Kingfisher Bay Chardonnay Marlborough 2014

This is a cheap wine. Thru blackmarket.co.nz you can pick this up for $9.99 a bottle. But it punches above that weight…

L and I were heading back home from Mt Ruapehu, where we had spent the weekend on a skiclub working bee. L had spent two days scraping old paint off cedar boards, ready for oiling, an horrifically hard job, whereas I had only swanned about inside, painting. Merely because I put my hand up at the beginning to claim I could “paint a bit”. Ha!

It was Val’s Day, so L hunted out a dinner reservation on the drive home. She found The Office, a café on the beachfront at Raumati Beach. And lovely it was too… Gorgeous late evening sun, delicious blue cod for dinner, and my beautiful Valentine by my side.

The wine: mealy with pleasant citrus notes, and a most interesting line of Pinot Gris flavour throughout this wine. I could almost be convinced it was a blend. Intriguing, and it hit the spot.

G 3

Other interesting wines savoured this weekend: an aromatic, clean and grassy Charles Wiffen Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2014 that I enjoyed at the Café Telephonique in Taihape on the drive up to the Bee (although L won the round with her Charles Wiffen Chardonnay); and the very elegant, mealy and lightly buttery Paddy Borthwick Chardonnay Wairarapa 2014 we drank at the clubhouse on Saturday night.