Fromm : Single Vineyard Loveliness
There can’t have been a single delegate at Pinot17 who wasn’t charmed by Hatsch Kalberer’s gentle speech praising Central Otago’s wines and its winemakers.
FAWC : An evening of Rare and Aged
Food and Wine Classic Hawke’s Bay (FAWC) started back in 2012 and has grown over the last five years from an event held annually to one that now has two full months of activities in both November and June.
Casa del Vino, Nelson
I was delighted to be invited by Juliane and Glenn Cormier to come present a tasting at their Nelson wine shop, Casa del Vino. Originally from the US, the couple have made Nelson their home, “it’s much warmer than Chicago” says Juliane.
Mahi : New Releases
Reading the notes that accompanied these new releases, I was surprised to learn Mahi’s symbol is not, as I always thought, a snail but instead a representation of the NZ fern frond. As we know, you learn something new every day.
Q Wine Waitaki
New Zealand is reknown for its mercurial climate, with frosts, tropical storms, extreme winds and drought keeping viticulturists and winemakers the length of the country on their toes. While most seem resigned to dealing with Mother Nature, it has always struck me that Waitaki seems to take pride, and actively promote itself, as being the… Read More »
A Brace of Doggies
There is much to like about Dog Point. Self effacing, talented owners making carefully crafted, strongly appealing wines that show true sense of place.
Great Whites from Austria
Attending an MW Education Seminar is hard work. Most of the students wouldn’t have sat for 10 hours a day in a classroom for some time and the stress of five days packed with formal blind wine tastings, intense theory sessions and lectures from renowned experts (Jean Guillaume Prats and Professor Dr Monika Christmann this year)… Read More »
Gentle Pruning, Austrian Style
The modern wine industry should be able to evolve quickly and even regions and producers full of history and tradition have learned to adapt and innovate to respond to external pressures, be they climate, market or consumer driven. As a wine commentator and educator, one of the best (and most challenging) things about working with wine… Read More »
Kumeu River : 2015 New Releases
(apologies for the blurry photo – I couldn’t locate the ones I took myself so had to snitch from the Kumeu River website). The annual invitation to taste the new releases from Kumeu River usually involves driving out to the Brajkovich family winery in West Auckland. This year the venue was the only-just-reopened O’Connell Street Bistro –… Read More »
Tantalus Estate, Waiheke
As I’m up to my ears in wine all week, I don’t make a habit of visiting producers on my days off. But a long standing invitation to taste the wines made by one of my students, Alex Perez, at Tantalus Estate on Waiheke Island proved irresistible. With relatives visiting from New York and a… Read More »