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Planet Wine Blog
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. [...]