Simply irresistible

The best red and white wine buys of the year offer unbeatable value.

If there’s one thing about wine that we all want to know, it’s surely, “What should I buy?” The first edition of my annual Buyer’s Guide hit the shelves 25 years ago this month, reviewing 800 wines, each star-rated for quality. Back then, books on our wine were typically based on profiles of key producers, but many of us don’t want to know about the history of wineries or the people behind the labels.

Today, the Buyer’s Guide is much fatter, with tasting notes and ratings for nearly 3000 wines. Not all the reviews are favourable and there is no shortage of good wines, so I also like to highlight those that offer great value.

Tasting for the book is a year-round task – or should I say pleasure? We rev things up in July, inviting wineries to send samples by September for inclusion in the Buyer’s Guide to be published in November. The final act is to select the two Best Buys of the Year, white and red.

When making the final choice, I look for widely available wines that offer irresistible value. You can buy this year’s Best White Wine Buy for $14.99; a wine of its variety and quality would usually sell for $20-$25. The Best Red Wine Buy will cost you $19.99, but a wine of its quality and style typically sells for $30-$39.

Offering terrific value, Mud

House Waipara Valley Riesling 2016 ( , $14.99) is a distinctly medium style, with loads of drinkyoung charm. Attractively scented, it is medium-bodied (12.5% alc/ vol), with strong, vibrant, citrusy flavours, hints of passionfruit and ginger, gentle sweetness and mouth-watering acidity. From a top growing season in North Canterbury, it’s already delicious but can be cellared for several years, to develop toasty, bottle-aged complexities.

Deeply coloured, mouth-filling (13.5% alc/vol), vibrantly fruity and supple, Vidal Reserve Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ( , $19.99) reveals excellent density of ripe, plummy, spicy flavours, with a long, finely poised finish. A refined, savoury, age-worthy red, matured for 16 months in French oak barrels, it should mature gracefully for several years, but is already hard to resist.

Tasting for the book is a year-round task – or should I say pleasure? There is no shortage of good wines.

New Zealand Wines 2018: Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide (Upstart Press, $39.99)