Stripping off the Vintages
Are you one of those awkward restaurant diners who insists on knowing the vintage of the wine before you order from a wine list that has no vintages declared. Well, I definitely am and I’ll tell you...
View ArticleWith Alexis, Gladstone has Moore
A tempting email arrived from Vicky Bouwhis of wine agents Macvine. “We have Alexis Moore the winemaker from Gladstone here next Wednesday and she is doing a vertical of Gladstone Pinot Noir from 2005...
View ArticleDegusting with Villa Maria
Degustation. A hard word to say for us who were born with the English spoon. The word comes from the French dégustation, which is a derivative of the Latin degustare, which means ‘to taste’. A...
View ArticleSublime Chardonnays
It’s not often we go for dinner but with our Car Club’s monthly enthusiast nights, we make an effort. “What would you like to drink?” asks the man with the money. I was so in the mood for a rich, …...
View ArticleNothing bare about these Bald Hills
I love the names of some of our wines named after geographic features and this label, Bald Hills, is one of them. Bald Hill itself, or the only one I can find on the NZ topographic map is a mound …...
View ArticleCellared Rippon Pinot for the Christmas Feast
When I think about what wines to serve with the Christmas Feast, Pinot Noir is always on the list. Recently I tasted a trio of cellar-aged Pinots from Rippon Vineyard in Lake Wanaka, and I’m thinking...
View ArticleWoollaston’s Mahana Magic
Blobbing out on the couch last Friday, clicking through the channels, sussing out whether there was anything to watch after the ASB Classic Tennis finished early when Venus Williams had a walkover...
View ArticleCentral Otago 10th Pinot Noir Celebration
I was delighted to be invited as a media guest to Central Otago Pinot Noir Ltd’s 10th Pinot Noir Celebration held over 3 days starting the 30th January 2014. It’s been a long time since visits to...
View ArticleCentral Otago’s Adventurous Wild Earth
Quintin B Quider walks into the Wild Earth Wines tasting room carrying a bucket of greengage plums. “Went fishing last night, wanted to catch you a trout,” he says with a soft American accent. He has...
View ArticleCelebrating 4th July in New Zealand
I like to pop the cork on an American wine on the 4th July as a nod to my friends on the other side of the vast waters of the Pacific. And pop the cork it is as the wine … Continue reading →
View ArticleClassy Pinot Noir from Matakana? You bet!
You may not expect to find pinot noir from Matakana but John and Jill Crone at Hyperion Wines have been crafting one for years – the first release in 1997 from vines planted by their Tongue Farm Road...
View ArticleOpinion Piece: NZ Herald’s Wine Trends
There was a syndicated article in Weekend Herald edition of the New Zealand Herald on the 31st December 2016, an article on the year ahead for the wine industry, an article with origins in the USA, an...
View ArticleThe Emperor breaks the rules
Once in a while you have a wine and food combo that blows you away, not only because it is so divine but also because it is so unexpected. In fact if you told someone you were going to make … Continue...
View ArticleAl Brown meets Main Divide
I used to love lamb backstrap with pinot noir, the backstrap such an easy and tender cut that now seems to only appear in a fancy packet with a fancy price to match. Now I wander the meat department...
View ArticleBurgundian Wairapa
It was interesting hearing Jancis Robinson, in New Zealand for Pinot Noir 2017, talk to John Campbell on Radio NZ after the event. She described Waipara pinot noirs as ‘grunty’ and the most Burgundian...
View ArticleTohu Pinot and Lamb
Last post I mentioned my friend Shirley was cooking a leg of lamb for our dinner for one of the nights when I went to her place to stay. She’s a passionate pinot gris fan but was open to ‘being …...
View ArticleThis Time Last Year – Part 1: Take Off
This is the first of a series of posts that cover my travel To Greece and the USA in April and May 2016. 22 April 2016 – Flight NZ2 Auckland to Heathrow via Los Angeles My sisters take me to … Continue...
View ArticleThis Time Last Year – Part 26: Food & Wine in Bellingham
Part of a series of posts that cover my travel to Greece and the USA in April/May 2016. May 12 2016 – Birch Bay, Washington, USA Jenise has to go into Bellingham. It’s approximately 25-mile drive each...
View ArticleRockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir 2015
I’ve opened this pinot to match to three slices of fillet steak with three different one-side glazes. One is smeared with pomegranate molasses (from Lebanon), one with Kalamata Orange and Lemon...
View ArticleDomain Road Central Otago Pinot Noir 2013
Domain Road Pinot Noir 2013 is from the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago wine country, South Island, New Zealand. It costs about NZ$38 a bottle. Colour: Ruby with flashes of purple. Bouquet:...
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