Joelle Thomson

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Wine of the week 2021 Trinity Hill The Gimblett

August is the coldest month in Aotearoa New Zealand and with one more night to go until spring has sprung, here is a fitting tribute to one of the world's great wine regions and great wine producers; Hawke's Bay and Trinity Hill. This wine is also a fitting one to pour on a chilly night. Wine of the week 19/202021 Trinity Hill Hawke’s Bay The Gimblett RRP $39.99Classic Bordeaux styled blend made by one of the best wineries in Hawke’s Bay today. This blend of Merlot and Cabernet highligh...

And the restaurant of the year is... Craggy Range

Craggy Range Restaurant Named Winery Restaurant of the Year and Awarded Two Hats at the 2024 Cuisine Good Food AwardsCraggy Range Restaurant has been named Winery Restaurant of the Year for the sixth consecutive year at the 2024 Cuisine Good Food Awards.The restaurant was also named Best Restaurant and awarded the Supreme Award at the 2024 Hospitality New Zealand Awards."It's always an honour to be recognised by Cuisine Magazine, one of New Zealand’s longest-serving foodie institutions that ch...

Weekly wine news... young winemaking awards, Rockburn resignation and more

Wine news is pouring in thick and fast in Aotearoa New Zealand and this month's sees the retirement of Rockburn Wines founding director, Dick Bunton ONZM, who has sold his stake in the company to the remaining founding directors, Chris James and Paul Halford.Rockburn's founder (one of them) retiresBunton's journey into viticulture began in 1991 with the establishment of a small hobby vineyard at Lake Hayes near Arrowtown. The first vintage released under the Hayes Lake brand in 1998 grew th...

What's in my glass this Friday (& Saturday)... three whites for spring

Spring has yet to be sprung but if the warm breeze, blue skies and gentle sunshine are any indication today, it's coming soon. As are the late winter frosts. They always seem to hit at exactly the same time as the tenderest of spring buds begin to appear on the vine, on fruit trees and in the fields where lambs begin to gambol after long, hard, cold nights. This week has marked the start of tasting for an Aromatic Wine Report that is published annually in Drinksbiz magazine, which I am the ...

Book your delicious Discover Te Muna weekend - October

Bookings are open now for the second weekend of Discover Te Muna Valley, an outstanding two day discovery of the spectacular valley that lies nine kilometres east of Martinborough wine village.This is the second Discover Te Muna weekend. Our first event was in August this year and I am delighted to be the presenter of the first day, hosting tastings and sessions in which we dip our toes into the wines of Te Muna Valley, metaphorically speaking, that is. The weekend is all about discovery; of the...

A baker's dozen... top Pinot Noirs from Aotearoa

When did you taste your first Pinot Noir?If it was less than 20 years ago, you're not alone. Today is International Pinot Noir Day and it's to the credit and talent of New Zealand's open minded winemakers that Aotearoa is now a serious producer of Pinot Noir. For most New Zealanders, Pinot Noir was barely heard of 20 years ago but today it is so much a part of this country's wine scene that it is extremely difficult to whittle down all of the very good Pinot Noirs to a list of 13. I would love t...

Wild Earth wine reviews August 2024

Two new wines were released from Wild Earth in Central Otago this month, both of which I have reviewed this week. Here are my reviews.18.5/202023 Wild Earth Chardonnay RRP $35Smooth silky textured Chardonnay underpinned by crisp acidity and deep lemon aromas which lead into a fleshy, full bodied wine with great balance. This lovely Central Otago Chardonnay is made with hand picked grapes grown on the Highgrange Vineyard, which is situated at 336 to 352 metres above sea level in Pisa, Central Ota...

Sixth vintage of Marie Zelie is released

Who was the first pioneer of Pinot Noir in the North Island of New Zealand?The most likely candidate is a relatively unknown woman called Marie Zelie Hermance Frere, a French settler who planted vines near to Masterton in the late 1800s.This year, the sixth vintage of a wine made in homage to her insightful early pioneering was made and it was released late last month in Martinborough. The wine is the 2019 Martinborough Vineyards Marie Zelie Pinot Noir, which was formally launched at a tasting a...

Martinborough wine news

It's been a busy two months on the Martinborough wine scene with launches, tastings, a new brand (Mason) and new releases, including the sixth vintage of Marie Zelie Pinot Noir and new single vineyard Pinot Noirs from Escarpment. Not to mention a private group’s Italian tasting that I was happy the happy recipient of left overs from, thanks to a thoughtful member of the group. This month’s wine news has an unashamed focus on Pinot Noir; the leading grape and wine of both Martinborough and th...

Domaine Thomson farewells founder David Hall-Jones

Central Otago's wine community is mourning the loss of David Hall-Jones, owner of Domaine Thomson wines, who recently passed away after a long journey with cancer.The Domaine Thomson winery is named after Hall-Jones' great great grandfather, John Turnbull Thomson, known as Surveyor Thomson; a man who mapped the region of Central Otago in the 1950s. Hall Jones' journey studied law at the University of Otago and had a long term career in law until retiring in 2020. His winery was a redi...

Wild Earth's new Earth & Sky 2023

It was warmer than usual, drier than usual and riper than usual, which could be an expression of climate change (warmer weather) or an unusually warm year. Whatever it comes to down, the new 2023 Earth & Sky Pinot Noir is a richly fruity, spicy Pinot Noir from Central Otago. Here is my tasting note on this new wine. 17.5/202023 Wild Earth 'Earth & Sky' Pinot Noir RRP $69.99This is the top tier Pinot Noir from Wild Earth Wines in Central Otago and was made by Jen Parr from a blend of...

What is Marlborough's best kept vinous secret?

What is Marlborough’s best kept vinous secret? There are several contenders but it has to be a wine that is rising in stature, both in volume and in value (quality, in another word). So, here it is: Pinot Noir. The vast stony plains of free draining, arid soils and the gentle slopes of clay in the southern valleys both give Marlborough more than a little complexity to play with when it comes to style, depth, taste and value of the growing number of Pinot Noirs produced there today. 1...

Wine of the week - $25 recession buster red

Wine of the week - $25 recession buster redHere's a wine to turn the heads of the most price conscious among us, offering extremely good value for money and more than a touch of complexity for $25. 17.5+/202021 Warra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot RRP $25-ish A wine loving work colleague put a bottle of this sensational bottle of wintery red wine on the desk of yours truly to see how it rated. Very well, it turns out. McLaren Vale is a hot bed of experimentati...

The quest to find the best 50 under $25

More than 1,280 wines from around Aotearoa and the world will be put to the taste test in Hawke’s Bay this week at the 22nd annual New World Wine Awards.This year is the first time the region has hosted the New World Wine Awards, which will involve 20 pallet loads of wine, glasses and equipment, along with a team of nearly 70, including 26 judges.“While some may feel envious of the task ahead us, tasting some of the best wines around, the next few days will involve a lot of logisti...

And the winner is... Katie Cameron

Congratulations to Katie Cameron who has officially been named the North Island Young Winemaker of the Year for 2024.Cameron currently works at Ata Rangi in Martinborough and was awarded the 2024 Tonnellerie de Mercurey North Island Young Winemaker of the Year on 25 July this year  following the competition held at the wine campus of the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawke’s Bay.The regional competition is open to all eligible contestants from the North Island and this year cont...

No 1 in name and top of their game

It's often said that behind every overnight success, there is 20 years in the making and it is something that Daniel and Adele Le Brun can relate to because this month marks 25 years since they bottled their first edition of Cuvée No 1. For those who are unfamiliar with Cuvée No 1, it is one of the best known sparkling wines in New Zealand made using the traditional method. This is code for sparkling wine that's made the same way as Champagne, only in this case it's made in Marlborough. D...

What does Dry July mean to you

If Dry July has passed you by (no rhyme intended), spare a thought for the makers of New Zealand's newest 0% alcohol wine, the Giesen family, who added another dealcoholised wine to their now growing range this week. The new wine is the 0% Giesen Chardonnay (RRP $18.99) and its fortuitous timing, given that it taps neatly into the nerve of Dry July and a growing concern globally about the impact of alcohol on our health. Not that I am personally taking part in Dry July this year, aside from...

Five top drops - Pinot Noirs to drink this July

This month marks the 14th consecutive one in as many years that I have written an annual Pinot Noir report for publication in Drinksbiz magazine. This time round, I wrote with a sense of awe at the explosion in volume, value and very impressive Pinot Noirs made in New Zealand. Needless to say, not all of them made it into the report, which is where this top five come in (and, yes, there are another five waiting in the wings).Pinot Noir is the most important red grape and the second most imp...

Rock on Rockburn new releases

Rockburn takes its name from the rugged, rock strewn landscape of Central Otago and has two vineyards, one on the Gibbston Back Road in Gibbston Valley, the other at Parkburn in the Cromwell Basin which is home to its winery at Ripponvale. The Rockburn Stables Cellar Door and tasting room is situated in the Gibbston Valley in Coal Pit Road and this winery is a specialist of white wines as well as Pinot Noir; the leading light of most Central Otago wineries. Rockburn also produces Pinot...

Pivotal Pinot pioneer retires and new appointee

It's official. Paul Mason has been named as the new winemaker at Nga Waka winery and will take over in November this year from winemaker-founder, Roger Parkinson, who will retire after 32 impressive vintages.  Mason is currently the head winemaker at Martinborough Vineyard where he has been for 20 years, building a reputation as an outstanding producer of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling over that time, along with other high quality wines such as Sauvignon Blanc.Roger Parkinson’s retir...

Fab four release from Escarpment 2022

Tim Bourne had his work cut out at Escarpment Vineyard's annual single vineyard release held in late June this year. He was charged with the task of releasing four Pinot Noirs from single sites around the Martinborough wine growing area, all of them from the tricky 2022 vintage.It was a privilege to be there to hear and taste the wines as Bourne addressed and impressed a roomful of Pinot Noir fans. If this is a tough vintage, then bring on the great ones because these wines are among the pinnacl...

Discover Te Muna Valley's deliciousness

I have long been a follower, writer and fan of Te Muna Valley, its majestic landscape and outstanding Pinot Noirs, so I am thrilled to be hosting the opening half of a new event called Discover Te Muna. The two day event will include great wines from producers such as Blue Earth, Craggy Range, Equilibrium, Escarpment Vineyard, Mason and Te Tera. I will host an in-depth tasting of whites and reds from Te Muna as well as the story of this stunning valley's transformation from farming to wine.The f...

What's in my glass this week... maverick wines

A chilly barrel tasting of Lagrein at a small New Zealand winery this week sparked a conversation about climate change, diversity and the need to future proof our wine industry. It can be challenging to find ways of future proofing ourselves in a world where the climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable and yet it was exactly that sentiment that leads winemaker Jane Cooper to explore grape varieties that are off the beaten track. Lagrein is one of the quirkier grape varieties that she is ex...

Homage to Winetopia - wine without pretence

Winetopia founder and organiser Rob Elliott is a man on a mission: to bring wine to the masses in a chilled, buzzy and fun environment, without a hint of pretence. The event is an annual fixture in central Wellington and Auckland each year, having begun life in 2016 and, despite a few hiccups thrown up by covid, Winetopia continues to grow, both in the confidence of those taking part and in wine lovers' perceptions of the event. It is a great place to go to taste wines most people would rarely g...

Winetopia Wellington - join me for great wines

Winetopia starts in Wellington today Friday 7 June and runs through from tomorrow afternoon into the evening, Saturday 8 June, at the TSB Arena in Wellington. Join me and other wine lovers at Winetopia for wine, food and music and a great time. The focus is on having fun in a stimulating, interesting, informative - and completely unpretentious - environment. It 's a privilege to host sessions at Winetopia each year. I select the wines for all of my sessions and prepare fresh informatio...