Jan 27, 2026 New Zealand Tasting Notes

Similar Minds New Zealand Tasting Notes: Jan. 27, 2026

Flight 1.

Wine 1: Astrolabe Pinot Gris, Marlborough 2023

Subtle nose hinting at wet stones, white flower, peach and gunflint, fresh hazelnuts. Quite dry, but with maybe a hint of residual sugar. Crisp and medium acidity. Fairly broad and oily texture on the palate but with good flavor intensity and a firm spine of steely acidity running throughout. Good length. Quite complex and serious.

Wine 2: Babich Single Vineyard Sauv Blanc, Marlborough 2023

Powerfully aromatic. Classic NZ Sauv Blanc nose of cat’s pee, guava, papaya and gooseberry. Dry on the palate with considerable weight, good concentration and good length. Nice interplay between ripe tropical fruit, honey dew melon, lemon pith essential oil strength and green, herbaceous notes. Textbook example of Marlborough SB.

Wine 3: Woven Stone Sauv Blanc, 2024

Aromatic nose offering up cooked asparagus and green bean character. Palate is quite round and plush but with a good backbone of steely acidity. Flavours of jalapeno, tropical fruit and lemon, with a touch of ginger and grassiness. Good length. Quite complex and very intriguing. An interesting and unique expression of Sauvignon Blanc.

Flight 2.

Wine 4: Kirkland Sauv Blanc, Marlborough 2024

Attractive but restrained nose of anise, grapefruit, and dusty candied fruit. Hint of gooseberry and lime. Nose opens up with time to a more aromatic expression of Sauvignon Blanc character. Racy acidity but with some good mid-palate weight. Significant intensity of flavour. Decent length with concrete minerality. Good example of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and an absolute steal.

Wine 5: Staete Landt Duchess Wild ferment Sauv Blanc, Marlborough 2022

Moderately intense aromatics. Reductive, smoky and nutty notes aligned with tropical fruit, peach, lemon, sorrel and savoury, herbaceous characters with a hint of sweet onion BigMac sauce. Complex and classy example of oaked Sauv Blanc. Intense on the palate. Enough acid to keep things fresh but the overall impression is rather soft and plush. Stony and mineral on the finish. Great length. Excellent wine.

Wine 6: Church Road Grand Reserve Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay 2021

Aromatic nose that screams of Chardonnay that’s been given the classic high end, barrel-fermented & aged on lees treatment. The nose offers up sweet vanilla oak notes, green apple, lemon, ripe apple, white peach, nuts and toffee. Stony, salty and gunflint reductive character adds dimension and complexity. Concentrated and vibrant on the palate. Nice interplay between bracing acidity and hefty weight. Great intensity and length, finishing with a pleasant walnut skin note. Tasters were divided over the reductive and nutty notes, with some finding them troubling while others finding them extremely appealing.

Flight 3.

Wine 7: Ophir Bridge Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2023 Pale ruby in colour. Quite open and aromatic, delivering bold aromas of sour cherry, cranberry, strawberry and tea. Some complex autumnal forest floor grace notes. Fresh acidity, mid-weight with supple tannins. Good intensity and length. Nice iron-like mineral note on the finish. Very solid New World Pinot Noir, here.

Wine 8: Craggy Range Pinot Noir, Martinborough 2024 Medium purple-ruby hue. Restrained nose suggestive of black cherry, blue plums, licorice root, charred wood, graphite and leather. Intense and mid-weight on the palate with suave tannins. Salty, stony and umami driven finish with great persistence. This wine needed a bit of time in the glass to start showing, but delivered great concentration and complexity with some patience. Excellent Pinot.

Wine 9: Jewelstone Mission, Hawke’s Bay 2019 Antoine Inky black in the glass with a garnet rim. The aromatic nose at first showed a whiff of ethyl acetate but this blew off quickly in the glass. The bouquet then opened up to reveal warm spice, dried fruit, prune, black pepper, licorice root, vanilla and complex medicinal savoury/herbal notes and hints of dried fruit characters. Good balance of all components. Rich and round on the palate with a robust tannin structure that is very well-managed and not at all aggressive. Great length. This is an outstanding Bordeaux-style blend.