Joelle Thomson

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Friday drinks with... Puneet Dhall

Puneet Dhall founded and owns the wine import and distribution company, Dhall & Nash, with Brandon Nash. The pair are based in different cities and have grown their company from a two person band to one with staff in three cities and a diverse range of brands from the big buttery Bogle Chardonnays to Billecart Salmon Champagne alongside New Zealand brands, Easthope and De La Terre from Hawke's Bay, among others.  Dhall changed his life's plan from a corporate career into wine relativel...

Trio of new Sauvignons - Eradus and Jules Taylor

Three crisp new 2022 Sauvignon Blancs 2022 Eradus Awatere Sauvignon Blanc RRP $19.99 Narrow terraces of vines flank the banks of the Awatere River where relatively high winds and cool sea breezes add to the struggle that grapevines endure in this rugged microclimate. Dry stony soils mean that vines need to dig deep to find water and the result is a beautifully fleshy Sauvignon Blanc in this wine, which expresses powerful green herb aromas, which are nicely intermingled with hints of tr...

Wine of the week - Isle of Man meets Central Otago

It's a long way from the Isle of Man to Bendigo and much as the Kerruish family is looking forward to the trip, they are not holding their breaths. Theirs is yet another story of how covid has irrevocably changed lives in unforeseen ways. A trip to Europe with their children before covid saw them locked down on Tim Kerruish's home on the Isle of Man during the early days of the pandemic and they remain on the isle today. Fast forward two years and they have secured work there, so coming back to ...

Friday drinks with Brent Marris of Marisco

Brent Marris established The Ned in 2006 in the Waihopai Valley in Marlborough on a site that he purchased and planted in 2004. His impressive career in wine continues the trajectory established by his father, who was one of the first to purchase vineyard land in Marlborough in 1973 for Montana Wines. Marris trained in winemaking at Roseworthy Agricultural College in Adelaide, gaining a Bachelor Of Applied Science in Oenology (winemaking) and becoming Marlborough’s first born and raised q...

Fifth Organic Wine Week 19 to 25 September

This year marks the fifth vintage of Organic Wine Week in New Zealand and it's looming faster than you can pour yourself a glass of wine, certified organic or not. The aim of the event is to raise the profile of certified organic wine and the impetus for wine drinkers to encourage the industry to produce it. Organic Wine Week runs from Monday 19 September to Monday 25 September this year and will be held as a series of regional tastings around the country, dates and details of which ca...

Friday drinks with Bertrand Soalhat

If Bertrand Soalhat was to have his choice of reincarnation, he would come back to his wife and son, to the business he has recently begun and to a life of wine. He is the founder, owner and one man band behind Bare Wines, a new importing company with a long history in drinks behind it. He spoke to www.joellethomson.com about what has helped him to start a new business, about leaving France at the tender age of 19 and the types of wines that make it worth getting through to Friday drinks ea...

Wine of the week - beautiful by name and by nature

19.5/202020 Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Dry Riesling RRP $42Beautiful by name and by nature, Bel Canto is the greatest Riesling in the South Island with its incredible concentration of ripe orange and mandarin flavours coming from hand picked grapes with a high portion of shrivelled botrytis bunches making up 30 per cent of the juice. It was fermented with natural yeasts in old, large barrels which gives the wine extremely concentrated complexity and richness. There's a lot going on in every zing...

Wines of the week - Chianti Classico to Martinborough Pinot Noir

There has been no shortage of wines come across my path this week, both as an independent wine writer and in my role as wine programme director at Regional Wines & Spirits in Wellington. Of all the goodies - the new Greystone Vineyard Ferment, the latest Moy Hall Pinot Noir and the latest from Pegasus Bay, among many more, this wine below is the stand out, for me. Its full body and ripe dark flavours give it a significant point of difference and every sip delivers surprising new l...

Friday drinks - Best is yet to come for Martinborough winemaker Tim Bourne

Tim Bourne is the winemaker at Escarpment Vineyard in the majestic Te Muna Valley, Martinborough. A place where Pinot Noir finds its greatest expression in good vintages of Kupe; one of four single vineyard wines released this month in New Zealand. Bourne has worked with Larry McKenna, founder and former owner of Escarpment Vineyard, and now retired. Bourne has stepped into big shoes and he is filling them with some outstanding wines. This is his story. What do you consider your greatest ac...

Wine from a small island

The Batch Winery on Waiheke Island owns a 3.5 hectare vineyard on Carson’s Road at Onetangi on Waiheke Island. It's a small piece of vineyard land, by any stretch, both in terms of making enough wine to fund production, let alone a family, but the quality of wines here is high. Thoughtful plantings of grapes with a proven track record and thoughtful winemaking both define this winery as part of the second wave of winemaking on Waiheke Island. As for the definition of Waiheke as a small island ...

Marlborough's stamp of wine integrity expands

Marlborough's wine integrity just got a massive shot in the arm with the extension of the region's four year old authenticity trademark, AMW. The acronym stands for Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW). It was launched in 2018 and from this year onwards, it will cover all wines produced in the region, not only Sauvignon Blanc which was the first wine to benefit from the authenticity certification. In essence, the AMW trademark is a legal logo that can be applied to all Marlborough Sauvig...

A story of place in Bendigo Pinot Noir

I am an independent wine writer and this blog is published weekly Pinot Noir is the most popular red wine in New Zealand and it is so varied in taste that it increasingly tells a story of place, especially when compared to the country's other most planted grape, Sauvignon Blanc, which generally conforms to a vibrant, fruity, dry or off dry white with juicy tropical flavours. By contrast, Pinot Noir's flavours and style vary wildly from earthy dark, brooding wines that beg for time in the cellar ...

New vintage Escarpment Pinot Noir release

The new 2020 Escarpment single vineyard Pinot Noirs have been released and they are an impressive bunch, including the reintroduction of Pahi to the range for the first time in several years. The other wines include Kiwa, Te Rehua and, king of them all, Kupe. These Maori names stand as the turangawaewae of these wines, on their front labels, without the words Pinot Noir. It is a local take on the traditional French theme of naming great Pinot Noirs after the vineyards from which the grapes were ...

Dry (ish) July, Winetopia and 5 top Pinot Noirs

It may be dry July but the start of this month was anything but for Wellingtonians who attended Winetopia held on the water over the weekend. This is the sixth year that Winetopia has come to the capital and it was as relaxed and laid back as it was filled with with. As one of the organisers, Natalie Tan, says "It's a considered event, a place to go if you like exploring wine but without being in a formal setting." Here here. Tan's description of Winetopia tallies with the feedback yours truly r...

Wine of the week - The Magnetic

Wine of the week, 30 June 202219/20 2019 Carrick Organic The Magnetic Bannockburn Pinot Noir RRP $65 The Magnetic Pinot Noir is named after a vineyard of the same name and the image on the label depicts an historic gold mining dredge (also called ‘the magnetic). This wine more than lives up to its name with magnetising flavours of deliciously concentrated, succulent, dark cherry and plum flavours held captive in a full bodied but elegant wine made entirely from the much revered Abel clone of P...

The who, what and why of 12 top Chardonnays

If you're a lover of Chardonnay, the time has never been better - nor more diverse - to enjoy New Zealand's best from this most popular of all white grapes and wines. But where do the best New Zealand Chardonnays come from? Is there one top region? In terms of volume and the sheer diversity of Chardonnays produced, it may well be Hawke's Bay but a growing number of great white contenders from the South Island give this great region a run for its money today. This top 14 new Chardonnay ...

Friday drinks with... Julian Grounds

Craggy Range winery has a foot in two camps, in relation to New Zealand's wine regions. It is based in Hawke's Bay and spreads its winemaking wings further afield with approximately 70 per cent of its grapes now planted in Martinborough. The grapes from both of these east coast regions are given a lot of TLC in the winery by winemaker Julian Grounds, who is charged with the task of making big reds and full bodied whites from the Bay as well as lithe, cooler climate wines from Martinborough. This...

Friday drinks with winemaker Jen Parr

Jen Parr is a long way from home. She was born in North America and has traded in her homeland for a career in wine and a passion for the mountains in the wine region of her choice. Central Otago is now her home and Valli winery is where she spends most of her winemaking career. She also works as a consultant to many wine brands. This is her story. This interview is based on Proust questionnaireWhat do you consider your greatest achievement? Swapping a corporate job in the Northern Hemisphe...

Wines of the week... Valli Pinot Noirs break new ground

Are the new 2020 Valli Pinot Noirs the best yet released? The 2020 vintage was an exceptionally good one, following on from a couple of tricky years and it might be early days and all that jazz for these wines but I predict they will age superbly. They do also taste significantly more intense in flavour, more full bodied and better balanced than the previous vintage. For a change, I decided to respond to one of those really tricky FAQs and have given my views on recommended length of ageing time...

Craggy Range joins Bordeaux

New Zealand winery Craggy Range announced this week that it has joined the historic French network, La Place de Bordeaux. This is a first for the New Zealand wine industry and represents a high point for Craggy Range, whose wines will be included in this year's September release of the Bordeaux Negociant network La Place de Bordeaux. The historic network first opened its doors to the wines of non traditional winemaking countries with Almavaria in 1996 and Opus One in 2004; both in part...

Friday drinks with Beth Forrest

Meet Beth Forrest. General manager, chief winemaker and self professed daddy's girl. She is all these things and also the quiet instigator of New Zealand's most successful alternative grape variety, Albarino. Forrest had her time as a rebellious teen where the last thing she planned to do was follow her father's footsteps into the family wine business but at Forrest Estate, one of the oldest wineries in Marlborough. "I was a complete daddy's girl as a youngster and followed Dad around ...

Friday drinks with Tim Severne of Rockburn Wines

Tim Severne is the general manager of Rockburn Wines in Central Otago and also the father of two young children. He's a marketing graduate who was bitten by the wine bug when studying and has since fallen for the charms of everything from sharing a glass or a bottle to learning more about where wines come from. He was born and bred in Ponsonby, Auckland, and raised by social parents who worked in fashion and advertising. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are never far from his table but his biggest indu...

Wines of the week... in homage to Chardonnay Day

International Chardonnay Day is on the Thursday before the last Monday in May each year, which means it was last week, making it timely for the release of three new Hawke's Bay Chardonnays from one of the region's key producers. Chardonnay is the world's most popular white wine in terms of grapes planted globally and sales measured around the world. Tony Bish is often referred to as the king of Kiwi Chardonnay and understandably too, since he fashioned the country's first ovum in which to fermen...

Friday drinks with... Dr John Forrest

Creativity, freedom and lack of funds in scientific research all led Dr John Forrest down the winemaking path in 1988 when he founded Forrest Estate Wines with his wife, Brigid. Today, their winery is one of Marlborough's oldest wineries and one of the region's most dedicated to diversity. Albarino arrived in New Zealand because of their daughter, Beth, now a winemaker who fell for the charms of this north Spanish white grape when living there and arrived back in New Zealand with an infectious p...

Women in wine profile - MJ from Craggy Range

She loves champagne, Riesling and her family and she loathes cork taint. Mary-Jeanne Hutchinson is the woman behind the stories of Craggy Range Wines, a Hawke's Bay winery with more vineyard land in Martinborough's majestic Te Muna Valley. She works as an ambassador for Craggy Range wines and the brand. Her parents are Terry and Mary Peabody, who have established a 1000 year trust for their company. This legally binding arrangement means the winery and brand cannot be sold.  "The 1000 year ...