An email arrived halfway through January from Michael Henley, CEO of Trinity Hill Wines. “Trinity Hill are releasing our 2012 Gimblett Gravels wines and I was wondering if you would be interested in receiving some samples?” “Save your samples”, I wrote back, “I’m actually in Hawke’s Bay right now and I’m happy to pop over … Read More
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Chefs Create ‘Zealous Passion’Tribute to Noel Crawford
MEDIA RELEASE NZ Top chefs join for top dinner Avid foodies will have to be quick to get tickets as some of New Zealand’s best chefs create a four-course dinner on 30th August 2014 in celebration of their friend and colleague the late Noel Crawford. But that’s not all. Their purchase will raise funds … Read More
Boost your wine know-how on a Budget
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked “How can I get better at tasting wine and deciding what styles I like?” This one is easy to answer. You’ve got to practise. Taste anything and everything you’re exposed to and soon grasshopper, it will all become clear which types of wines will … Read More
Sauternes 2001 Library Tasting
Library Tasting of 2001 Sauternes Here’s your chance to be one of the privileged few to taste 12 of the greatest sweet wines (including Ch. D’Yquem) from “Perhaps the greatest Sauternes vintage in modern times” according to Jancis Robinson MW. Held in Wellington, at the Tasting Room at Regional Wines & Spirits at 6pm, Thursday … Read More
Go Go Greystone!
If you thought great New Zealand pinot noir only poured out of Central Otago, then here’s a nugget of knowledge for you. Waipara is fast becoming where it’s at. Well, this week it was anyway, with the announcement that the Greystone ‘Brothers Reserve’ 2012 ($69) scooped the prestigious International Pinot Noir Trophy at the Decanter … Read More
MATAWHERO MAGIC
Has it been six years? Really? When I first met Kirsten and Richard Searle they were a fresh-faced young couple bursting with nervous excitement having just taken possession of the iconic Matawhero Wines in Gisborne. It was 2008, they had three babies, a whopping mortgage, a rundown, rambling wine estate and wide-eyed dreams for the … Read More
A Year In Burgundy DVD is near…
A Year in Burgundy Now on VOD & DVD “Tender and real. It shows the hard work, the travails and tribulations of working the soil for a living.” — Wine Spectator VOD Streaming — Watch Now! A YEAR IN BURGUNDY is available now on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and all other leading VOD platforms internationally. … Read More
Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon 2010
Esk Valley Winemakers Reserve Gimblett Gravels Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 $59 ★★★★★ Inky purple in the glass and boasts aromas of pomegranate molasses, sweet fruit-wood smoke and prune followed by layers of complex, berry and cocoa notes. It’s built like a skyscraper, each level opening up to a floor with a different décor. With … Read More
Rimu Grove Pinot Gris 2010
Rimu Grove Pinot Gris 2010 $31 ★★★★½ Exotic confection and sweet, strudel-like aromas make way for a wave of luxuriously slick spices, succulent stonefruit and zesty acidity which creates a platform for excellent persistence of flavour. Not a pinot gris for the fragile or faint-hearted. www.rimugrove.co.nz
SPEND MORE ON YOUR SANITY
“Oh that’s such a cruisy job – wanna swap?” is something I hear regularly when I meet someone new and they find out what I do for a living. They must think it’s all just wine tasting day in day out, making a telly show and going to the occasional flash party. They don’t see … Read More