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Planet Wine Blog
Bumper Vintage sees local NZ Wines Sales rocket
A bumper 2014 vintage for New Zealand wineries has seen domestic sales rocket by 18 percent.Figures revealed by New Zealand Winegrowers for the year to March 2015 show that some 60 million litres of New Zealand wine were sold locally. According to chief executive Philip Gregan, a large chunk of the growth in the period under review was from [...]
Emerging from the Wave - Waving, not Drowning
A most excellent trade tasting held at Apero Bistro on K’Road in Auckland last night. Produce of some of the Movers and Shakers of the South African winemaking scene: @Sadiefamily, @Blake Family Wines, @Savagewines, @Beyerskloofwines, @Cederberg Wines and the 1990 and 2008 vintages of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance. For many tasters this was [...]
New-Old World red trumps Old-Old World red
SOUTH AFRICAN BORDEAUX BLEND BEATS THE FRENCH The Morgenster Reserve 2004 from Somerset West in South Africa has been chosen as the top wine in a blind tasting organised by the winery’s owner to measure his older wines against similar vintages from the Bordeaux region of France. Giulio Bertrand took the opportunity of a visit in April [...]
Not all that glitters is Gold
Award stickers: friend of foe?How often have you been in this situation? Dinner invitation received, outfit selected, small gift wrapped, ready to go. Jump into car, stop outside wine shop on the way to party. Rush in (after all, an hour is disrespectfully late), flick a quick hello to the manager and [...]
We travel to Waihi for the Annual Food and Wine Dinner
Fancy your Frankfurter with a side of rosé, or keen to see how well poached pear matches pinot gris? Well, then get yourself to Waihi on 21 May for the next Wine Club evening at Waitete Restaurant Café and Ice Creamery, where Planet Wine will be presenting a delicious flight of Unison (Gimblett Gravels) and [...]
Summertime and the Living is Easy
I know that I may be counting my chickens while they fry, but I am basking in this glorious North Island summer – weekends on Waiheke Island, in Maraetai, Matheson’s Bay and Opito Bay sipping chilled whites, rosés and, as the sun wanes, the odd bottle of noir.I have mentioned the importance of temperature before [...]
Italy - Ancient land of Wine, Cars and Governments
The diversity of Italy’s wines is only (nearly) matched by the different governments this country has had since the second world war – about one per year! This is strange and inconsistent; however it is something that, for a long time, personified Italy for me. Passion, ambition, know-how and yet also a perverse, [...]
Finding Maya - A Sideways Glance at Pinot Noir
I have recently returned from an excursion to a number of California’s wine regions North of the Golden Gate Bridge. I celebrated the 4th of July national holiday with a number of wine folk at a BBQ in Healdsburg, the town home to a number of the large wine companies’ offices in Sonoma County [...]
Proboscises - No smell too far
We generally take our senses for granted. I sometimes hear of people admonished to use “some common sense”. But common is exactly that, common, and lovers of wine can hardly be referred to as “common”. Hence we shall hastily cast this additional sense aside.I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Anorak. [...]
Champagne - Close up and personal
My planned trip to Normandy was scuttled by the first snow in London. My English friends decided that it would be too precarious driving back home with a car laden with fine wine after a long lunch…A day later I boarded the Eurostar and practically flew to the Gare du Nord in Paris. [...]