Red Wine

2009 Kidnapper Cliffs Hawkes Bay Malbec

Very few straight Malbec's are availble in NZ. This is a cracker. "A bold and decadent wine that will be a sure crowd-pleaser, this has an impenetrable, youthful, black-purple red colour and a sensational bouquet packed with boysenberry and ripe, spicy black fruits, along with black florals and perfumes. This has plump, dense, ripe black fruits that explode and fill the mouth. Boysenberries, spicy raspberries and dark plums with red liquorice are all present in a near accessible, relatively open and broad palate, compared to the Kidnapper Cliffs’ Bordeaux varietal wines. Yet fine tannins here provide great style and length of line. 100% Malbec from ‘Zone 2’ Kidnappers block in the Gimblett Gravels. Aged 12 months in 25% new French oak 300L hogsheads. 200 dozen made. Drink over the next 8-10+ years with venison and game meat. 19.0/20." Raymond Chan- senior wine judge. Also 94/100 from Wine Orbit Magazine

2010 Faiveley Echezeaux

en primeur price(all up final landed cost)arrives june/july “Noticeable if deft wood notes frame the very spicy dark berry fruit and warm earth suffused nose. There is beautiful concentration to the velvet-textured and mouth coating medium-bodied fl avors that are shaped by relatively fi ne but notably fi rm tannins, all wrapped in a moderately austere and strikingly long fi nish. This will also need plenty of cellar time to reach its full apogee.” 92-94/100 - Burghound “(25% vendange entier): Good full red. Pungent aromas of raspberry, crushed stone and white pepper. Enters with intense raspberry and spices, then turns fi rm and fl oral in the middle, showing superb energy and sappiness to the primary red fruit and mineral fl avors. With its saline impression of extract and strong tannic spine, this should evolve in bottle for couple of decades.” 92/100 - Stephen Tanzer

2009 Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru 'Les Cazetiers'

"A wonderfully complex and quite densely fruited nose features layered aromas of red, blue and black fruits that include ample amounts of stone, game and earth nuances, all of which can also be found on the supple but precise and very serious flavors blessed with an abundance of dry extract on the strikingly long finish. This is terrific and the complexity is outstanding but patience will be required." 92-94 Burghound

2010 Two Hands Angels Share McLaren Vale Shiraz

2009 Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru

"Compelling aromas of extremely fresh and airy menthol-infused red berry fruit, soil and distinctly spiced tones plus an underlying hint of animale transfers over to the rich, full and serious broad-shouldered flavors brimming with dry extract and supported by impressively refined and ripe tannins that are almost completely buffered on the powerful and balanced finish by the buckets of mid-palate sap. Terrific." 93-96 Burghound

2008 Sandalford Estate Reserve Margaret River Cabernet Sauvi

2005 Muga Torre Muga 6 btl Wooden Gift Pack

Beautifully presented in a wooden gift box containing six bottles of Torre Muga. Torre Muga is an unfiltered blend of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Mazuelo, and 10% Graciano. Aged 22 months in large (18,000 liters) American oak vats, followed by 16 months in new French oak, and bottled without fining or filtration."Exotically perfumed,syrah-like bouquet of red and dark berries,violet,smokey bacon and graphite,with vanillin oak spice undertone adding an exotic touch.Fleshy,palate-staining cassis and bitter cherry flavours are brightened by piquant minerality and firmed by fine-grained tannins.Cracked pepper and mace qualities come up on the long,silky finish.Extremely suave and strikingly complex wine with excellent balance."

2009 Pyramid Valley Calvert Central Otago Pinot Noir

The 10ha site has three of NZ's leading wineries making their pinot from it with Felton Road and Craggy Range being the other two. ( Its situated 500meters away from Felton Block 3 and 5 ). 91/100 from Parkers Wine Advocate that writes "The 2009 Calvert Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir comes from 11 year old vines on schist. It displays a deep ruby-purple color and meaty/gamey aromas over a core of black cherry and black raspberry plus hints of some tar, anise and menthol. Full bodied and concentrated in the mouth, it has chewy tannins, medium-high acid and a long savory finish. Drink it now through 2015+. Mike and Claudia Weersing continue to work nature’s magic on their wines. The results are truly unique wines that can only come from these creative hands working out of this pretty patch just inland from the Waipara. Even more exciting is that the quality straight across the estate and growers labels just gets better and more consistent each year from this relatively new operation. The Growers Collection is a range of wines sourced from throughout New Zealand that have been grown organically and are made by Mike. The Home Vineyards Collection represents wines that are wines produced biodynamically off the small but beautiful “home” estate in North Canterbury. Both ranges are well worth seeking out."

2010 Olssens Jackson Barry Central Otago Pinot Noir

2006 Mouton Rothschild

SOLD ONLY AS A 12 BOTTLE ORIGINAL WOOD CASE "A sensational effort, the 2006 Mouton Rothschild exhibits an opaque purple color as well as a classic Mouton perfume of creme de cassis, flowers, blueberries, and only a hint of oak. Dalhuin told me that in whisky barrel-tasting vintages such as 1989 and 1990, Mouton was aged in heavily-toasted barrels, and they have backed off to a much lighter toast for the barrels' interior. I think this has worked fabulously well with the cassis quality fruit they get from their Cabernet Sauvignon. The full-bodied, powerful 2006 possesses extraordinary purity and clarity. A large-scaled, massive Mouton Rothschild that ranks as one of the top four or five wines of the vintage, it may turn out to be the longest-lived wine of the vintage by a landslide. The label will undoubtedly be controversial as a relative of Sigmund Freud, Lucian Freud, has painted a rather comical Zebra staring aimlessly at what appears to be a palm tree in the middle of a stark courtyard. I suppose a psychiatrist could figure out the relationship between that artwork and wine, but I couldn't see one. This utterly profound Mouton will need to sleep for 15+ years before it will reveal any secondary nuances, but it is a packed and stacked first-growth Pauillac of enormous potential. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2060+.Ever since owner Philippine de Rothschild put Philippe Dalhuin in charge at Mouton in 2004 there has been a dramatic reduction in the amount of wine produced under the Mouton Rothschild label. The selection process has been ratcheted up to the level of other first-growths, and that is reflected in what is clearly the greatest Mouton produced since 1982 and 1986. As I indicated in my barrel tasting notes, only 44% of the crop made it into the 2006 grand vin, which is the lowest percentage in more than fifty years. The final blend includes a high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (87%) and the rest Merlot (13%). No Cabernet Franc was utilized in 2006, and purchasers will have a long wait until this wine reaches full maturity. Keep in mind that, where well-stored, the 1986 currently tastes like a 4-5 year old wine, and the 1982 is just beginning to enter early adolescence. If you extrapolate from that, the 2006 will need at least twenty years to reach a teen-age status, and probably will not hit its plateau of maturity for three decades." 98+/100 - Robert Parker