Wine Reviews

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Pizazz of shiraz suits sizzle

Summer! The barbecue comes out of hibernation and while warmer days trend towards white wines, there is a wonderful synergy between food fresh off the barbecue and Australian shiraz.

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Showcasing the diversity of Waitaki Valley wines

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Showcasing the diversity of Waitaki Valley wines

I think this happens to me every year: one minute it’s early spring, the next Christmas feels like it’s knocking on the door.

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Pinot gris busy making its mark

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Pinot gris busy making its mark

Tasting through this selection of pinot gris, I found myself thinking back to the early 2000s when I was involved with a wine business that worked with local restaurants on their wine lists.

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In early October, 14 local (one even drove from Bannockburn for the event) wine enthusiasts gathered at the home of last year’s winner, David Tasker, for the annual, hotly contested, Blind Chicken wine options contest.

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Wine awards inspire a bit of thinking pink

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Wine awards inspire a bit of thinking pink

The 22nd annual New World Wine Awards competition took place in Hawke’s Bay at the beginning of August.

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Raising a toast to drinkable, appealing chardonnays

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Raising a toast to drinkable, appealing chardonnays

A little while back I greatly enjoyed tasting my way through a raft of Central Otago chardonnays. Now we head to Waipara, Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay.

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Some of those special pinots

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Some of those special pinots

Depending on where you shop, there’s no doubt that there are a vast array of price points out there for Central Pinot Noir.

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New pinot noir vintages from some old favourites

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New pinot noir vintages from some old favourites

I’ve been in the midst of a veritable deluge of pinot noirs recently, which is actually quite a nice place to be.

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Trying some different things

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Trying some different things

For the curious, there are a handful of wine styles that sit outside the mainstream, offering flavour profiles and textures distinct from the classic wines we have all come to know.

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Plenty of potential bottled in young, fresh wines

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Plenty of potential bottled in young, fresh wines

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Winemaker crown back in Central

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Winemaker crown back in Central

Congratulations to Nina Downer of Felton Road Wines, who has won the NZ Young Viticulturist of the Year competition, bringing the crown back to Central!

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Springing into the new season

Vineyards in Beaujolais, France. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

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Springing into the new season

Spring. A time of renewal, rebirth and growth, lengthening daylight hours and (hopefully) increasing temperatures. What new things might we look forward to on the wine front?

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A toast to good things coming in threes

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A toast to good things coming in threes

Somewhat of a mixed assortment for your delectation today, as much by expediency as by design.

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Exploring Central Otago’s diversity of vintages

An unintended consequence of the DCC's draft local alcohol policy is that dessert wine drinkers...

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Exploring Central Otago’s diversity of vintages

A customer walks into a wine shop ... nope; not the start of a joke but a question asked from time to time is whether there are older vintages available?

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Young winemakers maturing into champions of the future

Central Otago Young Viticulturist Nina Downer, of Felton Road wines.

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Young winemakers maturing into champions of the future

I always like to acknowledge the results of the Central Otago legs of the Young Viticulturist & Winemaker competitions in these pages.

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Chardonnay makes headway in Central

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Chardonnay makes headway in Central

I do go on about chardonnay having sometimes been cast as an unsung hero in the firmament of Central Otago wine.

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Tasting history in every sip

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Tasting history in every sip

Gisborne - Tairāwhiti - ‘‘First to see the light’’, as the marketing tagline says, making Gisborne the first city on the mainland to see the sunrise each day.

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