Labour Weekend means only one thing for many wine lovers, and that is the annual Alexandra Basin Winegrowers New Release Tasting at the Clyde Railway Station Reserve on Sunday, October 26 (the Monday is a reserve day in case of rain). The format is similar to past years. Your ticket price includes entry to the event, a tasting glass and booklet which references the vineyards and the wines available to tast— plus special buying privileges on the day at a discounted event rate — along with complementary cheese, crackers and condiments and live music. Your $40 ticket price includes all tastings. One change this year is that several wineries will have a back vintage wine available for tasting: a "sighter" for wines that you may already have in your cellar, or insight into how the wines mature. Always a soldout event, go to Humanitix to secure a ticket. 2025 Blind Chicken Wine Options Competition Mid-September featured the 2025 iteration of the Blind Chicken Wine Options competition hosted by last year’s winner, Roger Swift. A group of eager, if slightly nervous, participants, including yours truly, sat ready for the nine wines that would come, spanning the world and a variety of vintages. As always, wine options means five questions for each wine, each a multi-choice format with three possible answers. Simple, you might think, but Roger threw in a couple of curly choices this year which kept everyone on their toes and it proved a low-scoring day. Roger led with a champagne which proved to be universally well scored, two attendees scoring a max of five points, but, by the end of wine two, past winner David Tasker had taken the lead, a position he never relinquished. Others nipped at his heels as the competition went on, only to stumble. Brendon Woodford, the 2023 winner, challenged David all the way but was not able to bridge the gap. Woodford finished second, two points adrift of Tasker, while yours truly (having been in the pack early on) came through strongly to secure third, one point behind Woodford. The winner takes the spoils — in this case, possession of the coveted trophy for a year, and the role of organising the 2026 edition. STOP PRESS: Two Central Wines Feature in the 2025 NWWA Top 50 Selection The results from the 2025 New World Wine Awards dropped last week and I’m delighted to mention two Central Otago wines have made the Top 50 that will feature in New World Supermarkets up and down the country this year. Congratulations to Mora Wines for their 2023 RUA Pinot Noir and McArthur Ridge Wines for their 2024 McArthur Ridge Falls Dam Pinot Gris This year more than 1000 wines were tasted in order to be whittled down to the Top 50, down from a peak of nearly 1300 wines last year, which likely reflects the tougher economic climate. Also, the price ceiling of $25 has been lifted to $30 in line with the price rises across the board. 2024 Main Divide by Pegasus Bay Riesling Price RRP $21.99 Rating Excellent Fresh, bright, yeast esters, lightly honeyed, citrus aspects, leaps out of the glass. A touch of spritz, then clear volume, spice, grapefruit and mandarin, an initial sense that this could be a whisper sweeter altered by the zesty acidity that keeps this in the just off-dry spectrum. Just oh so drinkable and hard to spit out. Don’t ponder the minutiae, just revel in its delights. www.maindivide.com 2024 Pegasus Bay Riesling Price RRP $30 Rating Outstanding Wonderful nose, perfumed florality, wisps of gunflint, apple, mandarin and honey. Honeyed entry, apple, citrus, greengage plum, some chewy grip building texture and impact, drier on the close than one might have thought. Lots of flavour nuances, complexity, now peach, a deeper note akin to lavender, a wonderfully long finish with refreshment. A delight to drink. www.pegasusbay.com 2024 Pegasus Bay Aria Riesling Price RRP $45 Rating Outstanding A raft of citrus, lemon, then grapefruit, then mandarin, light bush honey and spice. The honey surges to the forefront, pineapple, apricot and orange zest add to the mix, a lovely bittersweet aspect to this driven by the citrus peel, grip and marvellous depth of flavour. There’s certainly sweetness in play but so neatly balanced by the acidity. So much flavour on offer. www.pegasusbay.com
