Joelle Thomson

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Organic Week Aotearoa… Wines of the week

It’s more than a buzzword or a nice idea. Organic wine – certified organic wine, that is – is now an imperative part of every New Zealand winemaker’s current thinking. It has to be, if they want to share in the marketing of New Zealand wine overseas by New Zealand Winegrowers, but that’s another, much longer story than organic wine itself. Organic Week Aotearoa kicks off tomorrow, Saturday 5 September, and here are my three new favourite organically certified wines for this week. Or...

FAWC announced in Hawke’s Bay

Fancy a weekend away? Since long distances are off the cards, a short one may appeal at this year’s Fine And Wine Classic in Hawke’s Bay from 6 to 15 November. The FAWC!’s summer programme launched this week with a full programme and tickets online now. The programme this summer  includes chefs Josh Emett, Jason Kim of Gochu, Kate Fay of Cibo, Renato Ribiero of Maloca Boteco and also Master Sommelier Cameron Douglas. Hawke’s Bay chefs are also participating and include James Beck...

Top drops under $25 from Blackenbrook

Low-fi, minimal intervention, gravity fed, organic, vegan friendly and biodynamic are among the latest buzzwords in wine circles globally right now and Blackenbrook Vineyard in Nelson ticks several of these boxes, with more on the way. The owners are Daniel and Ursula Schwarzenbach, who have 20 hectares of vineyard planted between Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. It’s home to seven different grape varieties, all growing on Moutere clay soils in Tasman Bay, 500 metres from the sea �...

Top (and pricey) new Pinot Noirs from Rockburn

Today marks the release of two of New Zealand’s highest priced Pinot Noirs from Rockburn Wines in Central Otago. They both come from the 2019 vintage; a great year for New Zealand Pinot Noir, to judge by the early trickle of wines slowly but steadily finding their way onto store shelves, both in real life and in the increasingly virtual one. If you can’t pop into a store to buy a bottle, it’s easier than ever to buy online, without having to risk contact with others or the inconvenience...

Wine of the week… a whole bunch love affair

It’s been a New Zealand Pinot Noir week here in Martinborough with a deluge of new releases and aged wines from producers to show how well this great red wine can taste, both as a young wine and when aged. There is no question that New Zealand Pinot Noir is growing in quality as well as in a diverse range of styles, with many winemakers opting to use a portion of whole bunches in their ferments in lieu of high proportions of oak during the wine’s maturation. I like the inclusion of whole ...

Marlborough Wine Show announced

Wine Marlborough has announced the dates for its annual wine competition and it opens entries to the 2020 Marlborough Wine Show on Monday 31 August. The show is the largest regional wine competition in the country and is to be sponsored by QuayConnect this year. The show will highlight Marlborough wines made from Sauvignon Blanc,  Pinot Noir, Rosé, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer. This year’s focus will also be on the diversity of wines made in different microclimates around...

The first new Bollinger for 12 years

If you can’t visit the village of Ay in Champagne right now, then Champagne Bollinger will come to you. At least it would have, if you were among a handful of wine writers living in global lockdown earlier this year. Lockdown continues to take away many of the freedoms we take for granted. Popping out for morning coffee, newspapers and crosswords before work, for evening drinks, day time at the office, socialising and even meeting with work colleagues takes on an allure for some. It was def...

New wine reviews from Nelson

Nelson is the northernmost wine region in the South Island of New Zealand and, as it’s tucked away in its sunny enclave on the west coast, it often slips off the radar of many wine lovers. It’s not a big region, home mostly to family owned wineries and wine brands, such as Ian and Jeanne Bathgate’s Old House Vineyards. They own the land and grow the grapes but employ local winemakers to produce the wines for them. This week they sent me their latest wines to review, which I’ve done be...

Who is Winelord?

If the name Winelord doesn’t ring any familiar bells, you are in good company because it is a relatively new addition to the Nelson wine scene, which happens to own some brands that may be familiar to wine drinkers. Last year, Winelord bought the small winery, Kaimira Estate, adding it to the other brands in its stable; Middle Earth Wines, Brightwater gravels and Capital Cider. The company is owned by the Grey family, which first began planting grapes in the Brightwater area of Nelson in th...

Wine of the week… big wine from a small region

Another day, another case of Covid-19 and more frightening reports from around the world, all of which makes a liquid like wine seem ever so slightly trivial. Or does it. I’ve been enjoying the trickle of 2019 Pinot Noirs pouring slowly onto the market right now from wineries in a range of regions, including the one that I live in – Martinborough, that quaint little farming-turned-wine village over the hill from Wellington. This week’s top wine is one that I’ve tasted twice in the pas...

Two new Chardonnays to reignite the great white flame

What is the most important white grape in New Zealand? Chardonnay probably doesn’t spring to mind, given that it pales in significance with its  embarrassingly modest 3,167 hectares of grapes nationwide compared with Sauvignon Blanc with 24,037 hectares. Numbers aren’t everything anyway as one of New Zealand’s most experienced winemakers has shown by devoting his own brand entirely to Chardonnay. Tony Bish’s name has been synonymous with Sacred Hill Wines for a large part of his ...

New cellar door in Hastings

A new cellar door has opened in Hastings this week with funding from the Covid-19 relief fund to Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers, the region’s wine industry body for grape growers and winemakers. The new cellar door will feature a rotating range of wines, including many that are not widely seen due to small production from producers without their own facilities. The new cellar door will be open for 13 weeks from now through to Sunday 8 November. It will be open for 20 hours hours each week. Visit...

Wines of the week for life in lockdown

Life in lockdown moves up a notch this week with more stringent measures to prevent the spread of a resurgence in Covid-19 in New Zealand. So much for our 102 days of virus free country. It seems to have been here all along, as many of us had thought but hoped against. But where there’s a lockdown, there’s an opportunity and I’m using the few extra hours to catch up on tasting wines sent to me for review. Here are three of the best I have had the good fortune to taste this week. 19/20 ...

Wines of the week for spring

Pandemics may spell bad news for airlines but they offer winemakers a great opportunity to talk about and taste their wares in a new forum, namely, the virtual online space. This week I was lucky enough to be asked to co host a virtual tasting via Instagram for Whitehaven Wines in Marlborough. The company began life as a romantic new business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. W...

Mid week affordable new wines from Seifried

A trio of new wines from one of Nelson’s oldest winery made their way into my tasting glass this week. Here are my reviews on Seifried Estate’s latest bunch, all incredibly affordable drops which retail for less than $20. The winemaking is by Anna Seifried, whose siblings run the winery and whose parents founded it – Hermann and Agnes Seifried. It’s a rare New Zealand winery, which remains in family hands with a second generation at the helm. 18.5/20 2020 Seifried Sauvignon Blanc Nels...

Wines of the week… Chardonnay at $20 and $30

Many people are happy to have a job in these increasingly uncertain, global pandemic times, but for those who feel heavily invested in their work, the first wine of this week will ring a few bells. Its name is a clever play on words. Where did the name Skin in the Game come from? I asked winemaker Tony Bish this question over a glass of wine a couple of weeks ago and the reply was: “It’s mandatory when you’re a winemaker to have some skin in the game.” He has forged a  bit of a r...

First off the bottling line… new 2020 Sauvignon Blancs

The 2020 vintage may have been one of the most challenging in the history of the modern New Zealand wine industry, but the quality of these two fresh new whites shows that it will also go down as one of the best. These two mid week white wines are very different styles from two vastly different regions, which share the same vintage freshness, concentration and zesty characters. 2020 Nga Waka Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough $19-$21, 18.5/20 Winemaker Roger Parkinson, brix at harvest 21.3, 12.5% ...

First off the bottling line… new 2020 Sauvignon Blancs

The 2020 vintage may have been one of the most challenging in the history of the modern New Zealand wine industry, but the quality of these two fresh new whites shows that it will also go down as one of the best. These two mid week white wines are very different styles from two vastly different regions, which share the same vintage freshness, concentration and zesty characters. 2020 Nga Waka Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough $19-$21, 18.5/20 Winemaker Roger Parkinson, brix at harvest 21.3, 12.5% ...

Virtual wine tasting on Saturday 15 August 2020

A group of Hawke’s Bay winemakers is hosting its first virtual wine tasting on Saturday 15 August from 5pm to 6pm. The evening will include wines, canapѐs and conversation, all to be had at home with a pre ordered tasting package including five different wines from five wineries in the region. It’s called the F.A.W.C! Night In Virtual Wine Tasting and includes wines from Halcyon Days Wines, Clearview Estate, Te Awa Estate, Collaboration Wines and Smith and Sheth CRU. A representative fro...

Wine of the week… affordable Italian for $17

2018 Vino Lascito Sangiovese Rubicone $16.99 Sangiovese is Italy’s most abundant grape variety, writes author Ian d’Agata in his award winning book, Italy’s Native and Traditional Grapes. It’s probably the country’s most important grape variety too, given the huge number of wines made from it. And despite a roller coaster of styles, synonyms and regions in which it is produced, Sangiovese remains the heart and soul of a massive amount of Italy’s most exciting wines. It makes up at...

Misha’s Vineyard from the deep south highlights Riesling’s potential

If global politics are leaving a slightly bitter taste in your mouth right now, it might be time to get reacquainted with one of the world’s most underrated and sometimes sweeter wine styles. Before tuning out when the word ‘sweetness’ is mentioned, read on because one of these exceptional Rieslings is totally dry in style – and tastes it. Riesling does have a reputation for being sweet but that’s not always the case, as this pair of great whites from the most southern wine region o...

Wines of the week (why you should spend more than $20…)

Why pay $20+ on a bottle of wine when there’s so much of it available for significantly less than a $20 note? If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question, I would have enough to go all the way and buy great burgundy, the pinnacle of Pinot Noir. All jokes aside, it’s a fair enough question for wine lovers who are surrounded by cheap and cheerful Pinot – why would they seriously consider buying Pinot Noir that costs above $20 when there’s so much readily available for far...

New cellar door for Escarpment in Martinborough

One of Martinborough’s most respected wineries has teamed up with one of its least known boutique accommodations to offer wine tastings with food. The winery is Escarpment, based in the Te Muna Valley; nine kilometres east of Martinborough township, which is slightly off the beaten track for visitors to the village, who generally cycle or walk to the wineries. The new collaboration with Peppers Parehua offers an easy walk or cycle from Martinborough village to enjoy both the great wines of ...

Wine of the week – New Zealand’s first en primeur Chardonnay

David Nash is not the first filmmaker to turn his hand to winemaking but he may be the first New Zealand one to produce a Chardonnay, which sold out as an en primeur offer before it was in the bottle. This breaks the mould of how Kiwi white wines are sold. It was never offered at retail and was such an instant hit that it didn’t even get the chance to make it into traditional wine retail stores. The wine is called Helio and it’s Nash’s first foray into winemaking. Helio  is a Chard...

Covid-19 vintage 2020 difficult but rewarding

Vintages can be tough to report on because the proof is always in the bottle rather than the early reports but 2020 was remarkable in New Zealand in that it took place at all, due to the Covid-19 lockdown just as vintage was about to start. Claire Edward of Wairarapa Wines writes that the 2020 season will go down in history as one of the most difficult logistically, emotionally and physically. She shares her vintage report here, which covers Martinborough, Gladstone, Carterton and the no...