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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 ...

Wines of the week - trio of Pinots

When we think of Pinot, it tends to be Pinot Noir but there are many variations on the theme, most of them white, including the perenially popular Pinot Gris, which features in this week's top three wines of the week. While Pinot Noir is often characterised by its naturally high acidity, which adds tension and freshness to wines, the opposite can often true of Pinot Gris which can be low in acidity, even though both grapes are genetically the same in terms of their DNA. Variety is the spice of l...

New foraged gins

Eight years of trial and error finally came to fruition for Mark and Zoe Rose who launched their new Elsewhere gins late last year, just in the nick of time for Christmas. The duo behind the country’s newest gin brand are a couple in life as well as in work, so there was plenty of opportunity to taste test their products during their eight years of development work. He is a winemaker while she is the marketing brains behind the brand. Each of the six Elsewhere gins is named after a place in Ne...

Wine of the week - Quirky dry white

Semillon is one of the great white grapes of Bordeaux in south west France and was once a popular grape in New Zealand but it has declined hugely these days, making wines like these a relative rarity. It seems surprising that there is so little Semillon in this country, given the superb quality and style of this wine, not only now but history shows that its aging potential is also outstanding.  Only 200 cases (six packs) were made and it is available direct from Forrest Estate.  2021 F...

Central Otago's newest $140 Pinot Noir

The words Central Otago conjure up mountains and majesty but the region's most planted wine grape variety is also hitting new highs right now with the release of a top priced new Pinot Noir from one of the region's smallest wineries - Coal Pit in the Gibbston Valley. It is owned by Rosie Dunphy and the wines are made by Anika Willner. Both are on a quest to coax the absolute best Pinot Noir they can from their small vineyard site, which is situated in one of Central's coolest clim...

Friday wine with Larry McKenna in Martinborough

He is often referred to as the king of Pinot and for good reason. Larry McKenna is one of the most experienced winemakers in New Zealand, having forged a name for producing a vast number of the best Pinot Noirs in the country since the early days of Martinborough Vineyards. He was one of the first four winemakers in this remote rural wine region, a place he remains, despite his passion for the mountains and majesty of Central Otago. Here is an earlier Friday wine chat with Larry, published ...

Roadshow dates for wine tasting

The 2022 Negociants Fine Wine Tour dates have been announced for both public and trade tastings in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Wine brands to be tasted are listed below, following the dates in these three major centres. Auckland Monday 25 July at The Royal NZ Yacht Squadron Wellington Tuesday 26 July at Te Wharewaka o Poneke on the waterfrontChristchurch Wednesday 27 July at the Christchurch Town Hall Trade sessions will be held from 1pm to 5pm and public...

Friday drinks with Ben Glover of Zephyr Wines

Ben Glover has just taken his first deep breath since the start of vintage 2022, a manically busy period of the year at the best of times, but even more so when harvest crews are in short supply. Given the challenges of vintage busyness, Glover shared these questions with the four children he shares with his life partner, Susie Glover. Here are their (collective) thoughts.  The weekly interview on this website is inspired by the Proust questionnaire What do you consider your great...

Five great whites for Easter

Winery founder Rachael Carter of the glamorously named Soho brand featured as our Friday drinks interview last Friday and this week we moved south to North Canterbury over on this blog to meet Cameron Woodhouse, the new chef at Greystone.  In the meantime, with Easter about to give the chocoholics in our lives a chance to break out the cocoa, here are five great white wines to enjoy over this holiday weekend. They range from Chardonnay to Pinot Gris to Sauvignon Blanc, all from the South Is...

Hawke's Bay's ode to the fig... and more

A Foodie Film Festival will be held alongside food and wine workshops at this year’s Winter Food and Wine Classic in Hawke's Bay, which will be held on all four weekends in June this year. Events, dates and tickets were announced today and with prices per event ranging from $15 to $260, there is something for everyone. Participants include Black Barn Bistro, Craggy Range, the Mangapapa Hotel, Simon Pepping of Egmont St Eatery, Rogue Burger and The Catering Studio and also Te Mata Figs, wh...