Today we have an in-store tasting of some fantastic South American wine from 4pm to 6pm. No need to book, just pop in.

Today we have an in-store tasting of Casa Marin wine from 4pm to 6pm. No need to book, just pop in.

Established in 1991 by Dunedin surgeon Dick Bunton, Rockburn won gold at the Air NZ Wine Awards for its very first Pinot release, and from that point on there has been no looking back. 2013 was yet another stellar year, their 2011 Pinot Noir winning, amongst other things, gold at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

Rockburn's wines are hand-harvested off the company's Parkburn and Gibbston Valley vineyards. Each site contributes its own unique characteristics that provide chief winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis with a palette of distinctive flavour profiles from which he masterfully produces the award-winning wines. As Malcolm puts it: “My philosophy is to respect the fruit, listen to what it is trying to say and help it to do that. We don't manipulate or use finings; our aim is to produce harmonious wines that reflect their unique terroir.”

Rockburn's outstanding record is not confined to their headlining Pinot Noir, but extends throughout the entire portfolio, with excellence across the board their primary objective.

Some might say that Patrick Stowe is a long way from home. Others would opine that he is finally right where he’s meant to be. Back in the 1860s, his great-great-something-or-other grandfather owned a vineyard in the Napa Valley. This latent winemaking DNA was awakened while Patrick was attending a polytechnic course where, at age 19, he made his first wine. Graduating with a degree in biochemistry and microbiology, he continued to pursue his passion for winemaking in the Napa Valley. In the early 1990s, Patrick toured New Zealand, falling for Nelson’s Bronte Peninsular. He returned to buy seven hectares there and, in 1995, he established Rimu Grove. His philosophy was simple: do everything it takes to get the most out of the vineyard – hands-on, plenty of hard work, very little machinery but loads of buckets. Patrick loves great Burgundy, and believes if any country in the world was tailor-made for Pinot Noir, it’s New Zealand, with its intense sunshine, special soils and long growing period so perfect for ripening grapes: “The vineyard has a temperate, maritime microclimate with high sunshine hours. We don’t use machinery in the vineyard; it is entirely hand-managed to maintain low cropping levels and all the fruit is hand-picked.”