A trio to love

15 February 2016By Yvonne

Published NZ Herald Sat 13 Feb 2016   So you’re gunning to get into the good-books with your valentine tomorrow.  You’ve bought flowers, heaping wads of the best chocolate you can find, you’ve even bought a snazzy card and poured your heart out to her with a handwritten message inside (remember handwriting?)  Complete the equation … Read More

Wine talk

9 February 2016By Yvonne

Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 9 Feb 2016   Clos Marguerite Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $27 ★★★★½ For me, sauvignon blanc’s like this absolutely scream their sense of place.  From a mile away you can tell it’s from the Awatere Valley because of the gorgeous elderflower, lemon blossom, peach and lime perfume typical of the … Read More

Three soothing bottles

6 February 2016By Yvonne

Published NZ Herald Sat 6 Feb 2016   If you’re finding you’re struggling to cope with the TPPA, the threat of ISIS, the shambolic weather this week and those ubiquitous, eye-stabbingly annoying ‘Be Like Bill’ posts on your Facebook timeline  – help is at hand.  You can thank me later.    Gemtree Bloodstone Shiraz 2013 … Read More

Tastes of summer

2 February 2016By Yvonne

Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 2 Feb 2016   Hands up if you’re one of the 340-odd thousand people who viewed the clip on YouTube of Australian woman Cheryl Marshall, making her own sparkling wine from a 5ltr cask (or ‘goon bag’ as they say in OZ) of Berri ‘Fresh Dry White’ in her soda … Read More

Don’t slip into a rut

30 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZ Herald Sat 30 Jan 2016   Well that’s it then.  January’s over, the kids head back to school next week and routine will reign again.  But this is no time to get all normal when it comes to your wine however.  Push the boat out with these babies…   Champagne Lanson Black Label … Read More

Tropical tang for sipping

26 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZME Regional Papers Tue 26 Jan 2016   It’s a rare thing, (seeing as the modern New Zealand wine industry is still so very young in the bigger scheme of things) that anyone gets to sit down, taste wine and chat with a person whose been making wine at the same company for over … Read More

A white flight

23 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZ Herald Sat 23 Jan 2016   During these summer days it’s okay to be a bit of a white wine snob — but be warned, overchill and you’ll kill the aromas, dull the flavours and ruin everything.   Mahurangi River Estate Albarino 2015 $28 I’m really excited about Albarino and the potential it … Read More

Punch of a boxer in a ballgown

19 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 19 Jan 2016   Love me tender?  Hardly… They say trying to buy houses is one of the most stressful things for any relationship.  I would go further and say that trying to buy a house via ‘tender’ is actually THE most stressful thing.  The sheer, bewildering, ambiguity of being … Read More

Three ways to ease the speed of summer

19 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZ Herald Sat 16 Jan 2016   What?  How did it suddenly become the middle of January already?  To ease the shock I suggest reaching for some tastebud-distracting deliciousness that’ll send you back to September in seconds flat.   Mansfield & Marsh Methode Traditionnelle Sparkling Wine NV $14.95 This is my new favourite bargain bubbly.  … Read More

Spicy reds are drops to savour

12 January 2016By Yvonne

Published NZME Regional Newspapers Tue 12 Jan 2016   By now so many of you will be back at work, watching the clock and making little sculptures out of blu-tac at your desk. You’ll be shuffling paper, sticking PostIt notes to things and walking purposefully from your desk to the staff loos every 30 minutes … Read More