Isabel Estate New Release Tasting - 2026

Fortunate to be invited to the new release tasting October 14th - it was a showcase of fine wine and food from the team at Return restaurant

Estate Brut Cuvee Methode Traditionelle NV - with 26 months on lees and presented as a Brut style this wine delivers an excellent bouquet of autolysis, core citrus and pomaceous fruits, plenty of finesse and charm. There’s lemon and white peach, grapefruit and oatmeal then biscuit. Equally excellent mousse with a backbone of acidity and floral moments and mineral slaine finish. Great drinking from day of purchase through 2033. 93 Points - Excellent

Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2026 - The use of older barrels and excellent fruit from a rather excellent vintage have delivers a wine with power and drama from the use of extended lees contact for complexity and texture to the pristine flavours of citrus and cape gooseberry to fine fruit tannins and taut acid line. Salivatinga nd precise a wine to just drink and enjoy. Best from day of purchase through 2030+. 93 Points - Excellent

SV Chardonnay 2025 - A wine of provenance and detail, pure fruited, intriguing, fresh and delicious with impact moments from acidity and fruit tannins , lees and overall mouthfeel. Fresh citrus and white fleshed stone fruits fill the palate framed by the structure then baking spice and nut, a gentle flinty quality releasing a whisper of reduction. Excellent length and style with best drinking form day of purchase through 2034. 94 Points - Excellent

WIld Barrique Chardonnay 2025 - One of my favourite wines from the tasting with a bold, expressive and complex bouquet, flinty and fruity, textured and complex, varietal and intriguing. Aromas and flavours of blossoms and peach, stony flinty soils and sweet citrus peel, forest flowers, lees and barrel-smoke suggesting nut and gently spoken wood flavours. Complex and youthful, textured with fine fruit and wood tannins, the acidity fuses the wine together leading to a lengthy and complex finish. Great drinking from 2027 through 2033+. 95 Points - Outstanding

Aratoro SV Chardonnay 2024 - Made with old vines, attention to detail in the vineyard and winery showcases a bouquet that reminds me of blending some old-school wine stories with a modern touch. Scents of powdered cashew nut and lees then fresh stone fruits - mendoza clone speaks loud and clear - of white nectarine and red apple, citrus peel and sea spray. The mineral voice is one of oyster shell and stone. On the palate a wine of equal power and texture, taut and youthful still, deeply mineral with contrasting voices of new wood and fresh orchard fruits of stone and citrus, flowers and a gentle autolysis. Lengthy and complex, a wine to savour or cellar with best drinking from 2028 through 2036. 95 Points - Outstanding. BTW Aratoro is te Reo for ‘Path of Discovery’