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Kumeu River: The Kiwi Dream
featured, Verticals & Retrospectives, New Zealand
, Sep 2024
Consistency, balance and a distinct house style have placed Kumeu River among the classics. From humble beginnings 80 years ago, this estate has established itself as a major player in New Zealand and around the world.
New Zealand’s Latest Red Releases: Growing Up
featured, New Zealand
, May 2024
New Zealand is considered a young wine-producing country. Its early success was built on drink-me-now Sauvignon Blanc. However, its vines and winemakers are maturing, and time is showing that the country’s wines are now coming of age some 200 years after the first vines were planted.
2023 New Zealand Whites: The Cyclone Vintage
featured, New Zealand
, Apr 2024
New Zealanders will forever remember the summer of 2023 as the year Cyclone Gabrielle swept away homes, vineyards and dreams. Wine producers on the storm-battered North Island had few reasons to smile. However, it was a different story for South Islanders: they escaped the worst of the weather’s wrath yet were burdened with survivors’ guilt as their colleagues across the Cook Strait were overwhelmed by the elements.
Book Excerpt: Vintage Crime – A Short History of Wine Fraud
featured, France: Loire, New Zealand
, Oct 2023
In her new book Vintage Crime – A Short History of Wine Fraud, Rebecca Gibb MW tells the history of wine through some of the most well-known cases of fraud, in addition to less well-documented incidents that intrigued Rebecca personally.
All Change: New Zealand Reds
featured, New Zealand
, Apr 2023
New Zealand has experienced a summer of upheaval: an unforeseen Prime Ministerial resignation, historic flooding, landslides, a cyclone and an egg shortage. The country’s wine industry is also in a state of flux.
Cellar Favorite: 2003 Te Mata Estate Coleraine
Cellar Favorites, New Zealand, cellar favorite
, Apr 2023
Back in the day, when I used to cover New Zealand, it was clear that the country boasted a clutch of wines that could truly repay cellaring. One of those was Coleraine from Te Mata Estate in Hawkes Bay.
New Zealand Whites: The Great Divide
featured, New Zealand
, Apr 2023
Fault lines score New Zealand, but it isn’t a seismic activity that’s splitting a once united wine community. The divide between small, quality-conscious producers and volume-driven players is widening. The results of the tricky 2022 vintage highlight the country’s divergence.
New Zealand Reds: Treading Lightly
featured, New Zealand
, Apr 2022
It’s hard to believe that just over 40 years ago, New Zealand’s South Island was considered too cool to plant grapevines, let alone make fine red wines. In a single generation, this notion has been turned on its head. There have inevitably been growing pains as the vines sought out their rightful places and the grape growers and winemakers made their mistakes, but it seems that there is now a coming of age as mature vines meet mature – and increasingly sensitive – winemakers.
The Wines That Shaped My Life
France: Bordeaux, France: Burgundy, Germany, featured, France: Champagne, New Zealand, France: Rhône & Beaujolais
, Mar 2022
A charity dinner themed around the significant wines of my career threw up a couple of surprises. I doubt DRC and Blue Nun have ever found themselves reviewed in the same article. In these days of bleak headlines, the vignettes accompanying these eclectic wines hopefully put a smile on your face.
Desperately Seeking Sauvignon
featured, New Zealand
, Mar 2022
A small 2021 vintage sent international wine buyers scrabbling to secure their New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc supply, but what the wines lack in quantity, they’ve made up for in quality, while Chardonnay continues to make a strong case as New Zealand’s finest white variety.