It's been a long time between drinks, if you'll excuse the cliché. Tastings have usurped writing time this month so now it's catch up time and the first wine to make it here is the biggest seller for Hunter's Wines in Marlborough - MiruMiru.

The word MiruMiru is Maori for bubbles and this one is made from 66% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 4% Pinot Meunier. It'a non vintage wine - or would it better be described as multi vintage since because it is a blend of grapes from many years, held in reserve at the winery to retain a relatively consistent blend. Here are my thoughts on the newest MiruMiru...

Wine of the week

Hunter's MiruMiru Non Vintage RRP $29.90

Here's a bubbly that takes its cue from champagne, using the same trio of classic grapes - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and with its second fermentation in the bottle for 18 months. This is the minimum time for non vintage champagne as it's seen as the time frame needed for flavour to develop in the wine from yeast lees decomposing into the bubbles, releasing mano proteins and richness. 

This new release was disgorged from its time on lees on 20 September this year and it tastes fresh when first opening, developing more complex flavours after three days of being open - one bottle doesn't usually last that long but it's worth tracking its tasty progress.

Even on a chilly day, such as this one, a glass of cool, crisp, fresh bubbly is a great way to end the day - especially when it offers such exceptional value for money as this. Champagne has the prestige, the mana and the history behind it but MiruMiru puts this country's best foot forward for a much under rated style of wine from this part of the world.