Wine: Three bottles to watch TV with

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I’ve always been big on pairing wine with TV. These glorious drops got me through a Netflix binge of the pants-wettingly funny Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. They’re great sips for sore ribs.

Santagostino Nero D'Avola Syrah 2011
The groovy, gothic-style circular design on the label comes from the facade of the 14th century Sicilian Santagostino Monastery in Trapani, so yes, the bottle looks good, but it tastes like money too. Liquorice, raspberry, dusty rose and pepper aromatics merge with rosehip and pomegranate flavours, fresh acidity, boldly chewy tannins and impressively lengthy persistence of flavour.

Sip with spice-rubbed lamb. $30

Te Mata Estate Cape Crest Sauvignon 2014

I love the fragrance of passionfruit curd, lemon blossom and herbaceousness in this wine. Crafted from prime Hawkes Bay sauvignon blanc, blended with a splash of semillon and sauvignon gris, it's an out-there style that's less of a "sauvignon" and more a "great white wine". If you've ever tasted whites from Bordeaux (Graves or Pessac-Leognan) you'll get what I mean. With piercing, yet beautifully balanced acidity and a splash of marzipan, wet stone and salt, this wine has a huge future.

Sip with steamed mussels. $30

Available at bitewine.co.nz

Mills Reef Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot 2014

There's no mistaking the merlot characteristics of this wine once that whiff of ripe plum, chocolate and spicy fruitcake hits you. It's plump, plush and incredibly juicy in the mouth, packed with sweet, dark berryfruit and spice notes, fresh, buoyant acidity and smooth powdery tannins on the finish. The Mills Reef team have done it again; this is what
Gimblett Gravels merlot is all about.

Sip with steak. $25

Available at bitewine.co.nz

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