Do These $52-$95 New Zealand Wines Taste Like Their Price Tag?

Look, blind tasting wine is, let's be honest, it's a bit of a gimmick. And you guys, if you've seen the channel before, you would know that we kind of do the whole guess the country thing quite a fair amount. So today we're going to be dialing it up a notch. What if we're not just trying to guess the country, but we're trying to guess the region as well. We have six wines, all from one individual region. There's three whites, three reds. It's Bottle Shock. I'm Brendan. Let's see if we're as good as we think we are. Let's get regional, regional. I want to get regional, regional. Picking regions, man. We'll see how we go. Pick the region. We've got six wines again. Three white, three red. Perfectly balanced. That's all things should be. Wine number one, we have three whites and three reds. So we're talking about a region that does both, I assume. Oh wow, okay. Very aromatic. Lots of citrus notes on the nose. Smells great, like lovely. Bit of kind of cream there, bit of like a dollop of fresh yogurt. Beautiful. Sulfurous nose. So must be freshly bottled, I'm assuming. Quite aromatic as well. Sort of Riesling-esque, Gerbertsy kind of vibe. Like, you know those plants that when you crush up the leaves, they smell like lemon, like almost like a sour-sobby sort of aroma coming off this one. That's a bloody delightful wine. Creaminess there, there's a good use of mallow here. It's not too intrusive with oak use here at all. And those fruits are so beautiful there. Like that kind of peach, nectarine, ripe apple. Wow. Interesting. It feels like a Gerberts. I would say it's got no acidity. I'd say there's probably a degree of residual sugar here. I would need to have, I would say need to have food with it, but it's like really quite specific. I would need to have some kind of pickle and something that's already got acid there for this to be able to work, I feel. Bit of sweetness on that. What is that? It tastes like it's got a little bit of residual sugar in it. Like the sweetness is there, but then there's also this slight sort of like mid-palate, I don't know, like bitterness or savory thing going on, which is kind of throwing me a little bit as to what they're going for with this wine. I'm going to go Chardonnay, but I really like it. And I'd happily pay $38 and I would buy six. I think it's an awesome little wine. Not a huge fan, to be honest. I'm going to go with just the three bottles of this one. And I reckon it's going to be pretty cheap. I reckon that's only going to be like a $25 bottle of wine. I'd pay like 28 bucks a bottle for it and I would buy three. I don't really have like much more of a use case beyond that. As to country, there's a fair few countries that do wines like this, but I mean, of course, France. And then Alsace in particular. Inside Australia? Ooh, okay. Okay, aromatic again. This one's a bit more interesting. Yeah, it's like apricot and brioche sort of on the nose. And there is also a savory element here as well. I've only ever seen this really happen from Italy and South Africa. Kumquat and tamarind and things like that. It's quite interesting. This picks up where that last one finished up and then continues to deliver. It doesn't have that sort of savory, bittery thing going on in the mid palate. That's a strange wine. I can't say I particularly enjoy it. It kind of reminds me of like dry musket. I'm not massively enjoying the flavor profile here. Wow, very similar sort of palate effect of this sort of lower acidity. I don't believe it's Australian. I don't actually think it's New World. Probably pay, again, like 28 bucks and three just because it just sits a bit flat for me. This probably needs a little bit more acid to be, you know, like a really standout example of a wine of this style. I'll have six of that. I reckon it's gonna be more expensive. I reckon that's a $45 bottle of wine. I'd pay you like $28 and I'd buy two. It's curious, but I'm not massively into it. It's a very strange, weird wine. Wine number three. What region is making these? God damn. Interesting. It's got some bubbles in it, but it doesn't look fizzy. Okay, well, we're talking about a little bit more oak here and it's a little bit chippy, which is nice. Like it's a little bit different to the last couple, for sure. This smells a little bit more, almost like some green flinty sort of things going on here. Oh wow, it smells great. Wow, awesome. Good use of oak here. Good use of lees work here. Quite broad, a little bit of acid coming in at the end, a little bit of oak coming in at the end. So you've got nutty, toasty, not heaps of acid, but enough, a little bit of citrus, a little bit of oak. Feels like a Chardonnay, but it has heat. It's like a heat on the palate here, which really coalesces with the first two wines being relatively low acidity. Oh wow, that's delightful. Oh, that's a really good wine. Yeah, I'm going to chat with that. That's awesome. Beautifully detailed, citrusy, good use of oak, good use of lees. I think this is great. This one, I would pay like 55 bucks for, and I would buy six in terms of like pick the region. Yeah. Six of those for me, mate, and I'll pay 50 bucks for that one. I reckon they're throwing some oak at that, which, yeah. But what is it? And where is it from is the bigger question of today. 45 bucks for me, and I think it's a beautifully good wine. I'm not exactly sure where it's from at this moment, but I'm really enjoying what it is. It's a delicious little wine. Wine number four. Okay. Pinot-esque kind of thing. That's what it smells like too. Wow, yum. It smells really good. Little bit of oak is a little bit more prevalent on the nose, and this wine seems to rely on that oak to be able to carry the nose. Yeah, like it makes me think of strawberries and rhubarb on the nose. Delicious. Oh yeah, blue fruits, spices, like all that kind of star anise and Chinese five spice. It's a gorgeous little Pinot. It is a good Pinot. That is like a seven and a half out of 10. Like, it's not like making me go, holy crap, this is insane. It's making me go, this is very, very good. Yeah. Love that. Really firm, but gentle. Like firm and present tannin, but all of that fruit's kind of wrapped up around it. I think this is a pretty awesome little wine. Mm. Little bit of sour cherry. I think I am going to stick with Pinot as my guess, just because I don't know. I don't know that many wines that smell like that that aren't Pinot, but I have been wrong before. Probably my favorite so far, but I'll go to nine bottles here and the Pinot tax is pretty evident these days. So 65 bucks. Six. I'd happily pay 40 bucks for this Pinot. I'm really, really enjoying this. Fantastic little wine. I'd probably buy it and I'd probably drink it and I'd probably post about it on our Discord group. And if you want to see that, then join on the link below. I'd pay around about 65 bucks a bottle for it and I would buy six. As to region, now I'm Hawke's Bay in New Zealand. Is again, looking quite Pinot-esque. Pale and ruby. And this one's slightly more interesting and it has a little bit more aromatic oomph from the fruit and less so from the oak. Struggling to get a lot on the nose. It's very muted in terms of its aromatics. Like a little bit of oak usage mainly, maybe, but quite aromatically. It's not really jumping out all that much. They're really quiet. So much more presence here. Like significantly more. And again, it's from the fruit. There is a heat that I'm like recognizing as well. It's like, it's really quite upfront heat. Light, sour, thin as well. Not like that really sort of viscous. It's got a lot to say on the palate though. Damn. Definitely like that guy you meet at a party where it's like, you're really shy at first, but you get two beers into them and then they start chatting to you about anything. It's a very, very me coated as well. And it still has that kind of like Pinot-esque thing to it. I'm gonna go Sanj and I'm happy to pay 35 bucks and I'd grab three. I'm all about it. Probably like $75, $75. And 12. We'll go three bottles of that one. And I reckon that'll be $40 as well. Could be like Nero d'Avola or something along those lines. And then wine number six is Darker. Like really deep black core, but it starts to fade towards the rim and there's like a nice purple energy to it. It's so reminiscent of being on a fishing boat, dude. Ocean spray, a little bit of like black olives. I know that's not usually what's on a fishing boat, but you know, we're finding things out the more we smell it here. Gamay is one of those great varieties that just makes shitty flavors look good. Black, ripe black cherry. Those really big black cherries you see on Christmas day here in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly here in Australia. That'll get you. By all means, this might not be Gamay. I just, I feel it is. Straight up black currant juice. Like really powerful fruit. There's a lovely kind of supple tannin that kind of wraps around the whole thing. But I love the drinkability here. Has all the hallmarks of it. High acid, broad palate, rough tannins, sour sort of nose, sour cherry thing. Reddest of the red wines that we've had today. The sort of most typical of what I would expect when you're talking about red wine that's not in the lighter styles. Medium plus is where I would call this. Barbera, three bottles of that. $70 bottle of wine. Six bottles for me and I'd happily pay 50 bucks. Beautiful, beautiful wine. Actually a very good wine though. I'd probably drop around about 60 bucks and I'd buy six bottles. And my gut instincts is the Yarra Valley, but my B-side might be the Adelaide Hills. But so far, like this is a great little winer. I am gonna say that these are six Sicilian wines. The only wine region that I know that could do this to like that kind of quality-ish is like, I wanna say like New Zealand Hawke's Bay, like North Island. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Couldn't have said it by myself. Pick the region. Yeah, dude. Picking the region. Are we assuming, are we making the assumptions as to like, if it's in Australia, like picking the country and then the region or? No, I didn't do that. I just went straight to guessing regions, like, you know, wherever it was made. But like that being said, like kind of tasting the wines pretty quickly. I was like, this feels home. This feels pretty domestic, but I was really impressed with a lot of these wines as well. Good, good. Yeah, but I was getting some slightly Italian varietal vibes from these. So I was like, okay, let's stick in Italy. And then there was one that I happen to know originally, I think comes from Sicily, the grape varietal that I thought it was. So I ended up saying Sicilian across the board for them. If it's not Australia, Sicily could actually be a shout. I'll be honest because I was really fine. These whites threw me so far. Yeah, dude. And then the reds as well, knowing that these all come from the same region is really quite vexing. But I'll start anyway. Wine number one. Swedish. Gewürz. Gewürz? Yeah, maybe, I don't know. No acid something or other. I quite liked it. Yeah, it's got a bit of that kind of like honeycomb kind of thing going on. One of the wines on the list was Moscato and I drank a fair bit of Moscato and this was like reminding me of that evening, that sort of thing. Who makes wines like this? I struggled, dude, because I was like, definitely Australia because there's heat in a lot of these. I've ended up going Hawke's Bay because I'm like, there's some stuff going on here that I'm like, it's like, you know how sometimes North Ireland just doesn't do what South Ireland does? It just does it kind of like a little bit warmer. That's really interesting. A little bit lacking acid. That's really interesting. And then I was like, oh, but I really, I reckon you're on a really good one actually with Sicily. I'm actually kind of back his Hawke's Bay. I kept really home. I went Adelaide Hills. Gunning's thing, I went Yarra Valley and then I was like, you know what, that doesn't quite get me there. I'm going to go Hills. Yep. But yeah, I'm a bit confused. I'm not confident. But yeah, it's interesting. First one, three, four, $35. Three and 28. Six for 35. Oh, no. Wow, this is all ******* Otago. Closest. It's so close. I'm really just drooling in the face of all the South Islanders. Oh, man. Yeah. This is ---- hot Pinot Gris by Prophets Rock. That is ---- hot Pinot Gris. Yeah, no, it's excellent. That's why the lower acid. Alsatian style was one of the first non Alsatian winemakers in Alsace when he was working for another winery. Southern hemisphere Pinot Gris, probably pinnacle. But there's very few Pinot Gris that sit above this in terms of that style. Yeah, it's hard for us to disagree. I haven't had too much from Alsace, but yeah, cool. Yeah, I think that's a great one. What's this? What is this? Garnier? I don't know. And it's from the North Island of New Zealand. Well, the South. South Island. I got the South Island part right with Sicily, damn. So. It is a Southern island in context with that country. Yeah, absolutely. Apricotty, brioche-y nose, slightly sweet. It smells like Friulano. It smells like an Italian, Northern Italian grape variety. What could it be? I don't know. Borgiala. Yeah. Sauvignon Blanc, maybe? You know, like a really weird way. Weird, yeah. Sauvignon Blanc's a shout, actually. Yeah, I know. I was curious. I wasn't like excited. I wanted two for 28. Just for like, I just want to know what this is like. Like Marjorie Maude. Three for 28. Six for 45. Yeah, I've got no idea what it is, hey. Well, it's 70 bucks. It's Gewurz. Gewurz. From Rippon. Wow, that's really interesting. Again, like kind of Alsatian richer style. Yeah. Wow, it's amazing how much Alsatian influence there is in Otago. Wanaka. Again, Rippon, we've had a few of their wines recently. Iconic producer for Otago. And apparently one of the most beautiful vineyards in the world. Pretty cool stuff. Cool. Interesting. Wine number three. Banger Chardonnay. Was my one of the lineup. I loved this. This was really, really good. Bangin' Chardy. So good. Yeah, that oak's really coming through on the nose. Really screams that Chardonnay sort of vibe. And again, now knowing, like I'm still playing my Italian game over here. It's Italian-esque. Six bottles, 50 bucks. I was into it. I mean, I was six and 55 when we shot it. Wasn't completely wrapped with it. Like there has been a lot of chatter about how like Otago wines are getting riper and riper and they're pushing that sort of like quite a, quite a bombastic level of ripeness. Yeah. I was 12.45. I loved it. Really about it. I wasn't really part with heaps, but I wanted a lot. Don't drink it. But yeah. Yeah. Don't value it as much. Don't want to pay much. Yeah. Oh look, it's Felton Road. It's 80 bucks. I had a feeling it was Felton Road after the discovering it was South Island. Chardonnay. And South Island. Bangburn, Central Otago. I mean, really cool. I mean, Felton's a pretty, another icon. 75 B Corp. Really cool. Yeah. Nice to see. Really good organic producer and like doing it well in a region that's pretty challenging to do. All right. Enter Pinot'sville. Pinot, dude. Yummy. Yes. Yeah, very yummy. I have similar sort of vibes as you did with the Chard. Like I want to buy a decent amount. Don't want to spend that much money on it. I'm like, I don't value it as much. Yeah. Good wine though. You know, 6.65. Yeah. I was 6.40. I really liked this as well. It's a good, pretty Pinot. Yeah. This was my pick of the lineup. I think it was the first, like it was, again, after I'm doing all this Italian stuff and I'm like, oh no, It's a little bit savory. I was willing to pay 65 bucks for it. I wanted nine bottles of it. Not quite. The full does, but. Yeah, 6.40. Yum. Like it's that earthy, but lifted style Pinot. You generally see a lot of Otago Pinot's a bit more power. This was a bit more strained, which I quite enjoy. This whole bunch here, like this is very much like traditionalist style. A hundred percent. Yeah. Otago, Burn Cottage. We've had this one again recently. Well, I think it got, did it get wine of the week or is it speedy distance? It was very close to it. I do remember it. Got up there, but you know, it's still a great little wine. $95. You know, that's about the price you pay for Otago Pinot. That oak use is really nice and gentle. Cool little wine. What did you think this was? You thought it was better Pinot? Well, I had Pinot and then I said, better Pinot. So I paid $12.75 for it. It's just the density, the power, the weight, the penocity, the tannin, really, really impressed with it. Because of it, I would drink more and I would pay more. I didn't go down the Pinot route with this just because I think the nose confused me a little bit. Like that was screaming Pinot to me the moment I smelled it. Whereas this had a little bit more of that sort of like oldish oak and sour cherry vibe going on. So I ended up going down the narrow path, which is what ended up sending me to Sicily. But not as much of a fan as the previous wine. I can certainly see a place for it. I wanted three bottles for $40. I was six for $35. I thought it was Sangiovese. Oh. Because it had that kind of structure and tannin. Like I would be stunned if this was Sangiovese. I don't know of any Sangiovese in Otago. $52. Bad burn Pinot. Mad difficulty. For $50. $50. Wow. That's a cracker Pinot. That is well priced. That is for damn sure. That is a cracker little Pinot. Yeah, wow. Very impressed with that. Killer. This one. Yeah. Not Mount Easy, that's for sure. Now. This boy. I'll pay that. Yep. Like olive tapenade on this. Yeah. Is what I was getting. That's why I went Syrah. I went Gamay because Gamay does this thing where it makes really shitty flavors look good. Well if it's Gamay then it might be Pinot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is true. Everyone's over extracting their Pinots. Yeah. But at six for 60, I still liked it. I just didn't like it as much as the other ones. I was six for 50. I liked it as well. I thought this was going to be the most expensive but I didn't love it as much as, again, this is just sort of my sort of Pinot. So I was 70 bucks, but I only wanted three bottles of it. See what it is. Sarto. Subois. Cabernet Franc. That makes sense. That's halfway between Gamay and Syrah really. It's sort of the only other grape variety that we would have such tolerance over shitty flavors. Yeah. I think I like it. It's Cabernet Franc and it's Gamay. Yeah. It's a Loire-based something or other. That's really cool. I like that. That is really cool. That's straight up and down, right down the alley of every hipster ever. Yeah. Like, wait, what is? Yeah, the most hipster sentence in wine is like, you know, I'm getting really into Cab Franc right now. 75 bucks. Definitely a bit of a Sarto tax on it as well. Sarto's an incredible producer, especially the Pinots are really heavy hitting. Wine of the week. Ooh, tough. We live it. Wine of the shop. My personal favorite was that Bannockburn Chardonnay. I got half a dozen of the Chardonnay. What'd you get of the Chardonnay? Half a dozen? I got a dozen. You got six and six? Six and six. And I got six, nine, and six for the Bannockburn, for the Burn Cottage. The Burn Cottage. I think it is going to end up being that Chardonnay. I think Felton Road wins. I think Felton Road wins as well. You know, we do like supporting a B Corp around here, so that was really awesome. Yeah! I mean, iconic producer from Otago, but yeah, absolutely delicious. Yeah. Who would've guessed? You put Felton Road in any kind of lineup, I think it's probably going to win. Yeah, it's going to do pretty well. It's going to perform really strong, but yeah, that's fantastic. Felton Road wins. Guys, South Island wines from New Zealand. South Island of the Southern Hemisphere. Buh-bye! Did South Island win our New Zealand, like the Northwest South Island thing? It did. Yeah, South Island rises again. Cheers, guys. Ciao.