Washington Wine Win
NZ wines cleaned up at the 7th Annual Wines for Oysters competition in Washington. Marlborough vineyards won five of the ten awards, with Charles Wiffen’s Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2001 taking home the Grand Champion Trophy.
Tag Archives: NZ Wine Industry
Nation of Giant-killers
American wine guru, Michael Franz, has made a wager that the NZ wine industry (“well organized, unusually cooperative, and marked by a spirit of openness and innovation”) will be producing the best wines outside Europe 20 years from…
The Sweet Taste of Success
NZ wines raked in the medals at the 2002 London International Wine Challenge. The respected annual competition is the world’s largest blind-tasting session, with thousands of wines judged alongside each other regardless of price…
A W(h)ine By Any Other Name…
In a blow to New World wine producers – NZ included – the European Commission is seeking to place further limits on wine label terminology. “Champagne” and “port” are already off limits, now the Commission hopes to…
Queenstown on Cruise Control
“Adrenalin, who needs it?” John Westbrooke discovers the secret to an enjoyable Queenstown holiday for over-60’s, recommending cheese-tasting, wine tours, and gondolier rides over the ubiquitous bungee jump. Not an extreme sport in sight!
New Zealand: Closer to the Edge
Independent editor at large Janet Street Porter finds she can’t get close enough: “No wonder I’ve been back to New Zealand three times in three years. Sod the 20-something hours in the plane; the end result…
Utopia: Wild at Heart
“The grandeur of this place is so extreme it makes you want to dive right into the heart of it”, Aotearoa-NZ is May cover country of one of the world’s most prestigious travel magazines, National Geographic…
Bacchic and Bucolic in NZ #2
The Guardian’s ‘Superplonk’ column discovers the flavour of New Zealand in a six-week wine tasting trip. Highlights include the “superb, tannic tenacity and layered fruit” of Delegat’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1999, and the “racy, complex, finely textured…
Grapes of Worth
Marlborough, “Lively with a distinct lemon/lime character, this sauvignon blanc is snappy but substantial and will take on the cacophony of flavors in the calamari salad with ease.”
NZ Leads “Twist and Sip”
Connoisseurs who once turned their noses up at screw-top wines rethink their opinions after early results from the Australian Wine Research Institute prove categorically that screwcapped wines suffer the least oxidation and are fresher and fruitier than…
Stopping the Rot
The Hamilton-based HortResearch has developed a spray-on organic control agent that can help prevent botrytis – grapes rotting on the vine. “It sounds like Mecca,” says Phil Ryan, chief winemaker of McWilliam’s Wines, Mount Pleasant. “Anything that…
Drink on the Wing
Looking to grab a drink a mile up? Try Air New Zealand, whose cellars rate third in the world for quality in the air.
The real McKiwi
How can you tell New Zealand wine has really arrived? The French start labelling their products “Kiwi Cuvee”.
Schuster, Stoppard, Sauvignon
The 1999 Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (“my homage to Michael Schuster”) is a current favorite of British women’s-health guru Dr Miriam Stoppard. This New Zealand example is ‘fresh and rich and slightly oaky with a really lovely…
Top Price Drinking
Three Rivers shiraz is Australia’s most exclusive wine, an in-crowd signifier with the big money crowd. New Zealand wine-maker Chris Ringland is the man behind the thousand dollar bottles.
Golden Drop Standard
New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA are on the way to mutual acceptance of differing wine standards, making market access easier for everyone.
Queen of Tramps
Tramp through virgin forest then peruse the wine list in the spa before a gourmet dinner on the Queen Charlotte Walkway.
Future Drink
“Fast-forward to the year 21. You shop eBay, toy with the PlayStation 2, drink wines from New Zealand and Texas and watch NYPD Blue on a flat-screen TV.”
Kiwi Fruits
“New Zealand wine makers are on the verge of world dominance, but some things are still beyond their control.”
Directory of Excellence
Every entry in a New Zealand winery guide has one thing in common: “passion for excellence in their field”.
Throwing Down the Gimlett
Terroir – it’s French for “good wine grows here”. Gimlett Gravels in the Hawkes Bay, a patch of gravelly soil that supports 34 wineries, is New Zealand’s first venture into this elite area of wine marketing….
Travel Gets Edgy
Being on the edge means being “enroute to nowhere,” but good cocktails in hot bars, great views from hot baths, wine, alps, adrenaline and Auckland’s revolving restaurant “make this one you must go to sometime”. Also,
Wine of Human Kindness
New Zealand brand In the Black chardonnay contributes to Comic Relief in Scotland.
Urban Vine
Fast-food outlets and urban life now surround Babich Wine’s Henderson vineyard, but Joe and Peter Babich go on producing fine westie wine.
Unheralded Edge
“To connoisseurs for whom the thrill of discovering an unheralded wine is almost as much fun as drinking it, educator John Sheldon’s advice is straightforward: ‘Move to the cutting edge’.”
Xmas Cheer
Montana Wines, New Zealand’s largest winery, have swallowed Corban’s, creating a company that will produce 55% of New Zealand wine.
Killer Wine
Wairau River Sauvignon favoured by the Star and National Post Online, “killer” Cabernet Franc in the Washington Post, Villa Maria leaves the National Post reaching for more.
Berry Good
“Tall, dapper” New Zealander Martin Brown runs centuries old vinters Berry Brothers & Rudd. He’s turned Lord Byron’s purveyors of the liquid muse into Britain’s top wine e-tailer.
Meat and a Green
Matthew Norman munches steak, savours Cloudy Bay Sauvignon and wonders if the man next to him has former Gov-Gen Lord Arthur Porritt’s edge vintage in his veins.
Fine Vintage
1978 was a good year for wine in New Zealand. That’s when John Simes, now winemaker at Mission Hill in Okanagan, Canada, began his career. The Kiwi is one of the “trained and experienced winemakers” imported to…
Perfect Pinot
An ever-increasing variety of New Zealand wines are being enjoyed and celebrated throughout the world. Al Bassano recommends our Pinot Noir.
Pask Bask
Where do you go for the top Bordeaux? Edge Hawkes Bay winery CJ Pask makes the best Bordeaux-style wine in the world, according to the world’s premier wine judging event.
Taking You to the Edge … and Jumping Off
“Not so long ago, New Zealand was finding it hard to shake off its “beautiful but boring” tag. It may have been renowned for its spectacular scenery – dramatic mountains and sweeping coast lines -…
“He Who Laughs Last …” Kiwi Wines Now the Benchmark
Colonial upstarts from the all parts of the Empire are conquering Britain. As renowned wine merchant Simon Berry ponders regretfully, “We laughed at New Zealand 20 years ago, and now they are benchmark wines.”
Fine Wine
Kim Crawford Unwooded Marlborough Chardonnay 2000: “sprightly, with pure quince apple and tangerine-lime citric accents and bright acidity tamed by the process of malolactic fermentation”. Seresin Estate’s Pinot Noir and Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc make Bloomberg’s favourites of…
“I See (Nz) Red” – the Critic’s Palette Tells the Facts as It Sees Them.
“In terms of sheer quality, the most exciting of all emerging wine-producing countries is New Zealand … if I were compelled to pick the wines of just one country … to drink for the rest of…
New Zealand Wines Meet the Challenge
Hong Kong: Kiwi wines dominate in the South China Morning Post’s Kevin Sinclair’s answer to the challenge of how to build the perfect home wine collection from scratch.
Wine Wine Wine
New Zealand corks are popping all over the place: Imperiale of Goldwater Estate Waiheke Island Caberet/Merlot 1990 to be auctioned at Christies (price estimates US$2400–$3800), NZ wine featured in the Guardian and at Marks and Sparks.
Cool Taste from a Cool Country
“Make sure the wine is chilled like a winter morning before you open it. Then savour the nose. You get strong whiffs of passionfruit. It tastes divine … It’s got a lovely opulent taste that lasts…
Fine Wineries, Better Views. John Westbrooke Visits a Gourmet Hotspot
Martinborough used to be a sunny, sommolent village serving the farmers on the Wairarapa River Valley. It’s still a village, but it’s also the latest hot spot for the New Zealand wine industry.
Watch out France – New Zealand is on the Fast Track to Becoming Top Wine-producer
New Zealand may be one of the newer players in the wine industry, but it has already carved out a niche as one of the best producers of white wines in the world and is now…
Check Out This Landscape of Timely Tastes
Are you still reeling from the way your guests drained your wine supply during those blowout millennium parties?
