Neville Blech
Very good now well established Russian River winery with vineyards at their own Quail Hill Ranch. The first vintage released was 1996. Production is mainly concentrated on hand-crafted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The regular estate bottlings now take the Russian River Valley label. Reserves and a…
This has long been a name associated with some of the greatest California Chardonnay. More recently Steve Kistler has been producing some marvellous, rich and vibrant Pinot Noirs as well. Both varieties are made in very small lots from a number of different sites throughout Sonoma County as well as…
Founded by Greg Bjornstadt and Greg la Follette and originally named Tandem, La Follette is now a partnership of Greg La Follette and Pete Kight who also owns QUIVIRA Vineyards. Bjornstadt has established his own new label, Bjornstadt Cellars, while La Follette remains to direct operations here. He…
Stephen Hansel’s small Russian River winery is very low key in terms of publicity but he produces some of the most strikingly impressive and well priced Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Sonoma Valley, and California for that matter. The property was established by the late Walter Hansel, Stephen’s…
The Fishers run one of the longest-established properties in the region, founded in 1973, producing top class reds and whites from some superbly sited high density vineyards in both Sonoma and Napa. Of the two great single-vineyard Cabernets, the Napa Valley-sourced Lamb Vineyard bottling is…
Dehlinger remains among the very top echelon in the Russian River, continually crafting outstanding unfiltered Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay. Cabernet Sauvignon does not quite hit the same heady heights, although it is rich, structured and impressive in top years. There are quantities of…
Some very good Burgundian style wines are produced here along with a couple of excellent Syrahs. Much of the fruit comes from Russian River Valley vineyards. The wines are themselves labelled by individual brands rather than by vineyards with the exception of Pinot and Chardonnay releases from the…
This is the first American/South African joint venture partnership between Californians Zelma Long, former ground-breaking winemaker at SIMI, viticulturalist Phil Freese and Mike Ratcliffe MD of WARWICK ESTATE in Stellenbosch. The focus here is very much on producing a luxury wine brand, of which…
Considerable investment has been put into this farm in recent years and the winery is now gravityfed, with some good results. There are a range of attractive, varietal as well as blended wines released as the winery’s Regional Range. These include crisp, ripe Sauvignon Blanc, an unwooded Chardonnay,…
Now wholly owned by Charles Back of FAIRVIEW, this warm-climate Swartland property has been good to sometimes very good in recent vintages. There are approachable bright fruit driven examples of Merlot, Shiraz and Pinotage as well as now Mourvèdre. Along with sound, fruity and slightly mineral and…
This historic wine farm dates back to 1700 and is located on hillside vineyards south of Stellenbosch. The winery was designed by French architects but it more closely resembles a new-wave Napa Valley operation than anything else. Gravity plays an important role in cellar-handling operations. André…
Jean Engelbrecht now has increasing premium interests in the Cape winelands having taken over this historic farm in 1978. He has established a partnership with golfing superstar Ernie Els at ERNIE ELS and at GUARDIAN PEAK. Ernie Els winemaker, Coenie Snyman is in charge of vinification here also.…
Now firmly established as one of the Cape’s finest producers, David Trafford produces just 3,500 cases a year from his vineyards which are located at an altitude of nearly 400 metres between the Stellenbosch and Helderberg mountains. The first vines were planted in 1983 but commercial quantities…
This farm is located on the higher and cooler slopes of Franschhoek and is producing some of the most stylish wines in the Cape. Syrah is intense, refined and full of black, spicy fruit. It displays the weight and texture of good Hermitage. The Cabernet Sauvignon is in a dense and cedary style with…
Located in the Cederberg mountains, as its own ward in the Olifants region, Cederbergs vineyards are the highest in the Western Cape at an altitude of some 1,000 metres above sea level. A cool continental climate provides warm summers and cool nights with a significant drop in night time…
There is no doubt, Anwilka has emerged as one of the Cape’s very greatest reds and a wine of indisputable world-class. The vineyard is a joint venture between Bruno Prats, who formerly owned the great Saint-Estèphe Second Growth COS D’ESTOURNEL, Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, the coproprietor of…
John Buck revived Te Mata in late 1978 (vines were first planted here in 1892) and almost immediately established it as, arguably, New Zealand’s finest. Despite greatly increased competition Te Mata is still a leading light. There has always been a coherence to the estate’s direction that has proved…
It was Mike Eaton who bought and established the Clayvin vineyard in1989 (see FROMM) and now he has repeated the trick with a new hillside estate purchased in 1998. All 9.5 ha, not all of it in production yet but planted mostly to Pinot Noir, are on free-draining soils and densely planted (in a New…
Unison has been dedicated to the production of a top-quality blended red in the Gimblett Gravels of Hawkes Bay since 1993. Two versions are produced, Unison and Unison Selection, based on a 6 ha high-density, low-yielding vineyard (down to 1kg per vine) planted to Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet…
The formidable Villa Maria group, with impressive wineries in both Auckland and Marlborough, also includes the independently run Hawkes Bay estates of ESK VALLEY and Vidal Estate. Most enviable is the company’s record of combining quality, quantity and consistency. Current winemaking direction comes…
Stephen White’s small north-facing vineyard is managed along organic lines and produces what is deservedly the most famous wine from Waiheke Island. The stated aim is to produce the best Bordeaux-style red in the world. Nonetheless it is very much a lifestyle-oriented project with the pleasures of…
Schubert is the most exciting new name to emerge from Martinborough/Wairarapa in recent years. Germans Kai Schubert (trained at Geisenheim) and Marion Deimling made a start here in 1998 and now have around 14 ha of vineyards. Most are located at on terraces in East Taratahi (near Gladstone) but the…
Stonecroft, the project of the former owner soil scientist Dr Alan Limmer, earned a reputation for rich, characterful examples of Syrah and Gewürztraminer that helped to broaden interest among New Zealand producers in varieties other than the mainstream Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, etc. All the…
Warwick and Jenny Hawker have the kind of focus that a region as exciting as Central Otago deserves. They make Riesling and of course Pinot Noir. Having planted on virgin wine territory in 1995, they produced their first vintage in 2000. The wine sees 12 months in French oak (one-third new). It is a…
This small Central Otago winery was the creation of regional pioneer Alan Brady who founded the nearby Gibbston Valley. The project is now run by winemaker Duncan Forsyth and proprietor John Buchanan. As well as some top-flight Pinot Noir small quantities of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris,…
Pegasus Bay is Waipara’s and Canterbury’s leading winery. This is very much a family operation and one of Ivan Donaldson’s sons, Matthew, has established a very successful winemaking duo with his wife Lynette Hudson. Both are trained winemakers. Matthew’s reds include an increasingly good plummy,…
Fromm is not one winery but two. One is in Malans in Switzerland, the other in Marlborough. Marlborough’s Fromm Vineyard is planted almost exclusively to red grapes with a strong leaning towards Pinot Noir (as are the Swiss vineyards). Grapes are also sourced from other growers, which provides more…
Michael Brajkovich is one of New Zealand’s most important winemakers. Although the family vineyards are in the now less than fashionable Kumeu district, west of Auckland, his intelligent, nonconformist approach showed it was possible to make better wines by rejecting some of the rigid, purely…
Every now and then a very talented winemaker comes to the fore with unprecedented results in a given region. Blair Walter is one such. Yet with Pinot-mad Englishman Nigel Greening taking over Stewart Elm’s inspired creation in 2000 and Gareth King in the vineyard, this is very much a team effort.…
This small estate acquired an enviable cult following due to the unstinting devotion of Dr Neil McCallum to producing the highest quality fruit from prime Martinborough vineyards. Though now under new (American) ownership (the same as for TE AWA FARM), the same direction is being maintained. Dry…
Esk Valley wines are made by Gordon Russell and are deserving of a separate entry (also see VILLA MARIA). The outstanding wine is The Terraces, a blend of Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Made only in top vintages, it is a rich, intense and powerful Hawkes Bay red and the group’s finest wine…
Of Marlborough’ s new names this is arguably the hottest. Both the owners have had a long relationship with Cloudy Bay – James Healy on the winemaking side, Ivan Sutherland as a viticulturalist. They have only recently launched their own label and then only from a portion of their vineyards as the…
The whole concept of CrossFit is that we use functional moves that we would normally do every day. With that idea in our minds it stands to reason that everyone who moves at all should be able to gain some benefit from engaging in such a program. However, there are those that are of the opinion that…
In a remarkably short period of time, Woodlands has firmly established itself in the uppermost echelon of Margaret River Cabernet producers, alongside CULLEN and MOSS WOOD. The secret to its success?
The Gunyulgup Valley near Yallingup is at the northern end of the Margaret River region. Here an exceptional new project is unfolding. Contrary to the accepted wisdom, the vines have been planted on south-facing slopes rather than the usual north-facing slopes. Production is currently around 1,000…
This winery is named for the Craggy Range in Hawkes Bay’s Tukituki Valley, a stunning new winery complex has been built to process grapes from a patchwork of outstanding vineyard sites split between Hawkes Bay, Martinborough and Marlborough. Direction comes from viticultural expert Steve Smith, who…
The Mugfords have owned this very fine, small 12 ha Margaret River estate (founded by Bill Pannell of PICARDY in 1969) since 1984. Prior to that, Keith Mugford had been making the wines, making his first vintage at Moss Wood in 1979.
Cape Mentelle has a lower profile than sister winery CLOUDY BAY in New Zealand but has a similar reputation for quality thanks to the efforts of founder David Hohnen, who ran operations until 2003 when he was succeeded by the widely respected Dr Tony Jordan
The Cullen’s Margaret River winery has a long tradition of excellence and now produces around 20,000 cases per year from 28ha of well-established estate vineyards (certified organic).
Barely more than a decade ago, this substantial operation with wineries in Denmark in the Great Southern and at Margaret River was a small, high quality label with just a Riesling and Cabernet-based red produced in small quantities by John Wade while he was winemaker at PLANTAGENET.
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