Frankie Mcphail loves whiskey. That said, she’s currently having a rather serious affair with gin.
When Steve Skinner started at Elephant Hill back in 2006, his first move was to rip out the struggling Bordeaux varieties at the Te Awanga site and set in motion the acquisition of new vineyards in the Bridge Pa and Gimblett Gravels districts. This was the beginning of a a master plan to diversify in every which way possible, drawing the best from the complexities of Hawke’s Bay's sub-regions, allowing Steve to make the best wines he can.
A taste tour of Te Kairanga
Having recently tasted our way through a sumptuous lineup of John Kavanagh’s wines at an upstairs tasting at Regional Wines - it was with bated breath that we descended over the hills towards Te Kairanga…
Big whiskies battle it out at Best of the Best 2020
It was a pugilistic battle until the bitter sweet end. Seven heavyweight whiskies going toe to toe until only one was left standing. Unrelenting blow after blow of port, PX and sherry leaving us dazed confused, heady and happy.
John Kavanagh - going for gold
John Kavanagh obviously had a plan when he took over the reins at Te Kairanga in 2012, and It didn't take him long to find his feet. He's now strapped on the track shoes and is going for gold each vintage, capping a run of consecutive wins at the Decanter World Wine Awards with the ultimate accolade - Best in Show for his 2017 John Martin Pinot Noir.
Emotive Malts - SMWS 136.1, Eden Mill 2015, 3yo, 61.2%
Sunday lunch at Simpson’s in the Strand had gone on longer than expected, and as Lord Eden unfastened the top button of his trousers and reclined into the plush leather upholstery…
Tap badge design for Mean Doses brewery
Part of a series of tap badges, design and branding work for Mean Doses generated working closely with the client.
Emotive Malts - Longrow 14yo sherry cask, 2018, 57.8%
The celestial being was over a thousand leagues tall, and as he strode the universe, his arm trailed through an asteroid field offering an unexpected handful or rare metals, ore and inorganic debris.
Having angered the whisky gods with a lineup of no age statement single malts at the previous tasting, it was time to atone, and thus we found ourselves, once again, before the sacrificial altar at the chapel of Bruce McLaren, with seven single casks from BenRiach.
For $110 you'd probably expect a platter of haggis, neeps and tatties to accompany your whisky tasting, but on this occasion, it was the price that secured a seat at the table with the brown and gold Gods of whisky - whisky that most of us mere mortals will never get to taste.
Dry River then and now - a tasting at Regional Wines
It’s not every day you get to taste older vintages from one of New Zealand’s most iconic and pioneering wineries, but last month, twenty lucky Regional Wines customers were given a real treat courtesy of chief winemaker Wilco Lam from Dry River, who took us through five varietal flights comparing older and current vintages.
Adelphis old and rare - whisky tasting at Regional Wines
Do you remember the first time you watched Casablanca or Citizen Kane? The sultry femme fatale, the sympathetic yet downtrodden hero... all those strong characters with their sophisticated dialogue. Well, this tasting was a bit like that…
The Wines of Samuel’s Gorge with Winemaker Justin McNamee
As the rain hit hard against the roof of the Regional Wines tasting room, the blue skies of McLaren Vale opened above us causing the opulent red gems of Grenache, Tempranillo and Shiraz from Samuel's Gorge winery to glisten.
Tap badge design for Mean Doses brewery
Part of a series of tap badges, design and branding work for Mean Doses generated working closely with the client.
Tap badge design for Mean Doses brewery
Part of a series of tap badges, design and branding work for Mean Doses generated working closely with the client.
There’s a lot of buzz about North Canterbury at the moment, and when the wines taste as good as this, it’s easy to see why.
It's not often one gets to taste a 2001 Barolo at a whisky tasting, but this was Finish with a Flourish with Daniel McLaren Moon, with a theme of wine cask finishes, and things were about to get serious.