Grapes Aplenty
June marked a significant viticultural milestone for NZ, with the opening of its 500th winery. The honour goes to St Lukes Estate Wines Ltd in Blenheim. “In 1995 there were 204 wineries in NZ,” said John…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
“The Quintessential NZ Bolthole”
Australian Harpers Bazaar visits the infamous cinematograper Michael Seresin’s “little slice of secluded wilderness” in its regular ‘Personal Space’ section. Located in Waterfall Bay, Marlborough Sounds, Seresin’s some-time abode is anything but little, comprising…
Southern Wine Hub
A new development in the South Island’s Hurunui region hopes to provide a focus for the area’s flourishing wine industry. The Waipara Wine Village will eventually comprise a hotel, villas, wine bar, ale house and a food…
Trail-blazing Twosome
LA Times feature charts the rise of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, courtesy of forward-thinking brothers Bill and Ross Spence who first planted the grape – against conventional wisdom – in the early 1970s. Their vineyard, Matua Valley, is…
Land of plenty
The Financial Times devotes a sizeable spread to the “veritable culinary cornucopia” that is NZ. “‘Used to be that a big night out would be to Barry’s Bistro for Steak Diane and a big…
User Friendly
Jeremy Cole’s “handsome” porcelain hanging lamps were name-checked in a Times review of the 17th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Cole is listed alongside a new wave of designers heralding a tangible shift from “cutting edge” to…
Frock Stars
NZ designers made one of their strongest showings yet at this year’s Mercedes Australian Fashion Week. Sales for NZ’s top brands were well up, with Kate Sylvester now believed to be Myer’s highest designer…
Supply and Demand
The NZ wine industry continues to break monthly export sales records, with over seven million bottles of wine exported in March and growth continuing into April and May. The staggering 5.2 million litres of wine exported in…
Serendipity strikes gold
An extra virgin olive oil by Waihopi Valley’s Serendipity Olive estate was awarded a diploma of grand mention at Italy’s prestigious Mastri Oleari International Golden Lion Awards. Serendipity Olive Estate owner Carol Walton: “It is…
Steaming in Seattle
Kiwi Carl Sara was a finalist in the World Barista Championship in Seattle. The prestigious competition was won by Denmark’s Troels Overdal Poulsen.
Heaven Scent
NZ’s 2004 Sauvignon Blanc vintage has impressed American critics, with praise coming from numerous top U.S publications. Wall Street Journal: “Mouth-watering sauvignon blanc that just about from the glass, with aggressive green-pepper smells, juicy tastes of…
The £55 burger
Hamburgers made with New Zealand meat are being sold by a London restaurant for £55 ($NZ146) each. The 200g ‘burgers, made from meat from cattle of the Japanese wagyu breed, come with fries, and…
Konference on Kool
US management guru Tom Peters was a keynote speaker at the 2005 Better By Design conference in Auckland. “To disregard design is to disregard me as ‘human user’. If PASSION matters, DESIGN matters. And…
You Beauty
Sindhura Gadde, a former news presenter in NZ, has been crowned Miss India World in Mumbai. She will represent India at the Miss World 2005 pageant later this year.
Plastic fantastic
NZ’s Calvert Plastics in conjunction with the Wellington Institute of Technology has developed a plastic packaging innovation set to revolutionise global exporting. International market regulations are increasingly demanding alternatives to traditional wood and cardboard…
NYC pie fix
NY Daily News profiles Kiwi Gareth Hughes, the brains behind NYC’s Down Under Bakery. “In Australia and NZ, meat pies are as central to the culture as pizza in New York,” says Hughes. Popular…
Culinary invasion
An Independent feature nominates the ten best places to “eat Australasian” in London. These include The Zetter (NZ chef Megan Jones), The Providores and Tapa Room (Peter Gordon’s mini empire with fellow…
Kai to die for
Independent food writer Jenni Muir nominates Nelson and Marlborough as the lesser-known food capitals of NZ. In Nelson, she recommends foraging for kai-moana with guide Mike Elkington of Te Hikoi Maori. Matua Valley is…
A field trip worth taking
For aspiring cooks looking to learn Down Under, the Independent recommends Te Horo’s Ruth Pretty Cooking School and Catherine Bell’s Epicurean Workshop in Auckland
A Wine Like No Other
Pittsburgh Live writer experiences a dash of spring fever courtesy of Marlborough’s world-renowned sauvignon blanc. “The wine’s style elicits both tremendous enthusiasm and vehement rejection, but overall, sales of NZ sauvignon blanc are soaring, with more than…
WORLD Comes to Sydney
WORLD is set to bring a splash of their trademark colour to Sydney’s Oxford Street, with the opening of a new flagship store there in March.
Je Le Prends = I’ll Take It
NZ fashion labels Sabatini White, Nom*d, Ng, and WORLD staged an acclaimed joint exhibit at the prestigious Tranoi trade show in Paris. Sabatini White was particularly successful, securing orders of more than $110,000 and…
Sporty
The Guardian profiles Rachel Hunter, host of new reality TV show Make Me a Supermodel. “In the 1980s, the age of the supermodel, she was as ubiquitous as Linda, Christy, Naomi and Cindy -…
“Shining a Light on the Edge of the World”
Oyster takes a behind-the-scenes look at the “Invisible Heroes” of NZ fashion. Featured are Benny Castles and Lou Davies (Assistant Designer for WORLD Man and Woman respectively), Jenny Cook (Karen Walker), Gregory Brooks (Nom*D),…
A Toast to Martinborough
Toast Martinborough features in a Guardian overview of the world’s greatest wine festivals. “Martinborough is one of the few ‘old world’ wine villages in the southern hemisphere and home to much- lauded pinot noir and sauvignon blanc….
Perky paradise
A Kiwi oasis in the midst of Melbourne is winning the hearts of critics and customers alike. Batch Espresso, owned and operated by ex-Wellingtonian Jason Chan, earned a rave write-up in Melbourne food bible Cheap…
Pinot Noir’s Paradox
“No other wine conjures up poetic descriptions like pinot noir; no other wine forges as direct a path to the soul. If a wine could make a person cry, it would have to be a pinot…
Taylor-made in New York
Empire waists, lace trim, pinafores and velvet jackets featured in Rebecca Taylor’s www.rebeccataylor.com collection in her runway show at New York Fashion Week. The New York-based Wellingtonian has also added the Bush…
The Taste of Success
42 Below Manuka Honey Vodka is the main ingredient in star bartender Loren “Lola” Dunsworth’s current favourite cocktail – The Taste of Honey – which gets an impressive plug, complete with recipe, in the…
New Zealand Riviera
To entice buyers to a resort development, Pip Cheshire and Terry Hunziker designed a rustic guest lodge Bay of Islands, a remote spot about 150 miles northeast of Auckland. Located in a part of…
Waiheke Out-Bordeauxs Bordeaux
The Turkish Weekly featured NZ’s premiere boutique wine event, the Waiheke Wine Festival. Waiheke reds have become increasingly popular internationally in recent years, with viticultural studies hailing the region’s weather as “more like Bordeaux than Bordeaux.” …
New Zealand Riveria
To entice buyers to a resort development, Pip Cheshire and Terry Hunziker designed a rustic guest lodge Bay of Islands, a remote spot about 15 miles northeast of Auckland. Located in a part of the country…
World Class Vision
A shoot by Meer Zuiderwyk featured in London’s cutting edge independent photography bi-annual, 125. A truly all-Kiwi production, the Pin-Up series showcased NZ models Penny Pickard and Ngahuia wearing local fashion, with hair by…
Man-made Marvel
Peregrine Winery in Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, was one of five winners of the world’s biggest and best architectural award – the Architectural Review’s ar+d Emerging Architecture prize – for 2004. The London-based award…
Wine Double Feature
A Malaysian Star story on the NZ wine industry takes as its focus the award winning Villa Maria winery. According to the writer, NZ “has developed a unique niche on the world wine stage, with wines characterised…
Adventure tourism for the tastebuds
The Malaysian Star interviews NZ born Wendy Hutton, an intrepid food and travel writer who is “practically a household name in South-East Asia.” Hutton has published numerous cook books, including Singapore Food and A…
Coolest of the Cool
Hip Aussie fashion magazine, Yen, named Zambesi the Mercedes Australian Fashion Week’s best overall show. “Zambesi: the coolest of everything – the clothes, the casting, the hair and makeup, the understated theatricality and the…
In the Pink
Kim Crawford’s ‘Pansy’ Rosé received its official Australian launch at popular Sydney gay bar, Stonewall. Local drag diva Maxi Shield gave the wine “a double thumbs up.” Crawford originally created Pansy for the owners of Auckland’s SPQR…
A Kiwi voice in Cannes
Cuisine won silver in the Food Magazines category of the inaugural Gourmet Voice Awards in Cannes. The September 2004 Middle Eastern special was recognised alongside such renowned international publications as Delicious (UK), Olive (US),…
Go get ‘em, Tiger
Former NZ tennis No.1, Tracey King, is the brains behind successful Cardiff-based smoothie company, Tiger Bay Beverages. With the help of Entrepreneur Action and the Welsh Development Agency, Tiger Bay is poised…
Aotearoa in Vogue
The November issue of Australian Vogue contains a sumptuous 30-page spread on NZ. Topics include our “so hot right now” film industry, the best places to eat and drink in Wellington, Auckland, and…
Flights of Fashion Fancy
Telegraph writer Emma Forrest reports on NZ’s fledgling Fashion Week and finds that many of the shows are more than deserving of an international stage. Highlights include Zambesi (“in the Dries Van Noten/Martin Margiela…
New World Charm
The international reputation of NZ Pinot Noir continues to grow, with glowing features in both the Bradenton Herald and San Francisco Chronicle. The former article praises the grape’s “dark, earthy Burgundian profile with a little more…
Crisp, Stunning Humdingers
The Scotsman urged readers to sample NZ’s “crisp, green apple and gooseberry-steeped sauvignons” and “stunning, cold-climate reds” at The New Zealand Wine Fair in Edinburgh. In a separate tasting section, Drylands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was given a glowing…
Great White
Boston Globe raves over Kumeu River Winery’s 2003 Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay, calling it “unbelievably rich and refined.” Named after Mate Brajkovich, son of the vineyard’s founders and managing director until his death in 1993, the wine is…
Pass the Watties?
1988 NZ Chef of the Year and Elton John’s former cook, Clive Hitchens, has returned to his roots, opening a meat pie shop in Alameda, California. Hitchens and partner, Donna, had been successfully selling…
Elegance with Edge
Karen Walker and Zambesi turned many a well-coiffed head at last month’s London Fashion Week. Guardian critic, Jess Cartner-Morley, picked Walker’s show one of the highlights of the week: ” … took as her…
Is This Mike On?
Thai artist Seepphum Srisopa won the Bizarre Bra section of the annual World of Wearable Arts competition in Nelson. His winning creation – a bra with multiple microphones attached and pointing at the wearer…
Global edge-sposure
Premier NZ vodka label, 42 Below, has made further inroads to the global market, acquiring a key distributor in Australia with Carlton and United Beverages (CUB) and purchasing the US direct sales company Collinsville…
Top 40 Hit
Cairnbrae ‘The Stones’ Sauvignon Blanc 2003 made Decanter‘s list of top 40 wines under $10, following a rigorous blind tasting of more than 2,000 offerings. Observer critic Tim Atkin describes the silver medal winner as “lemon,…
Top Spot
Martinborough Hotel features on the Observer‘s list of top retreats for wine lovers. “If you’re looking for a nice drop of Kiwi class, character and convenience, this is just the job … The bistro serves excellent…
Hot Stuff
Alice Goulter, Wellington fashion grad and newly appointed womenswear designer for Mossimo Australia, makes Cleo‘s monthly hot list. “Expect to see a difference when her designs hit stores in October.”
Big Award for Bigger Undertaking
Hamilton-based design and printing company Admark won a World Silver Medal at 2004 New York Festivals Design & Print Advertising Awards, in the Fleet Graphics: Entertainment Promotion category. The award-winning entry was the immense Lord of the…
Staying Power
Aotearoa has a starring role in wine writer Thom Elkjer’s overview of sauvignon blanc – past and present – for the SF Chronicle. NZ has been a major player in the grape’s popularity since ” out…
Lucire Gets Respect
SF Examiner lists Lucire alongside Women’s Wear Daily and Lucky as one of the “respected fashion rags” sending representatives to cover this year’s inaugural San Francisco Fashion Week. Based in NZ, the online magazine…
Cooper Cracks US
Trelise Cooper is the latest NZ designer to come to mainstream US attention, after her work graced the cover of venerable style barometer Women’s Wear Daily. Entitled ‘Southern Charm,’ the accompanying story charts Cooper’s…
