Esk Valley Estate Chenin Blanc 2009
(Hawke's Bay, New Zealand)

This is a full bodied white with classic Chenin Blanc characters of honey, quince and stonefruit with a mineral like acidity. The palate is full with a touch of residual sugar balancing the acidity. Particularly good with seafood. Enjoy as a young wine or cellar 3-5 years for added complexity

Sugar Loaf Sauvignon Blanc 2009
(Marlborough, New Zealand)

* Exclusive to Taurus Wines *

Succulent and ripe fruits from pineapple to pear and elderflower. Lovely depth with a mouthwatering finish. Deliciously balanced and unlike many Sauvignons, won’t have you reaching for the Rennies after one glass.

Winery Profile
Established in 2004, Sugar Loaf wines takes it name from the islands which lie off the Taranaki coastline, where founder Kate Acland grew up.

At only 24, Kate became one of the youngest wine producers in Marlborough. The project started as an own-brand wine for her parents’ restaurant back in Taranaki, buying fruit from Marlborough growers and making the wine in rented space. Three years later, she loaned several million dollars off the bank to buy a former apple juicing facility and created a new winery. Since then, she’s married a high country farmer, had a baby and moved five hours south to be with the love of her life, visiting the winery several days each fortnight. Fijian Indian winemaker Simon Stock looks after the day-to-day running of the winery and winemaking at Sugar Loaf.

When Kate’s not looking after a winery or a newly born baby, you’ll find her skiing down her local mountain or drinking Riesling. sugarloaf

Waipara Springs Sauvignon Blanc 2009
(Waipara, New Zealand)

Dry and well balanced with delicate gooseberry, elderflower, apple and citrus flavours. More restrained than the average Marlborough Savvy and much more drinkable for it!
Bronze medal at the International Wine Challenge.

Winery Profile
Watch out for Waipara. Just an hour’s drive north of leafy Christchurch, vineyards dot the side of the road. The region is dwarfed by Marlborough but its wines stand out for being much more elegant and food friendly. New Zealand’s leading wine writer, Bob Campbell MW, claims ‘stunning Waipara is one of the unsung heroes’ of the New Zealand wine scene. The first Waipara Springs vines were originally planted back in 1982, making it one of the longest established estates in the region. With a young, handsome winemaker, Frank Manifold, at the helm, Waipara Springs offers consistently high standards and good value for money. The team are ably assisted by Jonty, a 13-year Red Kelpie, who featured in one of the best-selling wine books ever, Wine Dogs. Now he’s getting on a bit, he can mainly be found by the fire or warming himself in the sun.

Elephant Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2009
(Hawkes Bay, New Zealand)

* Exclusive to Taurus Wines *

Elephant Hill is a stunning new and innovative winery estate located on the idyllic Te Awanga coast, in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.

"Like the elephant, you won't forget this wine: it's spring sunshine in a glass (just after you've mowed the lawn and are now enjoying a lazy hammock). A superb effort for this vivacious, refreshing white with notes of fresh-cut grass, asparagus, straw and limes. Terrific juicy acidity. Try not to trample smaller creatures in your rush to buy this one. VC: The playful label has the texture of elephant skin. Almost platinum in color. The aromas suggest green pepper, rosemary, white asparagus and green onion. Dry and impactful on the palate with fresh acids and good vegetal tones. Medium-bodied and medium finish. Food matches: rosemary chicken, roasted stuffed red peppers, beef tartare, ham, mussels, lobster in a garlic butter sauce."

The 2009 Displays a combination of gooseberry, lemon verbena and thyme. The palate perfectly balances wet-stone minerality with flavours of lime and citrus peel. The racy acidity complements the retained sweetness creating a classical Te Awanga Sauvignon Blanc.

Winery Profile
There’s something of the Old World in the wines of Elephant Hill. Forget the exuberant gooseberry, asparagus and passionfruit-filled wines of Marlborough, Elephant Hill is all about subtlety and elegance. The winery is owned by German couple Reyden and Roger Weiss, which might explain the wine style. The pair fell in love with this coastal site and planted the vineyard in 2003. The traditionalist view is that young vines don’t produce great wines but that’s not true here says the company’s managing director Gunter Thies, who was director of the Rheingau Winegrowers Association for six years before moving to New Zealand. “In Germany, three year old vines don’t make very good wine but here they develop much faster than in Europe. Growing grapes is a completely different story here,” he says.

While most of Hawke’s Bay is too warm to successfully produce Sauvignon Blanc, Elephant Hill is quite literally within spitting distance of the Ocean. The cool sea breezes allow the grapes to mature more slowly, maintaining a zesty acidity, delicious aromas and keeping alcohol levels down. Hotter inland areas in Hawke’s Bay are better suited to red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah but at Elephant Hill’s cooler vineyards, these varieties would struggle to ripen.

It’s quite an international team here. The vineyard is managed by an American girl, Brittany Thompson who originally came to Hawke’s Bay from the Napa Valley for six months, fell in love with New Zealand (and a New Zealander!) and is now a permanent fixture at Elephant Hill. The winemaking is in the hands of Kiwi Steve Skinner who has worked many vintages in Hawke’s Bay as well as France, Canada, California.

Yealands Estate Viognier 2009
(Marlborough, New Zealand)

The rolling hills of Seaview in the Awatere Valley are home to the Yealands Estate vineyard. In these harsh growing conditions (low rainfal, high sunshine, cool nights and strong winds)the low yielding vines produce wines of intense varietal character. This Viognier displays multiple layers of white peach, nectarine and apricot with a luscious, refined mouth feel.

Winery Profile
Problem: You like the idea of using sheep to keep the grass down in the vineyard, but the sheep develop a taste for the grapes. What do you do? Solution: get some shorter sheep. Amazingly, that’s exactly what maverick Kiwi winemaker Peter Yealands has done. The arrival of a flock of miniature Babydoll sheep at Yealands Estate in Marlborough caused quite a stir, with both the Telegraph and the Guardian covering the story. Unlike the ‘normal-sized’ sheep that Peter Yealands first employed, the Babydolls reach just 45-60cm in height when fully grown and so will not be able to reach (and feast on) the grapes. An earlier effort at low-emissions eco-friendly lawn mowing, the introduction of some giant guinea pigs, seemed a neat idea until the local hawk population heard about it. Can’t win ‘em all. But Peter’s mission to create the country’s first 100% sustainable vineyard continues and the quality of wines like his delicious Viognier speaks for itself.

Matakana Pinot Gris 2008
(Matakana, New Zealand)

Too many Pinot Gris are oily and fat. Not this one. Dry, well balanced and with lots of interesting Alsace-like texture. Pear fruit and almonds abound.

“I hope more people start to make Pinot Gris as well as this one.”- wine writer, Matthew Jukes

Winery Profile
Luka Lunjevich sailed from Croatia to New Zealand in 1902, for a better life and the goal of planting his own vineyard. His voyage nearly ended in tragedy when the 2,585-ton steel steamer hit the rocks in heavy fog, and sank close to New Zealand’s North Cape. There weren’t enough lifeboats and many, including Luka, had to swim for their lives. Having survived this treacherous journey to his new homeland, Luka planted his vineyard in Kaitaia and became one of the pioneer winemakers in New Zealand in the early 1900s.

The passion for wine has been passed through the generations: in 1996, Luka’s grandaughter established Matakana Estate, a boutique winery 70km north of Auckland in Matakana. Luka’s great grandsons now run the estate in beautiful Matakana, which is a hub of food and wine and a renowned getaway for Aucklanders.

Mount Riley Sauvignon Blanc 2009
(Marlborough, New Zealand)

A gold medal winner in the Royal Hobart Wine Show, this wine has the curious claim to fame of being available in British Airways Business Class; the first NZ Sauvignon Blanc chosen to be poured in Business Class by BA. “Mount Riley consistently offers good Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc at a great price. This is one of their best yet. It’s as fresh as a crunchy apple picked minutes before you sink your teeth into it. A great combination of pungent fruit flavours and tangy texture, the wine captures everything that’s great about summer.” Bob Campbell, Master of Wine.

Sugar Loaf Pinot Gris 2009
(Marlborough, New Zealand)

* Exclusive to Taurus Wines *

This wine has a combination of pear and almond tart with honeysuckle and a sprinkling of nutmeg. It has a creamy viscosity without being heavy in the mouth. All too quaffable – a glass is gone before you know it.

Winery Profile
Established in 2004, Sugar Loaf wines takes it name from the islands which lie off the Taranaki coastline, where founder Kate Acland grew up.

At only 24, Kate became one of the youngest wine producers in Marlborough. The project started as an own-brand wine for her parents’ restaurant back in Taranaki, buying fruit from Marlborough growers and making the wine in rented space. Three years later, she loaned several million dollars off the bank to buy a former apple juicing facility and created a new winery. Since then, she’s married a high country farmer, had a baby and moved five hours south to be with the love of her life, visiting the winery several days each fortnight. Fijian Indian winemaker Simon Stock looks after the day-to-day running of the winery and winemaking at Sugar Loaf.

When Kate’s not looking after a winery or a newly born baby, you’ll find her skiing down her local mountain or drinking Riesling. sugarloaf

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2010
(Marlborough, New Zealand)

Greywacke (pronounced grey-wacky) is the new wine of Kevin Judd who was the founding wine maker and consequently head winemaker for the first twenty five vintages of Cloudy Bay (there have only been twenty seven!) and as such was instrumental in establishing the New Zealand Wine Industry.

The wines are made by Kevin at the Dog Point winery, Greywacke being the name of the vineyard rather than the winery.

Kevin describes this, his first ever vintage for UK release as:

"Like opening a bag of tree-ripened nectarines, Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is deliciously aromatic, exuding enticing fruit fragrance with a spicy tamarillo twist and the zest of yellow grapefruit. The palate is succulent and tangy, long and concentrated with a hint of flinty minerality."

Sorry the 2009 vintage of this wine has now run out. Please contact the store if you would like us to let you know when the 2010 vintage arrives - this is likely to be October.

Man O'War Chardonnay 2008
(Waiheke Island, New Zealand)

This Chardonnay dances nimbly across your palate, offering fresh nectarine, lemon and nutty oak flavours. Beautiful purity of fruit with lip-smacking freshness on the finish.

Awarded 90 points by Robert Parker and 5 stars by Cuisine Magazine

Winery Profile
Sitting at the end of a long and bumpy track on the eastern tip of Waiheke Island, Man O’War isn’t easy to get to but it’s worth every minute of car sickness. 90 different vineyard parcels form a mosaic along the rugged Waiheke coastline. With so many different blocks to look after, life isn’t simple for vineyard manager, Matt, but he’s a cool cat and relishes the challenge. The property is owned by a family who made millions producing loo roll (a recession proof industry, for sure) and have invested in the best money can buy – vines, winemaking and people. However, there was expense spared on the cellar door – a lonely portacabin sits on the beach. Boats drop anchor in the bay to pop in to sample their wares in the makeshift tasting room - it certainly makes for an interesting experience.

Duncan McTavish, a young Kiwi heads up the winemaking team. He’s made wine in California, Australia, France and Germany. Having worked in Burgundy, the home of Chardonnay, it’s his favourite variety. If he wasn’t a winemaker, Duncan says he would be a drummer in a rock band, despite not being able to play the drums.

Why not have a look at Man O War's Winery Video by clickinghere.