Mark Henderson

Marlborough may be the engine room of New Zealand’s sauvignon blanc production, but it would be remiss to ignore the variety from other parts of the country

I'll never tire of the fact that in wine you are always learning.

I was recently involved with a very rare tasting of German Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).

The end of September saw the release of the NZ Winegrowers Annual Report, which has a wealth of detail to absorb among its facts, figures and statistics.

Having tasted this line up of Central Otago pinot gris, I then delved into the latest New Zealand Winegrowers annual report to get the ‘‘state of the play’’ of this popular variety.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you thought that I have written about Central Pinot only recently, you would be absolutely correct.