Wine editor Dr Jo Burzynska selects the top wines from NZ’s celebrated wineries, recognised in Viva’s NZ Wine Awards 2025.
Red wine devotees, pay attention – these are the best bottles to buy from each of our Viva Wine Awards 2025 winning wineries, as chosen by Dr Jo Burzynska.
Wines are listed in alphabetical order within their categories ... Cheers!
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS
These are well-established wineries that have been delighting drinkers for 15 years or more. Rather than resting
1
Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir 2022, $90
Made from Ata Rangi’s oldest pinot noir plantings on the Martinborough Terrace, this is a fine, silky example. Powered by a fresh drive of acidity and mineral, this underpins layers of bright red cherry, cranberry and strawberry fruit, fragrant cinnamon and clove spice, over a savoury, forest-floor character.
2
Bilancia’s La Collina Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2024, $180
A stunning syrah, the 2024 vintage of La Collina is fragrant, deep and sleek, structured by silky acid and supple tannins. Pure and ripe plum fruit is laced with aromas of star anise, clove and mandarin peel, with mineral and a savoury hint of soy.
3
Churton Marlborough Pinot Noir 2024, $48
Churton’s estate pinot is svelte and satin-textured. Fresh and vibrant red fruits, notes of savoury herb, saline mineral, and hints of dark spice combine in a beautifully balanced and distinctive wine.
4
Coal Pit Tiwha Pinot Noir 2019, $98
Coal Pit’s complex Tiwha pinot noir personifies the Gibbston style. Its fresh and pretty cherry and plum fruit is counterpoised by rich savoury umami flavours, hints of forest floor and a pinch of dried thyme.
5
Doctor’s Flat Bannockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021, $58.99
The Doctor’s Flat pinot combines the plush intensity of Central Otago’s fruit with the vineyard’s hallmark density, structure and vibrant mineral energy. Its plush cherry fruit is overlaid with hints of smoke, thyme and mineral, with a vibrant acidity and firm but fine tannins.
6
Grove Mill Marlborough Pinot Noir 2023, $20
CATEGORY WINNER: Best for the budget-consciouswisps
Soft and fruity, with bright cherry and juicy plum fruit on the palate, a hint of herb, and a touch of woody spice. Some savoury complexity adds depth to this light and appealing pinot noir, which offers exceptional value.
7
Mount Edward Muirkirk Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021, $93.99
A complex and characterful Central Otago pinot, in which ripe cherry fruit is threaded with wisps of smoke and hints of thyme. Tasting very youthful, it’s elegant, well-balanced, with a lovely freshness and silky texture.
8
Pyramid Valley Angel Flower North Canterbury Pinot Noir 2022, $125
An unmistakable perfumed and pure pinot from Pyramid Valley’s limestone hillside home vineyard. Delicate raspberry and red fruits are scented with rose, enriched by a subtle savoury undercurrent, and wrapped in a silken texture.
9
Quartz Reef Single Ferment Velvet Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021, $90
CATEGORY WINNER: Lifetime achievement award
A single parcel from Quartz Reef’s organic and biodynamic certified pioneer Bendigo vineyard, selected for being particularly distinctive. Compact, complex and sinewy, its black cherry fruit is joined by notes of flinty mineral, earth, cocoa and dark spice, structured by fresh acidity and chalky tannins.
10
Rippon Threads Lake Wānaka Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023, $78
Previously known as Rippon’s gamay, these vines were recently discovered to actually be pinot noir. Threads is the wine’s new identity: a softly textured, fragrant and juicy wine with flint, smoke, earth and some lovely depth to its red and dark fruits.
11
Te Mata Coleraine Hawke’s Bay 2023, $175
CATEGORY WINNER: Best for structured reds
A fine example of Te Mata’s flagship wine from a difficult vintage. With 80% cabernet sauvignon, this is one of the highest percentages of variety ever in this Bordeaux blend, as this was the star-performing variety that vintage. A lighter-bodied year, there’s still density to its blackcurrant-dominant fruit wrapped in fine tannins, joined by notes of liquorice and a savoury beef stock undercurrent.
12
Valli Gibbston Vineyard Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023, $85
CATEGORY WINNER: Best for pinot lovers
A complex and perfumed pinot from Valli’s home vineyard. Planted in 1999 to 2000 in one of Central Otago’s coolest and slowest ripening subregions, it exhibits Gibbston’s characteristic edgy acid drive, savoury notes of truffle and forest floor, pure cherry fruit, earthy mineral, fine tannins, and fragrant notes of wild thyme and flowers.
NEW WAVE WINERIES
Many of these wineries might have been around for less than a decade, but have already impressed with the expressive and exciting nature of their wines.
13
Halcyon Days Alcyone Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay 2024, $48
This 100% certified organic sangiovese from the Osawa Vineyard is made in a juicy, light red style. It must be one of the most fragrant sangioveses I’ve ever tasted, exuding a beautiful perfumed floral rosewater character that infuses its crunchy red fruit.
14
Kenzie Duet Chilled Red Bridge Pā Hawke’s Bay 2024, $35
This intriguing duet is performed by a syrah made as a red wine, with a merlot made as a white. The pairing of these contrasting organically farmed parcels results in a wine that’s full of bright and fresh raspberry and black fruit, scented with a hint of rosemary, florals and earth. Light, but with some seriousness.
15
Oraterra Martinborough Pinot Noir 2023, $80
CATEGORY WINNER: New winery to watch
Wild fermented, unfined and unfiltered, this is a lighter-bodied and silky-textured expression of pinot noir. Black plum and umeboshi meld with a rich, slightly smoky-savoury undercurrent and hints of forest floor and herb. It offers a compelling taste of Martinborough’s new wave.
16
Tantalus Waiheke Island Estate Syrah Viognier 2017, $65
A complex and opulent expression of syrah, with rich and ripe dark fruits infused with fragrant notes of liquorice, cedar and incense, with a savoury undercurrent and plush tannins.
17
The Wrekin Vineyard Needle’s Eye Pinot Noir 2020, $55
An organic and biodynamic pinot of great purity from the hillsides of the Wrekin Vineyard. Red and dark cherry fruit combine with a savoury tapenade-like character and herbal juniper aromatics, wrapped in fine supple tannins.
Photography and styling: Babiche Martens
Shoot assistants: Madeleine Crutchley, Nicole Clements
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