Tag: villa maria

Passport to Global Wines flight of wines The 47th Vancouver International Wine Festival seminar, “Passport to Global Wines,” was a strategic exploration of the global viticultural map through the lens of cultural identity. Moderators Christine Campbell, Lisa Giovanella, and James Nevison established a “Passport” metaphor as a vehicle to navigate international “ports of entry,” moving beyond the standard technical data…

Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 (NZ $25) Sourced from fruit grown in the Wairau Valley, this is a Sauvignon that’ll soothe the throat and clear the nose in majestic fashion. No joke. It’s an ultra-concentrated, herbaceously heaving example that will wow the crowds. Pungent basil, passion fruit, lime, peach and a plethora of grassy goodness tsunami’s out of…

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…

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…

I really looked forward to the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Fair this year as they had two theme countries: New Zealand and Argentina. Both are southern hemisphere countries, with different climates and styles of wines that they produce. New Zealand having renowned cooler climate pinot noirs and white aromatic wines, while Argentina is known for their big Malbecs, but also…