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’Tis the season: roses begging to be opened and enjoyed
Spring. It’s that time of the year that rose really starts coming into its own.
Mark Henderson
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Always popular new release tasting nears
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Always popular new release tasting nears
Labour Weekend means only one thing for many wine lovers, and that is the annual Alexandra Basin Winegrowers New Release Tasting at the Clyde Railway Station Reserve on Sunday, October 26
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Even mean old Mark scored these wines highly
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Even mean old Mark scored these wines highly
Mark Henderson savours some classy chardonnays.
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Wine choice following a sense of seasonality
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Wine choice following a sense of seasonality
A visit to the farmers’ market is a reminder of seasonality, as the empty spaces of late winter begin to be filled in by vendors bringing the first spring crops to market.
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Ways to reduce uncertainty about dryness of Rieslings
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Ways to reduce uncertainty about dryness of Rieslings
Always a pleasure for me to taste flights of Riesling; one thing I’m mindful of is serving order, from the dryest wines, then gradually ascending sweetness.
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Savouring Pinot Noirs from anywhere but Central
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Savouring Pinot Noirs from anywhere but Central
One of my tasting buddies recently returned from Europe and post tasting through this group of wines decided to "blind me" on a couple of Central Pinots.
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Range punching above its weight
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Range punching above its weight
Some regular readers have mentioned that they look forward to mentions of wines that don’t break the bank.
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500th anniversary has come and gone
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500th anniversary has come and gone
Mark Henderson, along with two buddies, has fallen on his sword to do more than 500 wine tastings for his weekly column since he joined Fresh in 2015.
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Drinkability, price impress
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Drinkability, price impress
The debate during today’s tasting revolved around the scoring process and whether one should be awarding points on a like for like basis.
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‘Sense of timing’ key for appreciation of aged wine
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‘Sense of timing’ key for appreciation of aged wine
Hot on the heels of the Young Viticulturist competition comes the Otago leg of the Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker competition which was held at Vinpro in Cromwell at the end of July.
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Lighter, low-alcohol wines still pleasing to the palate
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Lighter, low-alcohol wines still pleasing to the palate
It is clear from the sales of the Nolo (No or Low Alcohol) wines that more people are looking to moderate their intake of alcohol.
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Central Otago Young Viticulturist winner announced
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Central Otago Young Viticulturist winner announced
Every year I bring attention to both the Young Viticulturist and Young Winemaker competitions as these young men and women are the future of our wine industry.
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Never any hardship to taste collection of Pinot Noir
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Never any hardship to taste collection of Pinot Noir
If you thought that I have written about Central Pinot only recently, you would be absolutely correct.
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Let a little sun spill over with every sip of these beauties
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Let a little sun spill over with every sip of these beauties
It won’t have escaped your notice that we are in the depths of winter, though on the positive side we are now quite a bit past the shortest day.
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Wine a pleasure to embrace rather than dumb down
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Wine a pleasure to embrace rather than dumb down
I’ve recently read a speech given by winery owner Nigel Greening at Pinot Noir NZ 2025, earlier this year in Christchurch.
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Breaking out of the box can bring its own rewards
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Breaking out of the box can bring its own rewards
While tasting this Pinot Gris lineup with my colleague Mr Collins, we had considerable discussion about one of the wines: he initially struggled with the style, whereas I was a fan.
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Time allows winemakers to further hone their craft
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Time allows winemakers to further hone their craft
In my view, one of the strengths of the Central Otago wine scene has been the longevity of involvement of so many of its winemakers.
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NZ chardonnay going from strength to strength
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NZ chardonnay going from strength to strength
I can’t but help feeling (after tasting these wines amidst a bigger grouping) that Chardonnay in New Zealand is going from strength to strength.
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Marvellous opportunity to be seduced
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Marvellous opportunity to be seduced
Today, a marvellous opportunity awaited in the guise of four sub-regional expressions of pinot noir by Valli and two newcomers from Domaine Thomson.
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Chardonnay - Otago’s rising star
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Chardonnay - Otago’s rising star
It's hard to believe 1994 was more than 30 years ago. That year I drove to Bannockburn to help my friends Steve and Barbara plant their Cairnmuir Road Vineyard that later became Carrick.