We saw and learnt a fair bit in such a short time (not only does Touraine have around 5000 hectares of vines and is home to 650 wine producers but Mick Jagger has a home there).
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Fenavin – Spain’s Wine Fair
Spain has 975,000 hectares of vineyards, making it 24 times bigger than New Zealand’s plantings and over 200 indigenous grape varieties (not counting all the international ones. It is a complex, fascinating country.
Giesen Zero Alcohol Sauvignon Blanc
However the modern trend for wellfulness, coupled to health and dietary concerns seems to have created a newly burgeoning market, despite the inherent cynicism of the category.
Blackenbrook : new releases
Nelson’s Blackenbrook Vineyard is a quintessential New Zealand producer: a small, family-owned winery, owned by nice people quietly getting on with making perfectly nice wines. Ursula and Daniel Schwarzenbach farm 20ha of vineyards in the Moutere clays, where they produce a tidy suite of wines ranging from the expected to the slightly less expected.
It’s all Greek to me
Mention Greek wine and most people think Retsina. While in some respects this distinctive pine-infused white represents much of Greek wine (history, individuality, rusticity) it is also a very narrow lens through which to view a fascinating and dynamic wine industry.
Fromm : 2015 Pinot Noir
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. But though he mentioned being envious of his more southerly brethren, surely there is no better advocate for Marlborough than this talented Swiss born winemaker who has steered the ship at Fromm for over 25 years.
Craggy Range Te Muna Four
If Charlie Thompson, a confectionary salesman, hadn’t (purportedly) dropped his tray of samples in front of a potential customer, thereby jumbling up all the sweets, liquorice allsorts would not have been invented.
Central Muster
“Don’t worry, they won’t ask many questions” said Natalie Potts, NZ Winegrowers Asia Marketing Manager. I was in Beijing teaching NZW wine education courses and was getting used to students who focussed intently on learning but whom were quite shy about speaking up. So I was taken aback when one sommelier asked me to rank…
Que Syrah
NZ is well-established on a world stage with our flagship sauvignon blanc, but we are also becoming known as a country capable of truly great red wines.
Marlborough, tripping the pinotastic
Marlborough tends to dominate our wine headlines but think pinot noir and most conjure up an image of Central Otago.
Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron, Pauillac
Every now and then you taste a wine that helps to recalibrate your palate… and the 2004 Chateau Pichon-Baron I tasted a week ago reminded me just how classic and complete good Bordeaux really is. Beautifully integrated with ripe, seamless fruit, fine, unobtrusive oak and wonderful length, this wine is still in its infancy and…
2015 Trinity Hill Homage
When Warren Gibson said he thought the 2015 was a Goldilocks wine I thought it meant the best food match was porridge. In my defence I’m blaming my stupidity on the stress of running a WSET Level 3 exam that morning and a blistering hot day in Hawkes Bay.En route back to the airport it…