Whites

93 points, Tim Atkin
The Fynbos Vineyard has well drained soils with north facing slopes that result in a rich, fleshy, generous wine. This wine was 100% wild fermented in a selection of 228L and 300L French oak barrels (25% new, the rest in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill barrels). It remained on the lees for a total of 12 months with no battonage. Nuanced and multi-layered – this vineyard produces wines with depth and weight, and great structure that allows for significant ageing potential. Sandstone is the dominant soil type in this north-facing vineyard on Iona's spectacular farm. More open and aromatic than its stablemate Kloof, it has top notes of fynbos and aniseed, flavours of honey and stone fruit and attractive patisserie spices from 25% new oak. TA

Country: South Africa

Region: Elgin

ABV: 13%

Grapes: Chardonnay

In early 1997, Andrew Gunn, an engineer by training was contemplating his next career move. Having always loved the outdoors, the prospect of farming appealed to him and feeling young and energetic enough to start a new career, left the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg to begin the search for the ‘perfect’ farm.

After months of searching and 40 farm visits later, Andrew and a very tired estate agent stumbled upon a solitary run down apple farm on a mountain top overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The prospect of a suitable farm in Elgin intrigued Andrew and on driving through the valley, he became excited by the beauty of the area. Surrounded by the Kogelberg Biosphere and Forestry the property had no agricultural neighbours. The rolling hills and the drive up the mountain to where the farm was situated, 420 meters above sea level, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was love at first sight.

As he drove in and stopped in front of a rather run down Herbert Baker homestead, he felt, “this is where I would like to live”, and the view from the front of the house overlooking the Elgin Valley below, made up his mind.

Delicate aromatic characters of ripe peach, apricot and melon, lead to a refreshing
acidity which balances the rich and charming palate. With an impressively aromatic
finish, this is the quintessential introduction to the Vidiano grape.

Country: Greece

Region:  Dafnes, Heraklion  Crete

ABV: 13%

Grapes: Vidiano

Food match: Tabouleh, grilled fish and pasta salad

A generously textured Chenin with some serious ageing potential, this wine is extremely versatile. Lots of ripe apple notes with a lightly smoky backdrop and a very long, mineral finish.

Country: France

Region: Loire

Grapes: Chenin Blanc

ABV: 13.5%

Organic

Clear gold in colour. The aroma is light, clean with citrus notes. It`s medium-dry, has a medium level of acidity, light to medium in body. On the palate it`s fresh with stone fruit and citrus notes.

Grapes: 75% Chardonnay 25% Sylvaner

Region: La Mancha

Country: Spain

Food pairing: white fish, roast pork loin, cheese, prawns, chicken, risotto

Intense aromatics with flavours of cassis, grapefruit, herbs and gooseberry. Brilliant minerality and moderate acidity. Complex and juicy, yet unwaveringly linear and precise. Lingering finish. Perfectly integrated wood.

Country: Germany

Region: Franken

ABV: 13%

Grape: Scheurebe

Beautiful when paired with fresh salads or a diverse range of Asian-inspired dishes. Also a lovely accompaniment to mature soft cheeses.

Winzerhof Stahl is a dynamic young estate from one of Germany’s rising star winemakers, Christian Stahl. Christian has been making waves on the national and international wine scene since he established the estate in 2005, winning multiple accolades across the world in recognition of his talent and contribution to the world of wine.

Based in Franken, in Bavaria, Stahl makes wines in a region with a long and fruitful viticultural history, spanning over 1200 years. The Main River runs through the verdant countryside, where small villages of cobblestone paving and timber-framed houses dot the landscape. Auernhofen, where Winzerhof Stahl is situated, is one of these such villages.

Straw yellow in colour. Fresh in flavour, this wine is fruity with superb minerality which adds length. Elegant and intense in aroma.

Country: Italy

Region: Gallura, Northern Sardegna

ABV: 14%

Grapes: Vermentino

Food match: Seafood Linguini

Fresh and zesty nose with notes of citrus, peach, and a hint of honeysuckle. The palate is lightly honeyed and textural with ripe lemon characters balanced by crisp acidity, and with a touch of white spice and a fresh, mineral finish.

This famous Northern Italian Piemontese white grape Timorasso has found a new home in the Ukrainian Black Sea region.

Concentrated, floral, fruity, with a warmth on the palate. Soft, elegant, yet intense. Very typical of Timorasso, mineral with notes of chamomile flower,  yellow plums, and toasted almond in the finish. Lovely!

Grapes: Timorasso

Country: Ukraine

Region: Mykolaiv

ABV: 14%

Food pairing: Poultry. grilled fish, seafood, soft cheese and salads.

Beykush Winery is a family winery located close to the Black Sea in Chernomorka village, Mykolaiv region. Beykush vineyards consist of 14 hectares of French, Italian, and Georgian clones. They also expertly work with the Ukrainian indigenous white grape variety Telti Kuruk, which is the most important and unique for the area. The winery is recognized for its accolades at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

Country: Australia

Region: Polish Hill River, Clare Valley

Grapes: Riesling

Food Matches: 

Beautiful golden colour. The nose is very floral, with strong notes of elderflower, as well as citrus fruit, spices, and some verbena. On the palate, it shows amazing freshness despite its age, elegance, and refinement. On the palate, there are flavours of lemon, freshly cut grass, cedar, verbena, and it has remarkable salinity. The wine has a persistent length and great finesse.

Country: Italy

Region: Cirò, Calabria

ABV: 12.5%

Grapes: Trebbiano Toscano: 50%
Greco Bianco: 50%

Food match: Fish based dishes, risotto, salumi

The Cirò DOC is a picturesque corner of the Mediterranean, along the Ionian coast, in the eastern foothills of the Calabria region, a large peninsula that forms the toe to Italy’s boot. The Parrilla family, who own and run Tenuta del Conte, have been making wine here for four generations, the latest of which to take over the estate are Mariangela, Giuseppe, and Caterina.

In 2011 Mariangela Parrilla took over as winemaker. Mariangela takes a philosophical approach to winemaking, with the aim to let these traditional indigenous grape varieties speak for themselves and their terroir. Her wines are all organic, no herbicides or chemicals are used at any stage of the production process, she opts for spontaneous fermentations using indigenous yeasts, no filtration, and solely stainless-steel and bottle aging. Taking each wine vintage by vintage she lets them evolve and age “according to their own natural rhythm”, making each wine unique. This could be just one year in bottle before release or over 10 years. Not only does she capture the unique character of the grape variety but that of the vintage it's from too.


Together with a handful of other wineries in the area, Mariangela is part of “The Cirò Revolution”, a group formed to promote and protect their territory’s identity. They are dedicated to organic viticulture and minimal intervention winemaking, they make traditional wines, in homage to their ancestors, from native grape varieties.

A much warmer site than ‘Clos Les Bussieres’, ‘Les Caraby’ is a small 1 hectare ‘clos’ tagged on to the end of Mercurey’s most famous premier cru, ‘Clos du Roy’. Almost always the first vineyard picked, this is a fast ripening site with its own little valley of both north and south facing vines. This vintage has produced a really well balanced wine with ripe tropical fruits jumping out of the apple and citrus background. Really good texture and weight. No new oak was used in this vineyard. Only one barrel produced. *Limited Availability*

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Grapes:  Chardonnay

Food Match:  Wonderful with rich lobster linguini

Star investment wine - drinking 2024 to 2030

The nose is delicate, restrained and elegant with its grapefruit, greengage, chamomile and apple blossom aromas and whiffs of exotic spice. The floral character of the nose follows through onto a richly textured mid-palate, showing yellow peach, poached pear and nectarine against a backdrop of fresh mandarin and green fig flavours with integrated acidity and a full body. The ripe stone fruit character adds to the complexity on the palate and the spicy finish with hints of fenugreek, black cardamom and Cape fynbos complements a very balanced wine.

Country: South Africa

Region: Franschhoek Valley

Grapes: Semillon (97%), Muscat d'Alexandrie (3%)

ABV: 13.5%

Great with Cape Malay dishes such as beef baboti - a well-known South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping.

Tim Atkin MW
96 points. Boekenhoutskloof's world-class Semillon uses grapes from three distinct blocks in Franschhoek, planted in 1902, 1936 and 1942, combining these with 3% Muscat d'Alexandrie. Showing more acidity and restraint than the stunning 2020, and less of the struck match character, it has notes of lemongrass, custard and beeswax and a core of chiselled acidity. Drinking 2024-32

Wow - This is beautiful, and a masterclass in balance. Rich stone fruit, apples, pears, and quince. Hints of spice, orange zest apple strudel, and a great backbone of acidity make this a very delicious wine indeed. Rabourcé is one of the warmest sites in Rully and lends itself very well to creating fruit forward wines with spice and texture. This wine was not produced in 2021 - so a good vintage to stock up and keep!

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Grapes:  Chardonnay

Food Match: Salmon En Croûte

This golden coloured wine has a welcome reductive nose with hints of mineral, gunpowder and stone combined with delicate fruits, citrus and white flowers. Excellent acidity, minerals and herbal touches on the palate this is complex and intense with a lovely long finish.

Country: Portugal

Region: Douro

Grapes: Old Vine Field Blend

ABV: 13%

The wine spent 3 weeks on the skins and was fermented in concrete with minimal interventention. This is a low sulphite wine that is good introduction to the orange wine styles with wonderful texture and tannins.

A wonderfully mature Chardonnay character with ripe white pear, orchard fruits, candied orange and a savoury twist on the finish. Very well balanced and drinking beautifully now.

Country: France

Region: Southern Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise

Grapes: Chardonnay

ABV: 13%

Food Match: Grilled trout

Very pale straw with a slight green hue. On the nose, ginger, green apple and crisp highlights of lime. Citrus focussed palate with quenching acidity and varietal elegance.

Country: New Zealand

Region: Marlborough

Grape: Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 13.5%

A brilliant Petit Chablis - ripe and untouched by oak. Showing all the characteristics of the terroir, as well as lemony freshness and vivacity, underpinned by tight minerality.

Country: France

Region: Chablis

ABV: 12.5%

Grapes:  100% Chardonnay

A fresh blend of Sauvignon Blanc and indigenous Obeidi. It is aged on its lees for 8 months in foudres and 500l oak barrels giving the wine some weight and texture. The vineyards are situated on the foothills of Mount Lebanon, around Faqra, at around 1400m altitude. Crisp and clean with a citrus character and an oriental twist, thanks to the local Obeidi. 

Country: Lebanon

Region: Bekaa Valley

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc and Obeidi

ABV: 13%

Food match: Mediterranean chicken or fish dishes with grilled vegetables, tabbouleh

Great balance and fruit in this high quality Alsace Riesling.

A pure fruit driven nose, perfumed with cut limes and a hint of petrol and candle wax. The wine has a voluptuous, honeyed palate and is intensely fruity with white peach and apricot flavours and mineral complexity. The finish is dry, refreshing and beautifully balanced, and incredibly open for a young Alsace Riesling.

Country: France

Region: Alsace

ABV: 13%

Grapes: Riesling

94 Pts Neal Martin “The 2023 Cuvée Blanc Reserve is from a vineyard planted in 2016 that burned in the fire three years later. The vines were cut back and, fortunately, regrew. This is a blend of 90% Roussanne, 5% Chardonnay and 5% Viognier, oxidatively handled and fermented on the lees for 11 months in 500-liter barrels. It has a vibrant bouquet with honeysuckle, Clementine and a touch of chamomile, blossoming in the glass. Gorgeously textured and slightly waxy on the finish, this will mature with style. Highly recommended.” Drinking Window: 2025 - 2040

Country: South Africa

Region: Greyton, Western Cape

Grapes: 90% Roussanne, 5% Chardonnay and 5% Viognier

ABV: 14%

Lismore Wine

Californian wine pioneer, Samantha O'Keefe has found paradise and the perfect terroir in Greyton, Western Cape, South Africa. Tucked into the foothills of a dramatic mountain range in Southern Africa, Lismore Estate Vineyards was born alongside her family. A passionate vision, combined with vines planted at 300 metres, which are chilled by cold winters and nourished by the African sun, produces classic, cool climate wines which are rich, complex and hand crafted with care.

From the Quinta do Cruzeiro winery. Made with hidden gem grape varieties Encruzado and Malvasia Fina -  famous grapes in Portugal and should be world famous in my opinion!

Aromas of lime, green apple and toast. This wine is clean, precise and has great depth of richness and minerallity with a long, complex finish.

Country: Portugal

Region: Mangualde, Dão

ABV: 13.5%

Grapes: Encruzado and Malvasia Fina

This is a Blanc de Noirs with an ever so slight, subtle hue of light pink. Elegant, fresh nuances of white peach, red apple, young berries and spice rises from the glass, with undertones of floral notes developing as the wine opens up. The palate is vibrant and fresh, yet creamy and textural thanks to the fermentation under cork. Flavours of ripe red apple, grapefruit and almonds adds to the complexity of the palate, while the vibrant acidity gives the wine great length and leads to a lingering, succulent finish.

Country: South Africa

Region: Robertson, Elgin

Grapes: 100% Pinot Meunier

ABV: 12%

70% of fruit was grown in Robertson on limestone soils with the remaining 30% fruit grown on weathered shale soils in Elgin.  The two different portions were hand-picked and pressed separately, with only the cuvee fraction of each portion considered for exclusive release. The Robertson portion of the grapes were harvested on 18 January 2022, with the Elgin portion harvested on 10 February. The clarified juice was split into an array of fermentation vessels of differing materials for primary fermentation, where the wines remained for 5 months.

The final blend consists of 25% terracotta amphoras, 25% ceramic pots, 25% neutral French oak barrels and 25% stainless steel tanks.

The wine was bottled on 21 June 2022 for the second fermentation which was done under cork instead of the more conventional crown cap closures. After two years of lees maturation in the bottle, this unique Cap Classique was disgorged by hand on 13 June 2024, using a vintage hand-operated agraffe application machine dating from 1938.

Perfumed nose of white flowers of tropical fruit (pineapple and mango) with hints of grapefruit, candied citrus fruits and sweet spices (ginger and cardamom). Very clear mineral notes on the palate with a long, elegant finish.

Country: Italy

Region: Veneto

Grape Variety:  Garganega

ABV: 12.5%

Located in Fitta, in North West Italy, Suavia is owned and run by the three Tessari sisters: Meri, Valentina and Alessandra.

Food Match: goats cheese, asparagus or fish stir-fried Chinese dishes featuring fresh vegetables and/or  prawns.

Why not treat yourself or a loved one to some 'me time' with this bottle of organic New Zealand Sauvignon blanc with crisps and chocolate. Perfect for a lazy afternoon in the garden.

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Lovely hints of grapefruit, white peach and herbs on the nose of this Sicilian native grape wine with depth and minerality

Country:Italy

Region:Sicily

ABV:12.5%

Grapes: Catarratto

A fresh, zesty and tropical nose of limes, guava, nectarine, apricot and hints of almond blossom leads to a richly textured palate, has superb length, balance and plenty of finesse. Bright and zippy on the finish.

Country: Greece

Region:  Macedonia

ABV: 13%

Grapes: Malagouzia 

Food match: Pairs perfectly with Greek salads, shellfish and grilled white fish.

We love these organic, low intervention wines from ancient terroir with a touch of New Zealand magic. Expressive and unique you've got to try them!