WELCOME
Top Tastes is designed to help you find the best food and beverage venues and products; whether you want delicious fish chips, beautiful café food in a winery setting, finely crafted formal dining, food ideas, wine reviews or cocktail recipes this is your guide to the best New Zealand has to offer.
Top Tastes was created by Neil Hodgson and managed by him, he has invited other writers to contribute to the site, this means more regional information will be added as time goes by. You will find a range of opinions, reviews and recipes from people who know their stuff when it comes to food and beverage.
Only reviews written by this select group will be published on the site (you are welcome to leave comments of course) so you will be able to trust the review – no fake reviews, no ranting, just good information to help you choose great things to eat and drink as well as the best places to eat out.
THE LATEST REVIEWS
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210131_151601_1sqr_sml.jpg
500
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-02-03 11:52:222021-02-11 13:33:04Pic’s Peanut Chocolate Butter with Whittaker’s
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/kitchen-bags-1_sqr_sml.jpg
500
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-01-20 16:04:482021-01-24 16:36:14Cheese and Food Storage bagsFEATURED ARTICLES
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210131_151601_1sqr_sml.jpg
500
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-02-03 11:52:222021-02-11 13:33:04Pic’s Peanut Chocolate Butter with Whittaker’s
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/kitchen-bags-1_sqr_sml.jpg
500
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-01-20 16:04:482021-01-24 16:36:14Cheese and Food Storage bags
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/CLAIRE-DEWSON-PHOTOGRAPHY-51_sqr_sml.jpg
499
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-01-13 15:38:482021-01-24 16:04:15Rea’s Tacos
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Stuart-P_sml.jpg
499
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2021-01-06 18:26:442021-01-24 14:58:53Flaxmore Vineyards
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Earnslaw-Lake-Wakatipu_sqr_sml.jpg
500
500
Phil Parker
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Phil Parker2020-12-23 15:21:042020-12-25 18:06:21Central Otago Revisited - by Phil Parker
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Unkel-Wines-Nelson-Riesling-2020-After-Party-Photo-Zico-Oneill-sml.jpg
500
500
Neil Hodgson
https://www.toptastes.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/TopTastes-logo-1030x396.png
Neil Hodgson2020-12-12 13:15:292020-12-15 13:40:27Unkel WinesTOP WINES TASTINGS
Blackenbrook 2019 Family Reserve Nelson Pinot Noir
Taste & Other Notes
I first tasted this wine several months ago not long after it was bottled and thought it was an exceptional wine at the time, with extra time in the bottle my opinion hasn’t changed. While Pinot Noir can be light and floral this example is a delicious, powerful wine with lots of character and intrigue. From the initial intense fruit to the layers of smoky oak and juicy acidity this is a determined wine, it has presence and character.
Blackenbrook 2019 Family Reserve Nelson Chardonnay
Taste & Other Notes
This Blackenbrook Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay represents a full style with obvious oak that balances the fruit intensity nicely. Lovely butterscotch flavours upfront are enticing but it’s the balance of intense flavours, oak and ripe acidity that makes this wine special.
Blackenbrook 2019 Family Reserve Nelson Gewurztraminer
Taste & Other Notes
This reserve gewurztraminer from Blackenbrook Vineyards is a wine with spicy character, ginger heat is wrapped around delicate cooked pear flavours. The wine is medium/dry in style with about 12 gm residual sugar. The high natural sugar level has also resulted in a firm alcohol level. Rather than being overly intense and rich this is bright and fresh while retaining classic Gewurztraminer flavour.
We’ve put together a team of experts who have a passion for writing about Food and Beverage.
Pic’s Peanut Chocolate Butter with Whittaker’s
/in Neil Hodgson, Nelson, Producers /by Neil HodgsonA few of the key factors in the success of any business are being able to adapt, innovate and strive for continual improvement, even if you have the market sector cornered, and that is exactly what Pic Picot and his merry band of peanut butter wizards do. The Pic’s story about making peanut butter at […]
Cheese and Food Storage bags
/in Neil Hodgson, Nelson, New Zealand, Retailers, Suppliers /by Neil HodgsonA number of products cross my desk that are really useful but don’t really fit the Taste of Nelson theme of this column, occasionally there’s one that I think is worth telling you about, and this is one such product, specialty cheese and food storage bags. If there is any one food that is my […]