Waipara Hills Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010 £12.99 100% Pinot Noir picked from the Golden Terraces vineyard in Bendigo Central Otago. The soil from this tiered vineyard is free-draining sandy loam over schist alluvium gravel. This vineyard has been accredited by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand and grapes are harvested by machine in early April. Fermentation is left mainly to wild yeasts with the grapes spending up to 3 weeks on their skins. The wine is aged in French oak barrels (30% of which are new) for 8 months before fining with egg-white and final filtration. Residual sugar: 0.5gl. Winemaker: Simon McGeorge at the Waipara Hills Winery established in 2001. Available now 137 stores screw cap 13.5%

Wow! Wonderful smell.  Some mint some creamy oak and delicious pinot fruit. Lovely taste.  Really savoury pinot.  If I was being picky it lacks acidic backbone.

Giesen Estate Pinot Noir 2011 £10.99 100% Pinot Noir from 8 vineyards around Marlborough from Rapaura Road in the north to Wrekin Road in the south and The Delta in the west. The grapes are hand-harvested then hand-sorted over a vibrating table and partially crushed into fermenters where the juice is held cold on skins for 5 to 10 days for flavour extraction. Some batches have up to 20% whole bunches left in the ferment so the stems will contribute extra aromatic spicy character and with time a savoury influence. Fermentation with wild yeast is completed and the wine is left on skins for 4-10 days to bring it all together before pressing into 225ltr and 300ltr French oak barrels with approximately 15% new oak. A natural malolactic fermentation is completed in Spring as the cellar warms up. The wine undergoes a light egg white fining before filtration and bottling. Residual sugar: 2.5g/l. Winemakers: Andrew Blake and Anna Kingscote. New vintage available now 272 stores screw cap 13.5%

Very very pale wine. Fruity nose. A touch of spritz and young fruit.  A very light NZ PN.

Taste the Difference Central Otago Pinot Noir 2011 £9.99 100% Pinot Noir picked from the Golden Terraces vineyard in Bendigo Central Otago. The tiered vineyards have free-draining loam soils over schist gravel which provides an excellent growing environment for Pinot Noir. This vineyard has been accredited by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand. Grapes are machine-harvested in early April. After de-stemming they are chilled and allowed to cold soak for 7 days. The wine is left to mature in tank before being fined to 0.45 microns and undergoing crossflow filtration. Residual sugar: 1.2g/l. Winemaker: Simon McGeorge at the Waipara Hills Winery established in 2001. New vintage available now 484 stores exclusive screw cap 14.0%

Ripe fruit-led pinot.  Both the aroma and the palate.  Juicy and pleasant.

SO Organic South African Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 (no added sulphites) £5.99 100% Cabernet Sauvignon entirely from the Western Cape. The hutton and clay soil and Mediterranean climate provide perfect conditions for the 14+yr old vines. The grapes are harvested by machine and by hand in early March gently de-stalked and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The wine undergoes pre-fermentation maceration for 3 days at 10°C followed by standard maceration at <30°C until dry. The wine is held on fine lees for 4 months and oak staves are used during fermentation. Bentonite is used for fining and the wine is Kieselguhr filtered and cold stabilised. Residual sugar: 2.64g/l. Winemaker: Hermias Hugo at Origin Wines. New vintage and supplier available now 428 stores screw cap 13.0%

Some stalky green cabernet aromas. Light juicy easy wine.

Porcupine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 £7.99
100% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from Malmesbury Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. The wine is fermented in stainless steel with selected yeast strains. After alcoholic fermentation the wine is left on the skins for an additional period to soften tannins and lengthen extraction. French oak maturation for 9 months is followed with a fining and sterile bottling. Residual sugar: 3.3g/l. Winemaker: Marc Kent at Boekenhoutskloof the current Platter Guide Winery of the Year. New vintage available mid November 484 stores screw cap 14.5%

Nice blackcurrant and eucalyptus aroma. Inviting and ripe.  A fair palate too. Blackcurranty with plenty of tannin but not too much.  The eucalyptus flavour is on the end.  Fair wine.

Kanonkop Kadette 2010 £9.99 44% Pinotage 41% Cabernet Sauvignon 9% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc from selected vineyards on the dark alluvial soils of the Stellenbosch district. The vines are aged from 5-30yrs with an average yield of 7 tonnes per ha. Vinification is carried out in open fermenters over 3-5 days with skin contact at 30°C and regular manual punching of the cap. Residual sugar: 0.58g/l. Winemaker: Abrie Breslaar.New vintage available now 137 stores exclusive natural cork 14.0%

This has a strange nose. Perhaps like sour milk? The alcohol’s high. Not for me.

Valdivieso Single Vineyard Merlot 2009 £12.99 85% Merlot 15% Malbec sourced from the ‘La Primavera’ vineyard in Sagrada Familia Lontue Valley. This vineyard is planted on a free-draining gravel clay loam located on the slopes of a hill in a sheltered warm part of the valley. Hand-harvested grapes are cold-macerated for 48hrs before being inoculated with yeast. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks and lasts 7-10 days with pumping over three times a day. The wine undergoes post fermentation maceration on skins for 5 days before pressing. The wine is aged for 18 months in 100% French oak barrels 30% of which are new. Residual sugar: 3.36g/l. Winemaker: Brett Jackson. Available now 137 stores natural cork 14.5%

Beautiful aroma. Lovely creamy oak and herbal stalkiness.  The palate is smooth and taste delicious.  This is a cracking wine.  Not cheap though otherwise I’d have given it a star.

Mayu Syrah Reserva 2009 Elqui Valley £9.99 100% Syrah from the Quebrada de Talca and Puclaro vineyards in the Elqui Valley. The vines are planted at altitudes of 350-550m on gravel soils. Grapes are handharvested at the end of April / beginning of May and cold-macerated prior to fermentation which takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at 22-23ºC. Full malolactic fermentation is carried out and 50% of the wine is aged in new and used French oak barrels for 8-12 months. No fining agent is used. Residual sugar: 2.7g/l. Winemaker: Giorgio Flessati. New vintage available late November 137 stores natural cork 14.0%

Very sweet and creamy aroma. Dark chocolatey tannins and something strange and plastic. Odd.

De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2010 £11.99 100% Pinot Noir from De Bortoli’s estate property at Dixons Creek and their Abbey vineyard at Tarrawarra both top sites in the Yarra Valley. Hand-picked fruit is hand-sorted and de-stemmed to 6 tonne open fermenters. Fermentation proceeds naturally with ambient yeast from the vineyard and winery. After 21 days maceration and fermentation the wine is carefully drained to tank and allowed to rest for 24hrs. The clear wine is then racked to French oak casks for maturation. This wine is aged in both French oak and stainless steel prior to final blending. Maturation time is 12 months. The wine is not fined but filtered through lenticular filters (3-7 micron). Residual sugar: 3.75g/l. Winemaker: Sarah Fagan Winemaker at De Bortoli Wines’ Yarra Valley Winery. Available now 137 stores exclusive screw cap 13.0%

Pale slightly brick colour. Quite a butch pinot.  Loads of flavour and juicy acidity.

Evans and Tate Split River Shiraz Cabernet 2010 £9.99 68% Shiraz 22% Cabernet Sauvignon 10% Merlot from Margaret River (85%) and Great Southern (15%). The Shiraz grapes are picked between midnight and early morning to ensure they reach the winery as cold as possible. The fruit is then gently de-stemmed and transferred to a fermenter where it is held cold at 5-8°C for 3-4 days prior to fermentation. The Cabernet grapes however are picked between dawn and midday to ensure the fruit temperature is 15-20°C. Each parcel is fermented at 20-25°C for 5-8 days after which time each parcel is pressed separately to tank before being racked off yeast lees to barrel or tank for maturation. 40% of the blend is matured in a combination of used French and American oak barriques for 10-14 months with the balance of components maturing in tank. Residual sugar: 2.5g/l. Winemaker: Matthew Byrne at Evans and Tate. Available now 272 stores screw cap 14.0%

Quite stinky.  A lot of peppery flavour and a sour finish. Not what you’d expect.

House Cabernet Sauvignon NV £4.29 86.3% Cabernet Sauvignon 10% Petit Verdot 3.1% Shiraz 0.4% Merlot and 0.2% Sangiovese from the Australian region of Murray Darling. The vines are planted on rich red loam and limestone strata. The grapes are machine-harvested in the cool of the night. The parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are then crushed and fermented separately on skins in static fermenters for 5–7 days. Gentle pump-overs are used to maximise colour and primary fruit characters and for extraction of soft tannins. The wines are then pressed using membrane tank presses and undergo malolactic fermentation before maturation using a combination of French and American oak. The varieties are then blended and cold stabilised. Residual sugar: <1g/l. Winemaker: Mark Zepple at the Zilzie Winery. New blend available now 502 stores screw cap 13.0%

Pale colour. This is a very interesting aroma.  Not really cabernet but more violet- from the PV I guess. Carries through on the palate.  A nice little wine but don’t expect cabernet sauvignon.

Taste the Difference Redbridge Creek Shiraz 2011 £6.99 100% Shiraz from South Eastern Australia. The grapes are machine-harvested and the wine is fermented on skins for 5-7 days at 22-25ºC. Selected parcels are cold-soaked at 10ºC for 24 hours and fermented at a cooler temperature (18-20ºC) to enhance fruit character and intensify colour. Selected parcels are matured on oak staves with micro-oxygenation for 3 months. The wine is fined with egg white. Residual sugar: 4.2g/l. Winemaker: Julie Mortlock Senior Executive Winemaker at De Bortoli Wines. Available now 562 stores exclusive screw cap 13.0%

Very pale colour for a SE Aus shiraz. Light and refreshing nose.  Not deep dark and baked.  Sweet fruity and light.

Bootstraps Shiraz McLaren Vale 2011 £9.99 100% Shiraz from 18-30yr old vines in the rolling vales on the ocean side of McLaren Vale in South Australia. In addition to the McLaren fruit is a dash of Barossa Valley (15%) which comes from old vines on the red clay and iron stone soils of the Western Ridge in the areas of Seppeltsfield and Greenock Vineyards. 15% of the wine spends 18 months in oak (85% American oak 15% French oak). Residual sugar: <1g/l. Winemaker: Peter Leske from the Bootstraps Wine Company. New vintage available end October 137 stores screw cap 13.0%

Very inviting nose. Savoury and oaky. Carries through to the taste.  I like this very much indeed.


Taste the Difference Barossa Shiraz 2010 £9.49 96% Shiraz 2% Riesling 1% Grenache 1% Semillon. The grapes for this wine are selected from St. Hallett’s group of high quality growers situated across the region from Greenock and Rosedale in the west to Eden Valley in the east. Grapes are harvested by machine and the grapes are fermented in stainless steel vessels for 7–10 days followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wine is aged for 10-12 months in French and American medium toast barrels. Residual sugar: 0.46g/l. Winemaker: Toby Barlow at St. Hallett. Available now 273 stores exclusive screw cap 14.5%

Dark savoury with some plain chocolate on the nose.  Nice taste.  Plenty of freshness with rich concentrated dark fruits.  The alcohol is warm but it’s a nice spicy monster.

The Olive Branch Grenache 2010 McLaren Vale £10.99 100% Grenache from bush trained vines in selected vineyards in McLaren Vale. Sandy soils provide lifted aromatics and darker soils including ‘Terra Rossa’ types contribute to rich bold tannins. All the vineyards are managed to produce the highest quality possible with only the best parcels selected for The Olive Branch. Winemaker Tim James uses modern equipment alongside traditional winemaking techniques including open-top fermenters to ferment the small parcels of fruit arriving at the winery. After fermentation the wine spends 9 months ageing in oak. Residual sugar: 2g/l. Winemakers: Tim James and Kate Day at Willunga 100. New vintage available November 270 stores exclusive screw cap 14.5%

Rustic leathery aroma. Chocolate flavour warm alcohol.  

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