I must admit to having been caught out once again this year, as Christmas came rushing headlong towards me, though I’m certain I’m not the only one in that boat!
At the recent New Zealand International Film Festival, I watched a screening of the Kiwi wine doco A Seat at the Table, which (as a wine obsessive) I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Mercurey Young Winemaker competition is open to under-30s working in all aspects of wine production. The Otago regional competition was held last week at Vinpro in Cromwell.
As time goes along and vineyards, wine-makers and the industry mature, there is growing understanding and confidence as to what each vineyard will express.
Some love their oysters cooked, others insist on them raw: whichever your preference, there are several sublime wine pairings to take the experience to another level.
During the recent grape harvest, a small window of opportunity allowed me to scamper up the hill to the Prophet's Rock Vineyard in Bendigo, where I met Paul Pujol and Francois Millet.
The 2016 growing season in Hawke's Bay was cooler early, but a warmer January, February and March saw growing degree days catch up to the long-term average.
For some obscure reason, Compo came into my mind the other day - not the ACC mind you, but the character in the TV series The Last of the Summer Wine, writes Mike Henderson.