Fabulous bouquet driven by ripeness, youth and vibrancy. Scents of ripe concentrated black cherry cushioned against a savoury-dried-herb quality giving this wine a sense of place. Other aromas include clove and baking spices of barrel, dried earth and black raspberry compote. Complex and youthful. On the palate a textured, concentrated and luscious wine with textures from polished tannins and backbone of acidity, the concentration of fruits absorb the barrel flavours well and all tannins begin to dissolve slowly on the palate. Excellent length and power. Best drinking from likely 2026 through 2036+ if stored well.

Textural chardonnay with grapefruit, sizzled butter, struck flint, vanilla, green apple, hazelnut and spicy oak characters. Full-flavoured wine that is approachable now but promises to develop with bottle age (03 NOV 2022).

Awarded by Corkscrew.

Off-dry, clean, quite youthful. Restrained floral and tree fruit/apricot/quince flavours. Some phenolics but nicely woven into the fruit giving a good texture and helping promote a reasonably dry finish. Good purity and complexity. Botrytis influence? A tad herbal and slightly tough. 21 OCT 2009

Luscious medium-med/dry Gewurz with classic lychee, rose, and talcum powder characters. Fleshy, opulent, generous, long. 23 FEB 2005

Sweeter than the 2004. Moderately tannic. Concentrated and more luscious. Fine-grained tannins. A hint of spice and wild herbs with tropical and tree fruit 21 OCT 2009

This vintage of Dry River's Gewürz is almost tropical in style, with mango and pineapple elements accented by gingery spice and a dash of white pepper. It's off dry in style, with plenty of body without being at all blowsy. Drink it over the next few years.

Mineral and taut but with lovely rich, grapey texture. Very smooth and textured with some complexity. Nice, spicy finish. Real interest here. Deliciously ripe with good complexity. 92/100

Dry River's 2009 Gewürztraminer is a lush, off-dry rendering of the variety, with notes of superripe melon and pear accented by hints of peppery-gingery spice. Approachable now. — Joe Czerwinski

Re-packed into plastic test tube. Intense and tangy pinot gris with ripe pear, tree fruits and spice characters. Difficult to define individual flavours because the wine has integrated with bottle age. A rich, textural wine with an appealing sweet-and-sour tension and drying finish. 10 JUL 2020

Medium to light yellow colour. The nose is rich and spicy with honey and tropical flower aromas. The palate is off-dry, rich and slightly heavy, with a slightly oily texture augmenting the sweetness and some alcohol heat to finish. This doesn't seem very varietal: I wonder if some gewurztraminer has found its way in? Increasingly lychee-like in the glass. Whatever, it's a clean and fragrant, if slightly clumsy wine. 22 NOV 2013

Bricky garnet. Delicate and inviting undergrowth complexity. Some sweetness of fruit as well as a bit of polished wood. Herbs, too, and coffee. Then still such lovely sweet gentle red fruit on the palate. Silky and long and wonderfully fresh and still balanced. Youthful on the palate. (JH)

Martinborough Terrace,  Wairarapa,  New Zealand:  13%;  [ Cork,  44mm,  ullage 23 mm;  weight bottle and cork,  552 g;  release price c.$55;  Amaranth signifies particularly suited to extended cellaring;  Robinson,  2012:  Light, sweet, relatively delicate mature Pinot aromas. Not that burgundian but very slightly dusty and much gentler and more evolved than most other Dry River Pinots I have tasted. Fresh, zesty finish, 17;  Cooper,  2000:  … hugely concentrated, with super-ripe fruit characters of cherries, raspberries, even liquorice. Fleshy and supple, its already approachable, but should be cellared until at least 2003, *****; Garnet and ruby,  younger than the 2000 Pinot Noir,  just below midway in depth (for the 12).  There is quite a volume of bouquet,  but it is over-ripe,  malty and biscuitty,  almost going on leathery,  the fruit well-browning now.  In mouth the wine is texturally rich pinot noir,  but the flavours again are raisiny,  baked and severely over-ripe,  no florals,  no varietal charm.  Oak comes in on the tanniny finish,  so the nett impression is like rich brown raisin (not sultana) fruitcake.  No votes for favourites.  In the vintage comparison,  second to the 1999 Syrah.  Fully mature,  but will hold in its style for some time.  Unless by some not-apparent chance this wine has suffered oxidation from a defective cork (to close inspection,  it appeared perfect),  this 1999 has not fulfilled the  promise of its Amaranth classification,  as varietal pinot noir.  Many people will find it very pleasant as rich red wine with a roast dinner,  however.  GK 05/19

Terribly tricky vintage without leaves but it worked! Some evolution at the rim. Actually even a little too old for my taste. Mushrooms and violets, with some sweetness. Dusty finish.

Very dense ripe fruits with a sweet, soft texture. Long, accessible. Mod complex. Delicious wine - miles away from Burgundy. 16 JUL 2004

This still looks a very youthful crimson. Very definitely Martinborough not Musigny. Sweet start and smooth texture. Relatively low acidity (2003 was a particularly hot vintage, as in Europe oddly enough.) Seems a bit frozen in terms of development, without much subtlety and with a pretty drying finish. No charmer.

This, one of New Zealand's cult wines, should retail for about $85 when it hits a select few retailers' shelves this fall. Although not perhaps the strongest vintage in Martinborough, the 2004 Dry River Pinot Noir features incredibly kaleidoscopic forward fruit that ranges from cherry to plum to mixed berries and back again. It's lush and round, yet still structured to age, with a long, silky finish.

After several variously challenging seasons,  2006 gave a settled spring,  good flowering and set,  followed by a near-ideal summer and autumn.  Reds showed classical varietal expression,  coupled with better than average volume.  Presented as wines 9 (PN) and 10 (Sy),  the syrah ahead,  a huge wine for the cellar,  high tannins in both.

12.5% alcohol. Beautifully focused nose is very fine and expressive showing dark fruits, spicy and minerals. The palate is super-elegant with lovely dark, pure cherry fruit, some spice and a hint of meatiness. Very expressive with good acidity and freshness. 95/100

The 2011 vintage (5*) is a very classy red, matured in French oak casks (20 per cent new). From a warm growing season, it is densely coloured, rich and supple, with deep plum and black-pepper flavours, fine-grained tannins, and lovely texture and harmony. Youthful, with excellent concentration and complexity, it’s an elegant, rather blockbuster, style, likely to be at its best 2015+.

A classic cool climate syrah here, drinking very well now. I love the white pepper, the firm acids, the savoriness but also the dark, fresh fruit and long finish. This bridges the gap between general appeal and the estates restrained, uncompromising philosophy. 96 Points. Tasted July 2019

Complex and new, fragrant and layered. Aromas of flowers and clay earth mineral qualities, wild red berries from the forest then quietly spoken aromas of oak and mild toasty wood attributes. The bouquet is youthful and high energy, but also complex and enticing. Dry on the palate this is a wine of complexity and charm as well as youthful and vibrato. Tannins and acidity at the core of the structure and dominate the wine’s texture base. There’s also core fruit flavours that reflect the bouquet. This wine needs time to settle more and find its harmony with best drinking from 2026 through 2036+.

The Whisky Advocate: "Finished in 200-liter totara casks—a hard, straight-grained indigenous wood—the nose has toasted coconut, cinnamon bark, macaroons, fragrant floral notes, mint leaf, lemon hard candies, pear, peach, and light honey. Lemon, white chocolate, dried stone and tropical fruits, caramel, and toasted spices, with creaminess, malt, and milk chocolate breaking out in the end. Lightly structured on first sip, but it develops more body given time."

Time Tide: "This is a fireside companion for those who prefer their warmth with a touch of mystery, a whisky that whispers its story rather than shouts it - a slow-burning ballad in a world of fleeting moments."

Soft, broad, a tad blousy. Oak very evident. Quite grippy on the finish. Slightly green, herbal characters with berryish flavours. Drying out? 23 February 2005

Soft, rich and broad. Quite oaky and slightly disjointed. Grippy tannins. Blackberry. slightly musty on the finish - could be slightly corked. 23 February 2005.

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, the opaque, dark-colored 2000 Cabernets Larose is a tannic, concentrated, extracted wine for those with patience. Its mouth-watering nose of sweet blueberries, jammy blackberries, and licorice leads to a medium-bodied core of peppery black fruits intermingled with asphalt. (PR) (10/2003)

Attractive cedary Cabernet based wine. Solidly structured - needs food. Quite elegant and has power. Subtle complexity, nice acidity, long and balanced. Fine blackberry, spice and cedar. (BC) (2/2005)

Reasonably light, raw and slightly green. A tad bitter. Lightweight red.

Deep, lush, accessible, fleshy. Quite soft -verging on jammy. Shorter than 03. Velvet textured wine that doesn’t suggest great long term potential. Very appealing right now. Quite oaky with some Cabernet cedar character.

Stonyridge Larose is one of the country' more expensive and iconic red wines. It' a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend with four of the other Bordeaux grape varieties; Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Syrah. This is a typical Larose - an attractive mix of berry flavours with cedar, spice and classy oak. It' a pleasant, supple, ripe and sustained red from a relatively light vintage. 23 February 2005.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2005 Larose gives a deep garnet color and has quite a lot of red and black fruit remaining on the complex nose, with spice box and meaty notes plus some dried herbs. The palate is glorious with tons of elegant, youthful fruit in the mouth supported by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and refreshing acid, finishing long and multi-layered. January 2015

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2006 Larose offers a deep garnet color going a lt brick at the edge. Earthy, meaty gamey notes waft from the nose with hints of beef drippings, dried black berries and Chinese plums plus a whiff of leather. Drying out slightly in the mouth, it nonetheless has a good amount of interesting fruit remaining, finishing with slightly puckering tannins. January 2015

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2007 Larose has a medium garnet colored and is profoundly minty on the nose with a core of warm cassis and hints of dark chocolate and cinnamon stick. The palate is medium-bodied with a highly structured backbone of firm chewy tannins and crisp acid, finishing long.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2008 Larose displays a medium to deep garnet color and lovely mature notes of prunes, kirsch and red currant jelly with nuances of sandalwood, leather and aged meat. Tons of fruit flavor remains on the palate lifted by lively acid and framed by firm tannins, finishing with great length.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Larose offers a medium garnet color and slight sweaty saddles, iodine and bandaid characters over a core of preserved black berries and black forest cake plus a cedary undercurrent. Medium-bodied with plenty of mature fruit remaining on the palate and firm, chewy tannins, it has good persistence.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2010 Larose is medium garnet colored with a hint of purple. The nose is maturing beautifully into classic Bordeaux Blend notes of blackberry preserves, crème de cassis, cigar boxes and incense plus a touch of potpourri. Medium to full-bodied with loads of mid-palate fruit and firm, chewy tannins, it finishes long.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2011 Larose displays a medium garnet color. The nose is evolving into a meaty / gamey character with a sweaty leather quality and notes of kirsch and plum preserves. Medium-bodied with stewed tea notes in the mouth and a medium to firm level of astringent tannins, it nonetheless finishes long and multi-layered.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2012 Larose offers a medium to deep garnet-purple color. It's still a little closed at the moment showing notes of red plums and blackberries with hints of dried Mediterranean herbs, tree bark and earth. Medium-bodied and more elegantly styled than usual, it' just a little light on mid-palate fruit and the tannins a little astringent, though finishes long and complex.

A Bordeaux blend of predominately Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2013 Larose has a deep garnet-purple color and a youthfully mute nose revealing delicate notes of red and blackcurrants, mulberries and plums with hints of cedar, pencil lead, earth and violets plus a hint of cloves. Quite solid and muscular in the mouth with tons of densely packed fruit supported by a solid foundation of firm grainy tannins and lively acid, it has a very long finish. January 2015.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2014 Cabernets Larose opens with crushed black currants, fragrant blackberries and mulberries on the nose with hints of bay leaves, forest floor, loam and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied and packed with taut, muscular black fruits, it has a solid frame of chewy tannins and lively acid, finishing with lingering earth and herbal layers. March 2017

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernets Larose exudes ripe red and black currants on the nose with a lovely floral undercurrent of violets and lavender plus earth and cedar hints. Medium-bodied and firmly structured with ripe, grainy tannins and lively acid, it gives a great intensity of red and black fruits flavors, leading to a very long, earthy finish. March 2017

Produced in much smaller volume than usual, the 2016 Larose is a somewhat light, delicate wine, with notes of black currants and cherries. It's medium-bodied, framed by some dusty, ashy tannins, but shows decent persistence and fruit on the finish. I'd still opt for drinking it over the near term, while waiting for the superb Larose trio of 2013–2015 to mature. March 2019

Tangy, with very good intensity to the black pepper, black cherry, green tea and generous toasty oak flavors that are framed by the tart structure.  imported.

(2020) Softening colour, bloody, ripe, dried blood and oxide, but all the sweet and ripe character of fruit is beneath. Big creamy mouthful of Syrah, all the sweetness and plushness you cold want, but creamy and softly spicy, a generous acidity in the finish to give it terrific length. Possibly not for long ageing now, but In a lovely place. Price and stockist is for the most recent vintage at time of review. Tom Cannavan January 2020.

Lovely soft fleshy fruit, supple youthful appealing velvety tannins on finish.

The 2007 Coleraine (52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc and 34% Merlot) had been recently bottled, it is no wonder the nose is rather sulky, but there is patently a lot of intense cedar-infused Cabernet fruit in this Coleraine. The palate is full-bodied with fully ripe tannins, good grip, cedar, blackberry, pain grille, sous-bois coming through. Great persistency towards the viscous finish. Superb. Tasted 2009.

Dark, deep, ruby-red colour with garnet hues, a little lighter on the edge. The nose is very full with youthfully fresh aromas of black and red currants, along with fresh and dried herb note. The fruit is ripe and sweetly aromatic, and grows in depth and density in the glass. Complexing earth and cedary oak notes emerge with aeration. The palate is fresh and lively, with tightly concentrated blackcurrant, cassis and fresh herb flavours at the core. The fruit aromatics are enlivened by bright acidity. The mouthfeel has energy and vitality, and is underlined by very fine-grained tannin grip and extraction. Though showing some aromatic development, the palate is decidedly youthful, with the potential to develop over the next 15+ years. 52% CS, 34% Me, 14% CF. 14.0% alc. 19.0-/20 Aug 2017 Release Price $72.00 A majestic, massive wine. Saturated purple hued ruby red, this has a youthful bouquet of densely concentrated black fruits with hints of minerals, liquorice and spicy oak. The palate combines great richness and concentration of fruit with immense extraction in extraordinary balance and style. At 14.0% alc., this is 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc. Brooding and primary, it will cellar 10-15+ years.  Mar 2011

A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 19% Cabernet Franc, the 2008 Coleraine took some coaxing on the nose and remained quite broody and introspective, with blackberry, melted tar, autumn leaves, black pepper with the green bell pepper more noticeable than the 2007. The palate is medium-bodied with a spicy entry, very Bordeaux-like, surfeit with energy but perhaps just lacking the final knock-out punch on the finish. Yet there is still breeding here: austere but graceful. Drink 2011-2020. Tasted 2010.

Dense and lively red with layers of berryfruit/blackcurrant together with a more subtle influence of floral, dried spice and cedar flavours. Supple, elegant wine from a vintage that obviously achieved good physiological ripeness. The best Coleraine I’ve tasted for a while and better, in my view, than the highly rated 2007 17 MAR 2010

Right in its drinking window, the 2009 Coleraine is a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, matured in mostly new French oak. Damp earth, cigar box, vanilla and cassis all appear on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate remains richly textured and velvety, finishing long, with a hint of dark chocolate. Where well-stored and sound of cork, it should drink well for another decade. Tasted 2021

Breed, rather than brute power, is the hallmark of Coleraine, which since its first vintage in 1982 has carved out an illustrious reputation among New Zealand’s claret-style reds. Since the 2005 vintage, it is no longer labelled as a Cabernet/Merlot, but simply as Coleraine (and in some recent vintages has contained more Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon). At its best, it is a magical Hawke’s Bay wine, with a depth, complexity and subtlety on the level of a top-class Bordeaux. The grapes are grown in the Havelock North hills, in the company’s warm, north-facing Buck and 1892 vineyards, and the wine is matured for 18 to 20 months in French oak barriques, predominantly new. Cabernet Sauvignon in 2009 accounted for 52 per cent of the blend, Merlot 43 per cent and Cabernet Franc 5 per cent (Malbec is definitely not in the recipe). Sturdy (14 per cent alcohol) and dense, it has highly concentrated, ripe blackcurrant, spice, plum and nut flavours, very elegant, lithe and finely poised, in a style that reminds me of a fine Margaux. Yet to really unfold, it should be at its best for drinking around 2020.

An excellent vintage of Coleraine, now into maturity (but still having plenty of life ahead of it), the 2010 Coleraine is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. There's an earthy, grilled-meat edge to the nose, but the medium to full-bodied palate is richly fruited and velvety in texture, with hints of brown sugar and dried spices framing dense cassis fruit. Long and still dusty on the finish, this is delicious now and should last through 2030. One of New Zealand's top wineries, Te Mata, under the leadership of chief executive Nick Buck and veteran winemaker Phil Brodie, continues to set the pace in Hawke's Bay. While Coleraine—the winery's flagship red blend—deservedly gets most of the headlines, the Bullnose Syrah and the deftly wooded white wines are also near the top of the heap.

Dense, savoury red with a fantastic texture. Long and layered with fascinating berry, floral, savoury and herb characters. Vibrant wine with great potential. Accessible but will age. Highest proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in ten years. Elegant yet powerful red 12 MAR 2012

Tasted with a vertical of five vintages of Homage. Rich and intense syrah with violet, black pepper, dark berry, plum and oak flavours. Dense, sweet fruit nicely balances a solid backbone of ripe, round tannins. A youthful, intense and potentially complex red that promises to age well.

The Mayor's vineyard was planted by a former Mayor of Adelaide in 1969, at 500 meters in elevation on the eastern ridge of Clare Valley. Red loam and slate define the soils here, and that ferrous grunt and minerality go hand in hand in the glass. This 2020 The Mayor's Vineyard Shiraz is an exceptionally savory, layered Shiraz with red dirt, hung deli meat, some oolong tea and salted mulberries at the fore. This is a wonderful wine, at the beginning of its life.''Reviewed Sep 16, 2022

It's full of flavourful with layers of fruit and polished tannins. Serious Shiraz!