Wine: Warming wines for winter

These three will warm your cockles without overheating your wallet ...

Riverby Estate Marlborough Gruner Veltliner 2014 $23

You should SO make it your mission to sip Gruner Veltliner (grooner-velt-leener) this season. Aromas of white flowers, almonds, crushed seashells and lemon lead the way to white flesh peach, soft citrus and tantalisingly textural layers on the finish. Gruner is native to Austria, it's their signature white wine - their sauvignon blanc, if you will.

Sip with spicy roasted cauliflower.

Kirrihill Clare Valley Shiraz 2014 $16.50

Saturated with inky-dark garnet red, this Clare Valley shiraz oozes classic cocoa, prune, pepper and blackberry characters. Hearty, ribsticking and velvet-smooth, this is a plump, plush, buxom example that'll have you rooting around in your freezer for home-kill and the pantry for your crockpot.

Sip with sticky lamb shanks and polenta.

Distributed by mthillary.com.

Swan's Flight Marlborough Semillon 2013 $18.50

Crafted by Georges Michel's winemaker daughter, Swan, this is a superb "cheese board" wine for those late afternoon lounge-arounds. Toasted, smoky notes indicate a touch of barrel fermentation across freshly baled hay, dried herbs and soft, lemony, limey flavours.

Sip with a chunk of sheep's milk pecorino or tangy goat's cheese.

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