Joelle Thomson

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Wines of the week from Maxim

Chenin Blanc is one of the greatest white grape varieties and wines like the two new releases in this column always make me wonder why more Chenin is not grown and produced in New Zealand. Hawke's Bay winemaker Darragh Hughes obviously thinks the same way. He has also used innovative winemaking methods to create a complex smooth and creamy Chardonnay with zesty fresh appeal that lingers long after the last sip.19/202022 Maxim Wine Chardonnay, Hawke's Bay RRP $38A game changer? This is a gre...

The many peaks of Central Otago Pinot Noir

It seemed like a dicey move, at first, but the launch of the first Central Otago Pinot Noir in a two litre bag in box package is doing surprisingly well. The wine is called Dice by Dicey and is designed to look like a dice. If you'll excuse the earlier pun, it did seem like a slightly risky proposition to bring back the bladder in box or, to use an even more tragic word, the goon. But unappealing names aside, this is no ordinary box of wine. It is made entirely from one year, 2021 and the g...

How did lockdown impact 2020 wines?

A reader writes this week to ask how the 2020 vintage was impacted by Covid lockdowns from mid March to late April and whether wine quality was affected in any way.The writer says that he understands that March and April are a crucial time for harvesting and wonders whether this was disrupted due to lockdown restrictions. Good question. And even more so right now since most or all of the 2020 red wines are either now on the market or have sold out because it was a stunning year in many...

First Chardonnay symposium announced

Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers has announced the first Aotearoa New Zealand Chardonnay Symposium to be held in the Bay from 5 to 6 October 2023. The event is a collaboration between Hawke's Bay Winegrowers, New Zealand Winegrowers and the New Zealand Society of Oenology and Viticulture. The symposium will be held at Toitoi: Hawke’s Bay Arts and Event Centre, in Hastings where delegates will hear from both domestic and international Chardonnay experts.A technical workshop on Chardonnay wil...

Vintage 2023 report from Marlborough

How did harvest go in Marlborough this year? Three things sum it up best for Daniel Le Brun: late, lack of sunshine and a smaller yield than anticipated but the silver lining was clean grapes."Harvest was about two weeks late this year due to the lack of sunshine in the late summer in Marlborough but the crop was clean (without fungal disease issues) and we had good weather at the time of harvesting the grapes, which made it easy for the picking crew to bring the fruit in."The French born w...

Pinot Pioneers event in Martinborough

There is no shortage of Pinot pioneers in New Zealand today but a group from one of the country's smallest wine regions is hosting a big event in July this year to commemorate, celebrate and promote its success with Pinot Noir.The region is Martinborough. The event is called Pinot Pioneers and it is a dinner to be held at Union Square, the eponymous bistro named after the village square, from which roads branch off in the shape of the Union Jack. This region's success has sometimes been eclipsed...

Women in wine mentoring programme opens

Applications are now open for the 2023 Women in Wine NZ Mentoring ProgrammeThe 2023 programme is open to women of all ages and roles in the New Zealand wine industry, including sales and marketing, cellar door, general management, operations, logistics, laboratory, administration, viticulture, cellar hand and winemaking. Applications are open until Sunday 18 June 2023 and this year's programme begins in August. Find out more via email:  womeninwi...

Marlborough's new wine map launched by AMW

AMW has just produced its first official wine map of Marlborough but what is AMW and what does it bring to Marlborough wine? The question arose at a tasting last week where it was asked if AMW wines have to contain 100% Marlborough grown grapes. They do and the short answer to "why?" is this: integrity.The letters AMW stand for Appellation Marlborough Wine and the organisation was established in 2018 by an independent group of Marlborough winemakers. Many of them annoyed by the high volumes of M...

Awesome Albarino - new wine of the week

Albarino is a white Spanish grape that is thriving in New Zealand's maritime climate, which bears an uncanny resemblance to its homeland in north west Spain where high rainfall is the order of the day. That might just account for why this grape has thick skins; has it evolved, over time, to develop them in response to its homeland's climate? The answer might be elusive but the wine is delicious thanks to its naturally high acidity and intense flavours of green herbs, green olives and a salty ta...

Top drops of the week... Akarua and Mora Pinot Noirs

Names play a big role in our lives and in the success of many products and brands, due to their pronounceability or otherwise. They also have strong resonance for the Skeggs family, who have now created two evocatively named wine brands, Akarua and Mora.The name Akarua is Maori for two vines and is a reference to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; the two grapes that Sir Clifford Skeggs planted on his original vineyard in Bannockburn, Central Otago. And the name Mora is the Latin word for linger or paus...

A taste of the Rhone from Trinity

Who was it who said that if you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm? It's a bit of a cliche but it has sprung to mind in the North Island of New Zealand this year when  torrential rain gave way to Cyclone Gabrielle, which has destroyed lives, livelihoods, homes and crops so much that many way wonder if there is any silver lining. Cold comfort though it may be, this year's weather events followed hot on the heels of a string of very dry, very warm summers in which so...

If you want something done... ask a busy person

It's often been said that if you want something done, get a busy person to do it. As counter intuitive as it sounds, it can be true everywhere from the workplace to the sports field, to the kitchen, the garden and even to how people relax. The theme of busyness has been top of mind for those who work with wine this month. It may be autumn and things may seem to take on a slower pace due to cooler temperatures but, for those working with wine, this is the busiest time of year. It is when gra...

Zero alcohol bubbly? It's coming...

What do you do when you can't drink alcohol?It's not a question that most wine lovers want to answer but bubbles might go some way to distracting the mind and the mouth from the fact that there is no alcohol in zero alcohol wine. This month is the time to find out because the leading producer of zero alcohol wine in New Zealand is launching its first zero alcohol sparkling wine. It is, like all of the zero alcohol wines made by the Giesen Group, a beverage that began life as a wine and has had i...

What's old is new again

A new initiative launched by two well known New Zealand wineries began eight years ago with the launch of 10 year old wines that were labelled Aged Releases. The wineries in question are Pegasus Bay and Dog Point and both have since continued the trend of releasing intentionally aged wines several years after they were first made and sold. By holding a portion of the wines back from the market and releasing them several years down the track, the owners of these wineries are able to give wine lov...

Why do some wines taste better on day two?

Have you ever noticed that some wines taste better and... well, friendlier on day two of being open? If so, you're not alone and the experience of a wine seeming to improve is not confined to just one style of wine. An American actor called Will Rogers once famously said that we never get a second chance to make a first impression but I don't find that is always the case when it comes to wine, which can alter our past experiences when it has been open for a few hours or even days. Our first...

Friday drinks with... Roscoe Johanson

Roscoe Johanson has a 5am start every day and hosts wine professionals to Giesen's Marlborough winery as part of his role as export sales manager for Canada, Asia-Pacific and Europe. He is raising a family with his partner and travels regularly for work. As if that isn't enough, he is studying the Wine & Spirit Education Trust's (WSET) highest qualification, the Level 4 Diploma. It's not study for the faint hearted, as his wall of maps attests to. It is a humbling process, but one that he is...

What to drink when it's cold and you love white wines

"What can I drink when it's cold but I don't feel like red wine?"Good question. Enter Chardonnay. It is often referred to as the red wine drinker's white wine because good quality Chardonnay tends to be full bodied with barrel fermentation, oak ageing and the creamy conversion of zesty malic acid (naturally in grapes) to creamy lactic acidity, found, as the name suggests, in milk, cheese and cream. These factors all make Chardonnay easily relatable for red wine drinkers, who also regularly ...

Are single vineyard wines better?

It is mid vintage when Mike Bann is asked the burning question as to whether the words 'single vineyard' make for better wines or whether it is paying mere lip service to a concept. Is there a perceivable difference and, if so, how can we tell? The jury may be out on the bigger question but the concept is the rational behind Rapaura Springs' single vineyard range. Here is a conversation with Rapaura's winemaker Mike Bann about the notion of single vineyards...What was the inspiration for Rapaura...

Sense of place... five wines with it

Four decades is the blink of an eye in the world of European wine but it's nearly all we have in this country where the first Vitis vinifera vines (the species of grapes used to make wine) that grew into our substantial wine industry today were planted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It's true that some Vitis vinifera vines were planted at the turn of the 19th Century in New Zealand but due to two world wars, the Great Depression and a culture of beer drinking and unlicensed restaur...

Marlborough's bubbly makers celebrate harvest 2023

Friday drinks with bubbles took on a new meaning this Friday (yesterday, that is) because it marked the end of harvest for a group of Marlborough winemakers who pick their grapes earlier than most. It was the official Méthode Marlborough Day and what better way to celebrate than with a glass of bubbly? I always enjoy getting up close and personal with good quality sparkling wines so it was a treat to try two that I am not so familiar with... Louis Vavasour Méthode Traditionelle NV and Johannes...

Winetopia 2023 tickets now on sale

Tickets havegone on sale for one of the biggest annual wine events in New Zealand, Winetopia, which takes place in Wellington at the TSB Arena from Friday 16 June to Saturday 17 June and in Auckland at the Viaduct Events Centre from Friday 21 July to Saturday 22 July.This year's event will see new presenters at the Wellington event, including Australian writer and wine critic Mike Bennie and filmmaker-wine educator David Nash. Long term presenters at Winetopia who remain this year include yours...

Playing favourites with Otago Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is king and queen for a vast number of red wine drinkers in New Zealand but not everybody loves the fruity styles made in many of this country's Pinot Noir regions, including Central Otago, which is far from one 'region' when it comes to wine. This was highlighted at a stunningly situated, if slightly chilly, wine festival held on the shores of Lake Wanaka this month called Ripe. It's a great name for a festival, alluding to wines that ideally taste their best when made from grapes th...

Tuesday drinks with... winemaker Lloyd Howes

Baths, bubbly and barbecues are among Lloyd Howes' favourite things, along with camping with his wife and making wine. This is his story of how his career took a vinous turn in his late teen years.  What took you down the wine rabbit hole and when did it happen?It began when I was about 19 years old and working in hospitality in Wellington. After long days and nights, I discovered there was some really good stuff out there. I was immersed in the wine and drinks world and came to really enj...

Tasting Spain in New Zealand

From Gisborne to North Canterbury and nearly every wine region in between, Albarino has found a footing that's more favourable than the long list of other newcomers to New Zealand's vineyard scene. Think of Sangiovese, Gruner-Veltliner, Marsanne, Roussanne, Arneis, Nebbiolo and, rumour has it, even a little Vermentino. There is no shortage of willing takers who have tried to create their own little slice of Spain, Austria or Tuscany in ... (fill in the region of choice) by planting interesting I...

Wine of the week - age brings beauty

It seems like only yesterday that winemakers in this country were asking if Kiwi Pinot Noirs could age positively but it was probably about 20 years back that there was any doubt. It's incredible what age can do, to both wines and their makers because this five year old Pinot Noir makes a good case for a glass half full attitude to how time can gently sway a slightly edgy youthfulness towards a seductively interesting wine from a great vineyard site.This wine is made from the oldest hillside vin...