On Thursday 5th of June, Top Wineries of New Zealand descended upon Metita at Sky City in Auckland, home to superstar chef Michael Meredith’s refined Pasifika, Samoan-inspired cuisine.

The full house of guests, who were expertly looked after by Alex and her team, included representatives from several Top Wineries. The wines came out thick and fast, each glass special in their own right, making it a dizzying selection.

The first course consisted of several snacks: Natural Oyster with hibiscus vinegar, lemon oil; Corned Beef Steamed Bun, lardo, soy; Fried Pork Belly, spiced caramel, shiso leaf, lemon. Accompanying these were a trio of stunning sparkling wines: Esses Encore Methodé Traditionnelle Vintage 2016, No.1 Reine Cuvée Reserve NV and Sparkling Wine of the Year 2025 – Quartz Reef Methode Traditionnelle Blanc de Blancs 2017.

The development and complexity in these bottles were brought further into focus by the complexity of the food flavours. Mel Skinner (Esses), Virginie Le Brun (No.1 Family Estate) and Lianne Collins (Quartz Reef) took to the ‘stage’ and shared their personal stories surrounding the wines and the estates.

The second course, Kingfish, buffalo curd, mandarin, okra, lime, was matched to a trio of chardonnay: Felton Road Chardonnay 2023, Kumeu River Maté Vineyard Chardonnay 2020 and our White Wine of the Year 2025 – Prophet’s Rock Cuvée Aux Antipodes Blanc 2022. Here, we had three winemakers head to head; James Coleman (Felton Road), Michael Brajkovich MW (Kumeu River) and Paul Pujol (Prophet’s Rock) getting into the nitty-gritty of chardonnay winemaking and site.

Things changed gear with the spectacular course of Charred Fe’e (octopus), roasted onion, miti, radish, which guests enjoyed with a range of pinot-based wine, from Rosé of the Year 2025 – Te Whare Ra Single Vineyard 5182 Rosé 2023 to our Red Wine of the Year 2025 – Doctors Flat Pinot Noir 2021 and the beautiful single-vineyard Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2020.

The audience was divided here with several preferring the weight and size of the McCrone over the lighter style of Doctors Flat, but it showed even more how personal pinot noir preferences can be in Aotearoa!

The big red course came next, a generous plate of Slow Braised Lamb Shanks, spiced coconut gravy, ulu, sesame
served with a heap of Roasted Carrots, drauni kari, cashews, and yoghurt. This was accompanied by Craggy Range Sophia 2021, Smith & Sheth CRU Omahu Syrah 2021 and the rare Passage Rock Generation Cabernet 2021.

We had young winemaker Johnny Evans present to talk about his family’s wine before he dashed off to catch the ferry back to Waiheke Island. There was significant bottle variation in the Smith & Sheth which led to much discussion about closures and oxidation.

We also took this opportunity to present the Winery of the Year Trophy (or helmet) to James Coleman on behalf of Felton Road. Things closed in a sweet and sticky way with our Sweet Wine of the Year 2025 – Astrolabe Wrekin Vineyard Late Harvest Chenin Blanc 2022 and the very sweet, botrytised Framingham Noble Riesling 2024, which guests enjoyed alongside Passion fruit, niu sorbet, and coconut yogurt.

We had several guests inform us that the food was the finest they have had of any Top Wineries of New Zealand Dinner. I must agree that we were spoilt for quality that night!

After a day off from events (as a team, we went to Waiheke to visit Destiny Bay on Friday), we returned to Auckland CBD for a long day on Saturday when three sessions were held of the Top Wineries of New Zealand Tasting. This year, we took over Brad’s Warehouse which was a very funky, cool space.

The tasting was held across the upper floor. It was extremely heartwarming and humbling to see the fantastic turnout from hospitality and sommeliers for the Trade Session which preceded the public sessions. Each session was sold out and the room hummed with fantastic energy as The Real Review readers tasted, enjoyed and exchanged thoughts with the winemakers and winery representatives present. We were also very fortunate to have Cameron Douglas MS present as he was helping out his friends at Domaine-Thomson. The roll call of great New Zealand wine names was as follows:

• Church Road: Chris Scott
• Grasshopper Rock: Phil Handford
• Esses: Mel Skinner
• Elephant Hill: Hugh Crichton
• Domaine-Thomson: Deborah Adams and Cameron Douglas MS
• Isabel Estate: Nick Lamain
• Dry River: Benjamin McNab
• Wild Irishman: Brian Shaw
• Rising Star of the Year 2025 – A Thousand Gods: Simon Sharpe and Lauren Keenan
• Craggy Range: Ben Tombs
• Pegasus Bay: Mike Donaldson
• Prophet’s Rock: Paul Pujol
• Clos Henri: Damien Yvon
• Destiny Bay: Ella Meckel-Kritos and Sean Spratt
• Mora: Catherine Douglas
• Pyramid Valley: Dan Shea and Huw Kinch
• Quartz Reef: Lianne Collins
• No.1 Family Estate: Antonia Romero and Annie Le Brun
• Felton Road: James Coleman
• Paritua: Oliver Kettle

One of the most notable things about the event was the diversity of attendees, on both the winery side and the wine lovers, particularly with a broader range of ages and a more youthful average than most wine events. The meeting of seasoned and fresh perspectives and the ensuing conversations were utterly invigorating and bode well for our wine community. Long may it continue. For now, we get to settle in and taste through another year’s worth of wine samples until Top Wineries rolls around again in 2026.