02/09/2026
Benji and I feel so lucky to be #4 and #20 of the Top 100 Sommeliers New Zealand❤️
The ovens are on this week for our in-home experience, then we are taking a week off for #4 and #20 to elope... with five flower girls in tow!! 💍🥂
We wanted to spend a minute on what our beverage offering is, because it is truly collaborative. It's built around an extensive cellar we’ve invested in every year for 11 years and inspired by the w**e community around us.
Our cocktails and mocktails follow the seasons of our kitchen. Grape juice, fruit and lees from the local w**eries, fruit juices and infusions from our backyards, guest gifts and what we forage from the abandoned orchard across the road are all incorporated into our drink selection.
Our pairings are not forced. We want every sip to be enjoyable, not 'oh, that was okay for a…'. Bradley has an equal voice in our pairing offering and Natasha is integral in pulling our guest experience together.
Our style is immersive. Stories behind the bottles, our local w**e families, whose kid won player of the day, who has launched a new label or variety. Our international w**es are connected to places our local w**emakers have worked or we’ve travelled to, and special bottles that mean something to our guests.
Our local w**e families want guests to feel invested in their brands, not desperately trying to remember specs from a sheet.
We're kind. We never judge. If it’s on our menu, it’s meant to be enjoyed. There will never be an eye roll because you chose 'that bottle'.
Thank you to every w**ery that has nurtured us and helped keep our doors open. Thank you for the glass-pour incentives, Christmas presents, birthday presents, wedding presents and 'congratulations, it’s Tuesday' presents. 😂❤️
Benji, Bradley, Natasha and myself are so grateful for this recognition. It’s a team effort, and our team is ACE! 🥂❤️
Elizabeth Buttimore xx
✨️✨️✨️Congratulations to our local peers on the list! Miqu Ouyang ❤️, Oisin Moore Small Town W**ery, Neil Fidelio Cafe & W**e Bar and Harvest's Sukesh PM✨️✨️✨️
