Charmian Smith

There's a tongue-in-cheek saying that the first duty of wine is to be red, but I think the first duty of red wine is to be delicious.

John Buck has long been among the leaders of the New Zealand wine industry. Now he is preparing to leave his Te Mata vineyard in the hands of the next generation. Charmian Smith reports.

Tucked away up the Waihopai Valley in Marlborough, the new Ara vineyard has been under wraps for several years, but it was recently launched to New Zealand trade and media with a splash.

Chillies are native to Central and South America, and widely used in Mexican cuisine, where they were cultivated some 5000 years ago.

Now that pepper is ubiquitous, it's hard to believe the demand for it drove Arab and European explorers to brave the dangers of the unknown and build and destroy empires.

How long should fresh fruit last? Charmian Smith asks around.

While there are few bad New Zealand sauvignons these days (except perhaps at the very bottom of the ladder), it has to be admitted that most are simple wines driven by oodles of fruit and a lively zesty finish and tend to be boring after a glass or two.

What a pleasure it was to taste some of the dozen or so chardonnays for this column. Some people overlook chardonnay in favour of more sexy varieties such as pinot gris or sauvignon blanc, and certainly there is a lot of boring chardonnay out there, but, like the girl in the nursery rhyme, when they are good they can be very very good.

One of the most interesting cookbooks to cross my desk (and my bench) recently is Kate Fraser's Cooking Times: A culinary journey through Kiwi kitchens from the 1930s to the present day