Uncanny. No brioche. No signature soft mealiness. A New Zealand méthode traditionnelle that defies expectations of the genre. Just a serrated thwack of green apple, citrus, pineapple jelly crystals and singed walnut. A slap in the tastebuds and it’s lift-off. Tiny beads trailing you like a diver coming up for air.

A piano piece is not one piece. Every person, every time it’s played, is different. Sometimes it’s a 13-year-old living out the dreams of their parents. Sometimes it’s a virtuoso after hours, playing effortlessly for fun. And sometimes it’s a singular, curious person who sees something different. ‘Core of ripe peach fruit’, ‘toasted brioche’, ‘roasted hazelnut’, ‘slate minerality’. This single vineyard Hawke’s Bay chardonnay has all the usual notes, played with unusual care and delicateness in a very specific way, from a very specific place, and a very specific time.

This botrytised pinot gris has the heft and texture of a fortified wine, with the acidity and zip of a riesling. Here you are, wondering how this noble rot they speak of can fuse zest and firework smoke and tamarind with something that feels almost like maple syrup. A pinot gris that flows like Sherry, cosplaying as Riesling? Bizarre. Bravo.

Gwen is a rosé named after the legendary woman behind the legendary man. Tom was a man who seriously loved French winemaking techniques so he’ll have been bloody impressed with this dry, elegant and refreshing Rosé based on the Provence style found in the south of France, made from quality Hawke’s Bay Merlot grapes.

This Central Otago pinot has gone on a journey. A real, actual journey. Grown and forged in the oven-like heat of Central Otago. Put on a truck; then a ferry; then another truck that drives and drives through scenery both lovely and bleak until it reaches the Hawkes Bay. And then the real journey begins. Because these well-travelled grapes, with their slate and their exotic spice, can take you all sorts of places