Tag: central otago

Loveblock Central Otago Pinot Noir 2021 (BC $47.74) To me, it doesn’t matter if you get all Bubba from Forrest Gump on it (lamb roast, lamb chops, lamb racks, lamb burgers, lamb and rosemary sausages, lamb casserole, lamb rissoles, lamb steaks, lamb curry, lamb kebabs or lambs tails) I will pretty much always recommend pinot noir because there’s nothing nicer….

Wanderlust.  We must all have it after staying in our homes for the past two years due to COVID.  Maybe venturing out to a nearby city or town within a day’s driving distance, but not getting on an airplane and going where your heart desires.  I love wine, and I enjoy going to wine regions around the world, meeting winemakers…

McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 (NZ $29) Shiny-new and showing a tonne of potential, this Central Otago-grown pinot noir has classic blueberry, rosehip and cherry aromatics and buckets of raspberry on the front palate.  It’s refreshing and young and the acidity is right up front, however it’s looking like it’ll morph into a lightly-styled, elegant example…

New Zealand is well-known for Sauvignon Blanc, but are there any other grape varieties we should know about?  Yes!  I attended a webinar with David Keck MS (USA), John Szabo MS (Canada), Ronan Sayburn MS (UK) and Cameron Douglas MS (New Zealand) as the speakers who talked about the differences in aromas and flavours of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir produced…

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…

Yes, Pinot Noir is the signature red wine grape for New Zealand, and Sauvignon Blanc is their signature white grape.  I asked this question as Sauvignon Blanc can get most of the world’s attention with its greater extent of vines (at 20,497 ha as of 2015), compared to the next largest production of Pinot Noir at 5,514 ha.  Pinot Noir…

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,…

In Part 1 of my Review of the New Zealand Wine Fair 2012, I talked about New Zealand’s sustainability goals, and provided tasting notes on the New Zealand wine makers’ upcoming varietals to the rest of the world of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Syrah. But there is also Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and more to try during this tasting. …

New Zealand is well known for its clean air, temperate climate, and dare I say, super natural environment?  New Zealand’s wine industry goal is to be 100% sustainable, organic, or biodynamic by 2012. I read that over 95% of their vineyards are operating under an independently audited sustainability programme and over 90% of their wine production is also under an…

This Part 2 of my review of my picks from the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival.  Part 1 covered the wines of Spain.  Part 2 is the rest of the world. Again, there are so many wines at the tasting, and so little time, I’m sure I missed many great wines.  If you tasted some that I didn’t list, please…