The gravelly soils and sunny climate of Hawkes Bay are producing some of New Zealand's most exciting reds. This classy Merlot from Oyster Bay shows soft spicy varietal flavours such as, juicy plums and ripe dark fruits. Accompanied by well intergraded oak and subtle tannins, making this wine one of the easier matching to food.

Giesen's Estate Chardonnay is wine that's very approachable in youth and suitable for any occasion. The fruit is sourced from a premium Hawkes Bay vineyard, producing a Chardonnay with good fruit intensity and a touch of complexity through lees contact and restrained use of oak. Sweet stone fruit and citrus aromas with excellent textural viscosity, subtle oak characters and focussed acidity on the palate. A balanced and lengthy finish rounds off an ideal NZ Chardonnay for seafood dishes.

The soils of the Craggy Range sites that supply fruit for this blend are scarily Pomerol-like. This is a wine of finesse and restraint, showing complexity and depth that we have come to expect from this producer, but is still surprising the uninitiated. 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot.

A lovely example of Margaret River Cabernet Merlot, Flametree Cabernet Merlot is showing big dense fruit characters of blackcurrant and stewed plums. A silky seamless palate with rich fruit concentration and chocolaty complexity. Matured in French oak barrels has softened and rounded this wine.

Named after the famed Johann Gramp's grandson, Hugo, this is the very best Cabernet Sauvignon in the stable. From the very best sites in the region of Coonawarra, this wine shows classic regional mint and blackcurrant on the nose with a silky supple palate, elegant fruit characters, toasty oak and long, fine tannins.

John Riddoch (1827 - 1901) is the man responsible for putting Coonawarra on the map after establishing the Coonawarra Fruit Colony in 1891. Today, Coonawarra and its famous 'terra rossa' strip of limestone rich soil is home to some of Australia's greatest Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. This Riddoch Cabernet is an exciting expression of the region with its deep purple colour, spicy plum, chocolate and toasty vanillan aromas which are followed by a luscious palate of blueberry and accompanying eucalypt accented spice.

Hollick Cabernet with all it's bouqet and flavours is classic Coonawarra. Subtle dark chocolate and cloves are framed by ripe berry aromas, the palate delivers rich varietal flavours of blackcurrant enhanced by cedary oak. Continues to be a go-to Cabernet from the famed region.

From one of Margaret River's best and original producers, Vasse Felix comes this excellent Cabernet Merlot blend has great concentration of blackcurrant fruit with cedary oak and fine tannins - a style with elegance and finesse rather than power.

Quality Margaret River Cabernet at an affordable price! Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon has rich fruit with overtones of mulberries, chocolate and a hint of violets. It is well balanced with subtle oak, some cedary, herbal notes and fine tannins on the finish.

The 2010 Chateau d'Issan is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, showing 'classic Margaux' in its perfume, finesse and apparent elegance. Soils are gravel and clay, which contributes to the high-tones of perfume from the wine, and though an estate that is neccesarily clawing its way back to a higher profile, is doing so with deeds in bottle over showmanship. On its side, the vineyard is dense with older vines that naturally offer lower yields, allowing for a higher quality of fruit for the winemaking team, in turn producing a wine of stellar quality from 2010.