“Beautifully expressive and refined with sleek black cherry and blackberry fruit. It’s rich and seductive but also has freshness and detail. Great structure and harmony too. There’s some black fruit richness but also lovely red fruit crunch. Such a textural wine with real interest and detail, with opulence but also some seriousness.” 5/5 stars, Jamie Goode

Novum is the brainchild of Will and Rachel Hoare. Will's wine career had a bumpy start, when he was kicked out of school for selling wine to his fellow students (we’d call it entrepreneurial), but since then it's been more of a success story. He started on the bottling line at Cloudy Bay, but worked his way into the cellar, and did vintages at Au Bon Climat with Jim Clenenden. On returning to Marlborough he worked at Fromm, then the only winery focusing on single vineyards and respecting the soil. He came for a year and left as General Manager, 19 years later.