Witchdoctor’s wine guru PHIL PARKER has a selection this month that will take you through the last flush of summer drinking. Saint Clair Pioneer Block 25 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 $39Very approachable and graceful, at a deceptive 13% alcohol. Gooseberry, fresh-picked black currant, passionfruit and a hint of sweetness with medium acids. Available: widely and saintclair.co.nz Saint Clair Pioneer Block 2 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2023 $39 Even softer than the Block 25. Light and elegant, with a soft and delicate middle palate of rock melon, mango, guava and mandarin citrus. Available: w ..read more

Witchdoctor’s wine guru PHIL PARKER looks back on a memorable trip to the heartland of Tuscan wine country. For all its distance, New Zealand seems to have an endless fascination with the food, wine and culture of Italy. And we have been eager to embrace espresso, Chianti, Prada, Fellini, Lamborghini, and a whole bunch of other stuff ending in a, e, i, and o. So, this wine holiday was my most ambitious to date – Italy, focusing on the Chianti region in Tuscany. We flew in on Emirates via Dubai. The idea was to avoid all the security hold-ups associated with a transfer at LAX. I can report tha ..read more

PHIL PARKER is back with a fab selection of wines to share with your nearest and dearest over the festive season. Main Divide North Canterbury Sauvignon Blanc 2023 $23A fresh young thing from this year’s vintage. Very approachable with medium acids, lashings of ripe gooseberry, passionfruit, rock melon and green tomato. Crisp, clean finish with a skerrick of sweetness. Available: blackmarket.co.nz  maindivide.com Main Divide North Canterbury Riesling 2022 $22Bargain. A very easy-drinking fruit-burst style with soft acids and medium sweetness. Lemon squash, honeysuckle, jasmine and rock me ..read more

Witchdoctor’s wine expert PHIL PARKER pours some more vino goodness from New Zealand and elsewhere down our throats. Here we go, folks. Another vinopalooza of fabulous wines from Aotearoa, California and Australia. Cheers! Pegasus Bay North Canterbury Sauvignon Blanc 2021 $28Crisp, lean and elegant. Flavours of passionfruit, honeysuckle, and guava with a hint of funky yeast. Available: pegasusbay.com Loveblock Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (vegan/organic) 2022 $27Flavours of super ripe passionfruit, green tomato, cape gooseberry and gentle grassy herbs. From Kim & Erica Crawford’s biodynamic ..read more

PHIL PARKER ferrets out some truly impressive, gorgeous wines that’ll put a spring or two in your step. Just don’t fall down the stairs. From premium South Island producers to an Aussie rosé, four classic French fine wines, and the very first English sparklers that I have ever sampled. I love my job. Rockburn Central Otago Fumé Blanc 2022 $32Oak ageing has added softness and complexity to this 100% sauvignon blanc. Gooseberry flavours and roasted red bell pepper. Flinty and mineral with creamy medium acids and a nudge of sweetness on the finish. Available: Glengarry rockburn.co.nz Penfolds Ade ..read more

PHIL PARKER is getting a spring in his step and a tingle in his tongue in anticipation of the drinking of more top vino. It’s definitely getting springy in Auckland. From my window, our magnolia tree has a few remaining pink and cream blossoms, and the tree is vigorously sprouting leaves. And on a recent trip to the Kumeu wine region with clients, there were spring lambs snuggling up to their mums in the verdant pastures. Meanwhile, we’re haemorrhaging cash by remediating storm damage and getting new drainage installed. Is it any wonder I drink? Whyte Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022&nb ..read more

Witchdoctor wine guru PHIL PARKER finds some wines to cheer us up as we try to escape the clutches of late winter blues. Okay – here we go folks. Spring is almost upon us, yet as I write from the Auckland mancave, the outdoor temperatures are hovering around 12 C and we have intermittent grey, gloomy wet days interspersed with winter sun and blue skies and… But hey – wine! Good friends and winter food beckon. Cheers. Giesen ‘The August’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 $40Oak barrel fermented, and lees aged, this is a crisp and elegant take on Marlborough sav. Medium acids and a deceptive 13 ..read more

Here we go, folks. Another jolly bumper edition, featuring some fab wines from NZ Italy and USA, quaffed and written about by PHIL PARKER. Main Divide North Canterbury Riesling 2020 $22Great value medium sweet, classic riesling from North Canterbury with 12.8% alcohol. Soft acids, beeswax, pineapple, poached apple, ripe mandarin and a hint of crème brulée with a little spritz of CO2. Match with seafood or mildly spicy Asian dishes. Available: Fine O Wine, Pt Chev Organic Wines, pegasusbay.com Bogle Family Vineyards California Chardonnay 2020 $29If you’re a fan of buttery, toasty fruit-led Cha ..read more

PHIL PARKER acknowledges the change in seasons with some indoorsy sipping and supping options to keep you warm. Here we go, folks. As the evenings grow cooler and the days shorten, we can focus more on eating indoors. Here’s a bunch of fab wines with food match suggestions. Bon appetit. And cheers! Ara Zero Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (Vegan)  2022 $17Has just won ‘Best of Show Sauvignon Blanc’ at the Mundus Vini Non-alcoholic Wine Competition. At no more than 0.5% alcohol, it has a soft savvie profile of passionfruit, guava, fresh black currant and a raisiny crisp citrus finish. A great ..read more

The seasonal Tsunami of wine trade samples has arrived on PHIL PARKER’s door. Season’s greetings!   Here we go, folks. Everything sampled, appraised and annotated for your reading and drinking pleasure. Go hard! (Or easy, or whatever). Main Divide North Canterbury Rosé $22Pale blush pink. Hints of sauvignon crispness and ripe gooseberry, with a strawberries and cream medium sweet mid-palate and a clean crisp finish. Available: Herne Bay Cellars  blackmarket.co.nz  Folium Marlborough Rosé 2020 $35 Bone dry and crisp in the Provence style. Salmon pink colour, with cranberry, sour ..read more