Special wine for the holidays

In order to drink the best wines - if you're staying home for Christmas - you do have to drive to your nearest decent wine store.

It will be worth the effort, and just in case you are still unsure of where those places are, here are a few of the best (listed alphabetically rather than by preference).
In Auckland, Caros Wines, Fine Wine Delivery Company, First Glass, Peter Maude Fine Wine, St Heliers Wines, Toast, and Wine Direct; Scenic Cellars in Taupo; Regional Wines and Spirits in Wellington; Vino Fino in Christchurch; and Peter Munslow in Dunedin.

Many of them have online and mail order services, so there are no excuses for not being able to find the following great bottles.

Thanks to this country's isolation and the fact that most Kiwis take flight at some stage, we are exceptionally well-serviced with international wine that pushes our taste buds beyond their usual boundaries of fresh, fruity whites and reds.

The 2002 Torres Sangre de Toro, $16, is better than ever and gives most wines from this part of the world a serious run for their money.

Spain is turning out some of the best wines in the world today. And they don't all cost a fortune, as the latest 2003 Carchelo, $15, shows. Then again, you could spend a little more and buy a bottle or three of the 2001 Albada Tinto Garnacha $27 to $28; a bold, big-bodied, blokey red with enough sweetness and chocolatey appeal for women whose tastes tend towards softer-tannined wine styles.

One of the best pinot gris around comes from Marlborough's Isabel Estate. Owners Michael and Robyn Tiller have allowed their 2004 Isabel Pinot Gris to express its own fresh, pear-like flavours in a dry fashion rather than relying on residual sugar in the wine for flavour. It is one of the best New Zealand pinot gris I have tried because it is actually dry.

Two new French pinot gris have also hit shop shelves. My favourite is the 2001 Domaines Schlumberger Pinot Gris, which is spicy and full-bodied. The 2003 Domaine Paul Blanck Pinot Gris is lighter in style and fresher in fruit flavour than the Schlumberger, not only because it is younger but because it is sealed with a screwcap. Both sell for about $35 a bottle.

Better still is the dry Italian white, the 2001 Le Giuncare Verdicchio Dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva, $30 a bottle and deliciously chardonnay-like (available via email: paul@wineimporter.co.nz). It is a single-vineyard, aromatic, slightly spicy expression of the verdicchio grape - obscure in New Zealand but a wine that makes you want more than one glass.

NEWSFLASH

Hawkes Bay winemaker Alwyn Corban, one of the original Corban wine family, has added a new tier to his well-known range. The two new wines are branded Silks and include a 2004 Ngatarawa Silks Chardonnay and a 2002 Ngatarawa Silks Merlot, which were launched last month nationwide. Both wines retail for between $18 and $20, are widely available and sealed with screwcaps. And while production is relatively small and limited to just these two varietals at the moment, Corban is keen to expand the range as available grapes and other varieties come on stream.