Wine: Escape life's demands

You’ve spent the week working hard to be all things to all people — family, friends, workplace and that pesky social media that’ll forget you in a click if you don’t like, share, regram, retweet or snap something every seven minutes. Good wine doesn’t care. It always has your back.

Fontanafredda Le Fronde Moscato d'Asti 2013 $35

At just 5 per cent alcohol, this is a super-light, super-sweet little sip that'll perk up even the most jaded taste buds. Forget any experiences with bad old, mass-produced asti, because this is the genuine article. Pure awesomeness. With a deliciously delicate, creamy mousse, lifted, musky apricot and honeysuckle flavours and a long, spritzy finish - it's a stunner.

Sip with: Thai fish cakes
Stockists: glengarrywines.co.nz, bitewine.co.nz

Nga Waka Home Block Martinborough Chardonnay 2015 $40

If you're a fan of buttery chardonnay, this brand new vintage will have you grinning. With roasty, toasty, nutty notes gleaned from barrel fermentation, soft, creamy layers from the full malolactic ferment and tangy nectarine and peach flavours soaking through to the finish, it's a "thinkers" chardonnay. I'm also certain it will gain even more delicious complexity in 3-5 years.

Sip with: bacon-wrapped scallops
Stockists: ngawaka.co.nz, glengarrywines.co.nz, bitewine.co.nz

Craggy Range Te Kahu 2014 $27

Craggy Range's "Giants" winery (in Hawkes Bay's Tuki Tuki Valley) is often enveloped
in early morning mist. They've named this wine Te Kahu, ("The Cloak") in homage to this mist. Like the 2013 vintage, this blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, malbec and cabernet franc, has deep colour saturation, layers of earthy spices and berryfruit, bold tannins and a vein of soft cocoa on the finish.

Sip with: chargrilled lamb chops
Stockists: glengarrywines.co.nz, bitewine.co.nz

Yvonne Lorkin is a wine retailer, wine writer and member of the Wine Writers of NZ.