One of our favourite under $25 Pinot Noirs in store with its medium body and beautiful ripe red fruit aromas, earthy depth of flavour and impressive tannic structure thanks to Martinborough's dry, windy climate. This wine is good value and a clean, fresh style of Pinot.Luna Estate makes three Pinot Noirs, two single vineyards called Eclipse and Luna and this lovely refreshing estate blend. 

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.

Extremely aromatic with pear, white flower and stone fruit characteristics. Barrel fermentation adds complexity. Zesty citrus fruit notes on the palate with soft, acid freshness. A light, well balanced wine. 

Light and golden in colour. Fresh aromas of pear, toasted pine nuts, and lifted Turkish delight awaken your senses. Textured, structural, dry, fresh stone fruit roasted almond flavours mingle with fresh thyme and wild fennel. This multi-layered Pinot Gris is opulent yet clean, bright and juicy. The wine’s poised, beautiful texture leads to a well-balanced, persistent finish.

The Main Divide is the name of the majestic Southern Alps, which form the backbone of the South Island of New Zealand. It is also the name of a range of outstanding, approachable priced drink-me-now styled wines from Pegasus Bay winery in North Canterbury. 

These wines consistently punch well above their price weight, including this Chardonnay, which is made from hand picked grapes, which were whole bunch pressed into large French oak puncheons and fermented with the grape's natural yeasts then matured on yeast lees for a year. Full bodied, creamy, bold and powerful.

This wine offers a complex aroma of citrus, stonefruit, and spice characteristics. The palate has depth and intensity with mineral notes and a powerful finish with flavours of apricot and vanilla, balanced by a juicy acidity. A Chardonnay that shows richness alongside a tightly structured palate with layers of texture and pairs well with snapper, saffron, shellfish and other delicate flavours.

From Quartz Reef’s Bendigo Estate vineyard which is BioGro certified organic and Demeter certified biodynamic. Deep ruby-red in colour exhibiting spiced wild berries. Opulent and rich on the palate with notes of dark cherry, blackberry and liquorice. Silky tannins with a muscular structure and impressive length.

Established in 1864 by Jean Désiré Féraud, Monte Christo is the birthplace of Central Otago wine. Our wines are made with 100% estate-grown fruit sourced from our vineyards across three distinct sub-regions, the Alexandra Basin, Bannockburn and Pisa. Utilising sustainable farming practices and minimal intervention methods in the winery, the outcome is elegant, refined, and impeccably balanced wines epitomising the terroir of Central Otago.

Tasting note A highly seductive and luscious Pinot Noir balanced by bright acidity and firm and silky tannins, with dark cherry, plum, wild strawberry, intense violet and clove aromas.

VINEYARD

Vineyard: Catherine’s (100%) Subregion: Pisa Elevation: 240m Clone(s): Abel , 777 Soil: Waenga alluvial sandy silt gravels, loam texture, moderately stoney, derived from schist

WINEMAKING

Brix: 22.7 (avg.) Whole Cluster: 27% Total time on skins: 25 days (avg.), including a five-day cold soak Fermentation: Wild yeasts Aging: 10 months in 25% new French oak Cases Produced: 95

Established in 1864 by Jean Désiré Féraud, Monte Christo is the birthplace of Central Otago wine. Our wines are made with 100% estate-grown fruit sourced from our vineyards across three distinct sub-regions, the Alexandra Basin, Bannockburn and Pisa. Utilising sustainable farming practices and minimal intervention methods in the winery, the outcome is elegant, refined, and impeccably balanced wines epitomising the terroir of Central Otago.

Tasting note With dark plums and spice, this  Pinot Noir has bright acidity and a soft finish.

VINEYARDS 

Vineyard: Catherine’s (39%) Subregion: Pisa Elevation: 240m Clone(s):  115, 5, Abel Soil: Waenga alluvial sand and silt gravels, loam texture and moderately stoney, derived from schist 

Vineyard: Davishon (31%) Subregion:  Alexandra Basin Elevation: 160m Clone(s):  5, 115 Soil: Blackmans alluvial sand and silt gravels derived from schist and sandstone.

Vineyard: Confluence (21%) Subregion: Bannockburn Elevation: 210m Clone(s): 777, 115 Soil: Manuherikia loess deposited silt material overlaying sand and silt alluvial deposits derived from schist

Vineyard: Paris (9%) Subregion: Bannockburn Elevation: 220m Clone(s): 10/5, 115 Soil: Cromwell loess deposited sands derived from schist

WINEMAKING Brix: 23.3 (avg.) Whole Cluster: 6% Total time on skins: 25 days (avg.), including a five-day cold soak Fermentation: Wild yeasts Aging: 10 months in 33% new French oak

Daniel le Brun is the first person to make traditional method sparkling wine (that's code for made the same way as champagne) in New Zealand. He has since sold his own brand name and created another sparkling wine company. 

This wine remains one of New Zealand's most loved and well known bubbles from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes grown in Marlborough. It has extended lees aging time to gain its fresh bakery flavours and long finish. A well known wine that delivers on body, dryness, depth of flavour - and all at such a modest price. No wonder it's a fave for so many New Zealanders.

Pinot Noir makes up over 80% of Central Otago's vineyards and it suits this cool climate because it is one of the earliest ripening red grapes in winemaking and can be harvested before the region's frosty winters set in. Roaring Meg is one of Central Otago's most popular wines and is named, cheekily, after a lady of the night during the infamous gold rush days in this southern region, in the 1800s. 

It's a light bodied, fresh and smooth red wine with notes of spice and cedar; made for drinking early in its life rather than aging.

We are the only retail store in the country with an allocation of this outstanding dry Fiano and we sold out just prior to the cyclones. Winemaker Jenny Dobson has released another 12 bottles to us, but that?s it. The vineyard did survive the inclement weather intact, but volumes are likely to be down next year. She and we are big fans of Fiano, which originally comes from southern Italy. Her Hawke's Bay version has proven so successful that it sells out within days of arriving at Regional so she is planning to double production when the weather permits.

She has since made a 2014 Fiano from the Bush Hawk vineyard, which she now leases from owner Bryce Campbell, who planted the first 300 vines in 2010.

Fiano is an old grape variety from Campania in south west Italy, dating back to the 12^th Century, following which it widely planted but later fell out of favour due to being decimated by phylloxera in the late 1800s. Plantings of Fiano were sporadic in Italy until the 1940s when winemaker Antonio Mastroberadino made his first 30 bottles in 1945.

Winery notes: 

Te Mānia Syrah is a single vineyard wine made from grapes grown in Hawkes Bay.  One of the finest Syrah growing areas in New Zealand

Tasting: Lovely dark berryfruit and peppery aromas with some spice and earthy notes. On the palate vibrant dark berryfruit with spicy / peppery notes supported by fine tannins and a long finish.  Excellent drinking with savoury dishes.  

Wine Making: The grapes were hand picked, destemmed, crushed and then transferred to traditional small open top fermenters. The fermenting juice and skins were then plunged by hand to break up the cap as the wine macerated and fermented.  The must or fermenting wine was then pressed to separate the skins and transferred to a mix of 20% new and old French oak barrels. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in spring in French oak barrels where it was aged for 11 months before bottling.

Diet: This wine is suitable for a vegan diet.

Analysis: Alcohol 12.5%, Acidity 5 g/L , Residual Sugar Nil 

A great expression of Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir with earthy aromas and notes of wild thyme, raspberries and red cherries from the dramatic cool climate region. Coal Pit is an elevated hillside vineyard and small production are key ingredients that go into making Coal Pit Tiwha Pinot Noir a wine that stands out from the crowd with its earthy robust style and delicacy; the classic iron fist in a velvet glove.

Coal Pit Pinot Noir is a small scale wine made entirely from estate grown grapes on a sloping hillside vineyard planted on 12 hectares in the Gibbston Valley in Central Otago. The soils here are schist on these warm north facing slopes and the Pinot Noir clones planted are a mix of 115, 10/5, 777 and 5. Some vines here date back to the original plantings in 1994 and remain on their own roots while others are now grafted. The Coal Pit Winery is owned by Rosie Dunphy, who bought the site in 2001 and built a winery onsite in 2007. She named the Tiwha Pinot Noir in tribute to her late father. The Coal Pit winery name pays homage to the early pioneers and gold miners in the region.  

The artwork on the Tiwha label is by Chris Heaphy and the original painting is on the wall inside the winery's tasting room.