According to the 2020 NZ Winegrowers Annual Report, rosé is now New Zealand’s fourth most exported wine style, behind perennial favourites sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and pinot gris.
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Huntress wines
Winemaker Jannine Rickard’s Instagram is not for the faint-hearted but does give very good insight into why her personal label has been called Huntress. This is her second release of wines under this label, a subtle, smart trio that is well-formed and food-friendly. Fruit is sourced from a number of vineyards in Gladstone and Wairarapa.
Domain Road : new releases
Established in 2002, Domain Road is a reliable, no nonsense producer making a range of intelligent wines. At a time when everyone seems to be experimenting and pushing boundaries, owners Graeme and Gillian Crosbie are content to leave the winemaking to Pete Bartle, who adds just the right amount of character.
Seifried Estate : new releases
Established in 1973 by Hermann and Agnes Seifried, over the last 40-odd years the family (children Heidi, Christopher and Anna are now part of Team Seifried too) has crafted a range of strongly varietal wines that reflect their Nelson origins. NZ’s only producer of wurzer, the winery is a quiet achiever scooping the Champion Sauvignon…
Kumeu River Winery : 2019s
posted by Jane Michael Brajkovich is not a man given to hyperbole. So when, at the launch of the Kumeu River 2018s last year, he said ‘wait for the 2019s’ and accompanied this statement with a very slight raising of his eyebrows, I took that to mean he thought the ‘19s would be something special….
Etna-tastic
Wine remains one of a few products transparently connected to its place of origin, telling that story via its soil, climate and the people who coax it from vine to bottle. This link from producer to consumer can get overlooked even by those of us who love and obsess over wine – maybe we buy for the kudos of a label, or perhaps we just drink a glass without thought after a busy day. When this happens, it easy to overlook the most wonderfully fascinating aspect of wine: it’s a window into other worlds.
2019 Eva Sauvignon Blanc
Eve Pemper was born in Croatia but has just gained her New Zealand citizenship making her a proud Criwi. She has worked in Marlborough for a number of years but wanted to launch her own label and in 2019 was able to do so. Eva released a 2019 Sauvignon Blanc and she hopes that in…
Judging in Blois
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).
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.