Wine Reviews
The 2023 Le Sol Syrah hails from the Gimblett Gravels in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay. Aromatically, the wine leads with sweet roasted game, beetroot, pomegranate molasses, cocoa, crushed rocks and notes of peat. The tannins show the typical graphite quality that we have come to expect from this cuvée and this terroir, and one could even go so far as to say that the wine feels incredibly elegant, almost light. The fact that any wine was made in Hawke’s Bay after Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle made landfall on February 11, 2023, can be considered an immense achievement, never more so than when the wines are great, as this is. As always with Le Sol, exercise patience; you will be rewarded. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
The 2023 Chardonnay is lean and flinty on the nose, with notes of white peach, green apple, freshly picked curry leaf and preserved lemon rind. In the mouth, the wine is very good, behaving exactly as the nose has laid out, with mineral phenolics and sleek length. 2023 was the year of Cyclone Gabrielle, which made a catastrophic landfall on the February 11, bringing widespread destruction. 12.7% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
Elegant and harmonious, the 2025 Tavel from Château d’Aqueria has turned out very well, evoking aromas of red berries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries mingled with floral notes. Medium- to full-bodied, elegant and juicy, it’s seamless and vibrant, with racy acids in the mid-palate and concluding with a long, perfumed and ethereal finish.
The NV Brut Nature is 100% Chardonnay from Campo Los Andes, Uco Valley. The variety defines a pear-driven, slightly herbal profile, with delicate citrus notes. Dry, with fine mousse, it finishes with a crisp, fruit-driven sensation. Pleasant, with a clear fruit note on the finish.
A blend of vineyards sourced from Oak Knoll and Carneros in the Napa Valley. Whole cluster, native ferment in a mix of barrel and stainless steel barrels, aged on lees, in 7% new French oak with some batonnage for a total of 8 months before bottling. This wine is an absolute blockbuster for the price. There’s terrific weight and silky texture from the barrel ageing and lees stirring, which adds more richness. Just the right amount of baking-spice character is infused with citrus fruit and underripe tropical notes, with a key-lime pie creaminess on the palate, balanced by a spine of racy acidity. A terrific wine for restaurants to offer by the glass.
