintage:  Fruit was hand harvested with the grapes being whole bunch pressed and the juice cool fermented to preserve primary fruit characters.

Diet: This wine is suitable for a vegan diet.

The Main Divide is the name of the Southern Alps and a range of great wines made by the Pegasus Bay winemaking team. These wines consistently over deliver, drink beautifully when young with their rich and opulent house style - and also age surprisingly well, given the modest price they cost.

The Riesling grapes in this wine were picked over several weeks at between 23-25 brix, which creates rich, tasty Riesling. Fermentation was in stainless steel at cool temperatures and the finished wine retains a little carbon dioxide, which accentuates fresh zingy flavours in the wine, which contains 24 grams of residual sugar.

It's a full bodied, opulent style with a crisp finish.

This West Auckland Pinot Gris is made in a dry style with grapes from Kumeu, fermented with indigenous yeasts and given extended maturation on lees following fermentation. This adds richness and complexity to this youthful white. It drinks well now and can hold for a couple of years as a good quality dry white. 

Kumeu River Wines began life as San Marino Wines in 1944 when Croatian immigrant couple, Mick and Katé Brajkovich, bought a small property with a vineyard on it. Their descendents now own and run Kumeu River Wines, which produces 250,000 bottles of wine annually from its owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Kumeu and from another 10 hectares, owned by local grape growers.