Tag: Awatere Valley

Loveblock Tee Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2019 (NZ $26.99) Straight out the gate this is unlike any Sauvignon Blanc I’ve tasted recently.  Perfumed with lemon verbena, lemongrass, soft herbaceousness and a whisker of marzipan, on the palate it’s crunchy-fresh and flinty, edged with green apple, white nectarine and mandarin. It’s a fun, frisky, flavoursome new release from fruit grown in the…

New Zealand is well-known for producing fresh vibrant Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines; both cool climate grapes.  But with global warming warmer climate grapes like Chardonnay, Merlot, and Syrah are also successfully grown and produce quality wines in New Zealand.  Recently I attended a New Zealand trade tasting, and many of my favourite wines were Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot…

Did you know the first recorded planting of grapevines in New Zealand was at the Bay of Islands in 1819?  Wine was being made by Scottish, French, and Croatians making a new life in New Zealand.  But powdery mildew, phylloxera, and prohibitionists together brought a halt to wine production.  In the early and mid-1900’s wine production grew very slowly, but the…

New Zealand is a small country, but packs a big punch in the wine world with their crisp, herbal, and citrusy Sauvignon Blancs, and more recently with their Pinot Noirs.  The Pinot Noir grape has been said to be the best grape to demonstrate terroir, with New Zealand the terroir is quite varied from the North to the South Island,…