4/19/2024 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Brilliant amber gold colour. Kerosene and dried apricot aromas on the nose. Getting some decent age on now at 16 years of age, bit still remarkably fresh and lively. Great balance of tart and sweet, with honeyed notes and lime.

4/12/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Toasty caramel nose, steely notes. Fabulous through the palate, lovely balance and length. Very elegent, and very much in balance.

3/22/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Excellent. Consumed over two nights, and had gained integration on the 2nd night. Very classy Hawkes Bay Chardonnay, with finesse and balance that is hard to find even on more expensive Chardonnay from the region.

3/18/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Beautifully full in the mouth wine, deep purple red in colour, lots of dark fruit and licorice, and seriously good balance through the palate. The grenache predominace is very evident in a wine that Is a super example of a mid-range Cotes du Rhone from under the shadow of Mt Ventoux.

3/18/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Mellow style of Chardonnay. Toasty caramel nose, nice and fat through the mid-palate with peach and almond flavours. Just a little short on the finish, but overall a good value doe money wine.

3/14/2024 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Deep gold colour with striking clarity. Decent initial flavour hit and big in the mid-plate with predominant flavours of grapefruit and almond. Finish is short but quite punchy, with nutty, saline notes. Enjoyable as great pairing with fresh Bluff oysters, though not a hugely complex wine.

3/8/2024 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Appealing and easy-drinking. Jasmine and ripe pear aromas on the nose. Honeyed white-fruit and fig flavours make a big impact on the front of the palate, and there is a nice balance between sweetness and acidity that gives spine through the mid palate. A hint of spritz, and a long, full finish. Nice pairing with fresh oysters.

3/7/2024 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

The 2016 has been go-to everyday Spanish red of recent years, and now we are into the 2017. Much like its predecessor, dark red, almost purple in colour. Nose has vanilla notes with a dash of coffee and cloves. Full in the mouth: dry on the front of the plate, with developing ripe blackberry flavours; the long finish is quite dry. Looking forward to trying a few more bottles over the coming years.

3/1/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Selected from the cellar to go with lobster pasts, and proved a fine match. Nose obviously varietal but quite subdued, steely on front of palate, slightly oily character in the mid palate. Nice long finish.

2/29/2024 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Quite pale green-gold in colour. Nose a little faded compared to two years ago, but still picking up those aromas of banana and passionfruit with a hint of jasmine and lime, with the lime more evident. Fat on the front of the palate with initial spicy sweetness, progressing through the mid-palate to a dry but flavoursome finish. Possibly a little past its best. Enjoyed with fish curry.

2/17/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Excellent wine, drinking superbly at present. Very typical Australian shiraz notes with gum on the nose, rich stewed berry fruit fruit flavours, and a dusty finish. Yummy.

1/19/2024 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Typically reliable mid-range wine, with nice balance of sweetness and acid backbone. A sweet-and-sour treat!

12/27/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Drinking very nicely in late 2023. Strongly varietal nose with blackberry and spicy oak.

Elegant and finely structured with complex dark fruit flavours, chocolate notes through the mid-palate, and a lingering leather and vanilla finish.

Drinking very nicely now, and should be good for another 3-5 years.

12/16/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Lovely, balanced wine.

10/13/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Demi-bottle under screw cap, drink superbly. Very elegant and refined at 12 years of age. Savoury nose with a hint of barnyard. The fruit is dimished on the palate compared to a couple years back, leaving a beautifully integrated savoary wine with a long, dry finish.

9/20/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Still very ruby red in colour at 7 years old. Similarly still young on the palate, with strong spine. Big and quite juicy front palate with blackberry flavour. Finish is long and dry. Enjoyed with tuscan pigeon and lamb.

9/16/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Orange tinged colour, nose of honeyed marzipan. Bursting with flavour, not just sweetness. Captures some of the flowers and herbs of Provence - lavender and thyme - particularly in the mid and back palate. Lovely wine, purchased as cellar door and enjoyed in Arles.

9/14/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Initially tasted at the vineyard, and enjoyed it so purchased as bottle. Rich gold colour. Strong almost phenolic nose. Bursting with flavour, slightly tart, herb flavours, with obvious oak influence. Would benefit from some more cellar time, but we have purchased it to consume on holiday. Enjoyed very much!

9/8/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Dense red in colour, light but rich nose. Very young and tight taste, very nice pinot. But we are used to more age on our pinot. Enjoyed in Dijon.

8/30/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Enjoyed at Harrods' Moet & Chandon Champagne Bar. Fresh opened bottle. Lovely golden colour with appropriate bead. Soft and complex on the nose, with aromas of ripe peach. Musky slightly sweet grapefruit taste, with long, long citrus finish.

8/19/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Dense purple in colour, hint of ripe fruit sweetness on the nose with a hint of liquorice. Nice initial flavour hit and decent finish, but little changes in the progression through the palate, and there is a steely edge to the finish. Nice enough wine to go with a rich beef casserole on a cool night, but very good rather than exceptional; possibly should have been drunk a little younger!

8/6/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Slightly dusty crimson colour. Nose really well integrated, with notes of cherry and raspberry jam. Quite a savoury palate, with big, concentrated and gamey initial flavour hit, but then fades away to short, sharp and slightly disappointing finish.

7/1/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Ruby red, just a hint of fading on the rim at this point. Nose full of ripe black fruit notes – red plum and ripe blackberry - with a hint of leather and dustiness. Flavour, integration and structure are excellent – yes, it is powerful, but in a very harmonious well-balanced way. Combines fruit ripeness with a fine oak-driven backbone, and a touch of eucalyptus on the finish. It might get better, but it does feel like this is a wine being drunk at its absolute peak. One of the very best red wines I have enjoyed this year.

6/29/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Decntly crafted, soft, easy drinking Spanish quaffer.

6/20/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Slight brown edging on rim is a clear indication of age. Nose exhibits musky, savoury and nutty notes. A little shy on front of palate, but builds into powerful mid-range before transitioning to a lingering, fading cinnamon-tinged finish. Finely balanced, with finesse and integration hallmarks of an outstanding wine, albeit one just a year or so past its peak.

5/20/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Off dry style. Delicate, slightly steely with lemon and jasmine. Nicely in balance, and a lot better than a bargain bin Pinit Gris, but very good rather than excellent.

5/20/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Wine was faulty with leakage and mould around stelvin enclosure.

5/19/2023 - Southern Wine Buff wrote:

Nice bubbles, green apple and citrus rather than yeasty richness. Nice pairing with grilled crayfish,

5/13/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Excellent drinking.

5/6/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Complex Kiwi bubbles, benefiting from extended aging on lees. Almond aromas on the nose. Peach flavours dominated on the palate, which is rich and creamy. Very good flavour progression to a long finish.

5/6/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Deep gold in colour. Sultana aroma on the nose. Nice balance on the palate, subtle but with good palate length. Waxy, and with a slightly savoury flavour. A very distinctive style.

5/5/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Always excellent after a few years in the cellar.

4/27/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Nose: tantalisingly perfumed, hints of jasmine, rose. Classic varietal nose

Taste: soft, rich, rounded mouthfeel, luscious. Well balanced. Light spice, pepper bite at finish that gives a clean finish. Strong all the way through the palate. Seems perfectly balanced. Hard to imagine it would get any better than drink now. Feels like drinking at peak.

4/1/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Deep gold colour. Lightly honied nose. Raisins and dried apricots in the mouth with a nicely oily finish.

3/31/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Stunning at 15 years of age. Beautiful, smooth, silky wine. Freeze drived strawberry nose, with a sweet lift. Stunning integration of fruit and oak. Quite a subtle wine, but with fabulous balance and length. We were going to pair this with slow roast lamb, but it tasted so very good on its own that we decided to have it before dinner. Simply fabulous!

3/27/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Imperial violet colour. Licorice and dusty tobacco on the nose. Intense somewhat tannic blackberry flavours. Reasonable flavour structure, with OK length and a short, punchy finish.

3/17/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Deep ruby red, slightly astringent nose. Very peppery on front of palate, fades a little through the mid-palate with some red plum flavours, and regains for a reasonable finish. Decent food wine, but a little out of balance, and ultimately not that exciting.

3/17/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Pale gold with a hint of green. Intense, fragrant nose with a lot of lime. Nice balance between acid bite and honeyed sweetness. Flavours of lightly spiced white peach, with just a hint of kerosene. Nice through the palate, especially strong in the mid-palate, and lifts at end but finishes just a shade short.

3/10/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Nice wine. Deep gold in the glass, strongly varietal nose. A little one-dimensional with oak, mineral character, and alcohol dominating at the expense of fruit character. Possibly would have been better drunk a year or so earlier?

2/12/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Beautifully balanced, a big wine but quite easy drinking as the tannins that dominated 2-3 years ago have softened.

1/8/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Pale straw colour. Perfumed nose with lime--infused passionfruit and a hint celeraic. Soft in the mouth, sweet tropical fruit flavours with a dash of vanilla, but also with a decent spine that gives length to the finish. A very pleasant alternative to similar-styled easy-drinking Pinot Gris.

1/5/2023 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Second bottle opened close to three years after the first. Some of the fruit has faded, robbing the wine of some of its power, but still with an underlying delicacy and finesse. Aromas of jasmine, and perfumed lychee flavours. Nice progression through the palate, and a long, lightly spiced finish.

12/26/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Reliable food wine with a bit of age in the bottle. Dark berry fruit flavours with a hint of mint, good structure, and a long, drying finish.

12/26/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Great value Rioja, drinking well at 6 years, with good length, and a savoury, earthy finish.

12/23/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Very dark and dense red, almost purple in colour. Cedar with a hint of mint on the nose. Dry in the mouth, with Black Doris plum flavours, overlaid with nutmeg, pepper and a hint of Thai Basil. Full-flavoured, with Malbec obvious as well as Merlot and Cabernet. A great food wine drinking well at present, but with potential to improve over next 3-5 years.

12/22/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Marmalade colour, not completely clear. Manuka honey with a hint of grapefruit on the nose. Nice balance of acid with the sweetness, so it is no ways cloying; rather it’s a zesty sweetness. Again, grapefruit comes to mind in the taste. Has good palate length, but the mid-palate is so strong and intense it does seem to fade later on the palate. A perfect partner to a selection of soft cheeses.

12/22/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Very typical of a mid-range Primitivo. Brilliant ruby red in colour, fruit-driven nose, and a nice flavour explosion on the palate with ripe blackberry dominating through the mid palate, and drying, slightly earthy finish. Nicely structured and balanced, but without a great deal of complexity. Enjoyable.

12/22/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Excellent value Italian red blend.

11/19/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Gum leaves, aniseed and blackberries on the nose. Initial flavour hit of mint and licorice, goes a little in the mid-palate, but builds to a rich and earthy finish. Really enjoyable and a lot of complexity.

11/14/2022 - Southern Wine Buff Likes this wine:

Slightly sweet vanilla nose with a hint of citrus and cardamon. Richly flavoured but still tight and elegant, with the French oak giving great structure. White stone fruit flavours dominate, with a panna cotta creaminess. Great progression through the palate. A beautifully balanced and sophisticated wine – a fine example, up there with the best Martinborough Chardonnay can deliver.