This was a chance to taste through the 2016s from Mike Paterson’s impressive Corofin project (which I reviewed a while back). 2016 was a pretty good vintage, but the following…
Revisiting the Vandals, in New Zealand’s Marlborough region
So I went back to the secret location in Marlborough to connect with the Vandals, taste some wine, and drink gin and tonic, and guzzle beer. This is such a…
Scout Wines, a new Marlborough-based producer
Scout Wines is a bi-locational virtual winery that began life in Australia, but is currently based in New Zealand. It’s a collaboration between partners in life and wine, Sarah Adamson…
Sauvignon Blanc: comparing good examples from the Loire and New Zealand
Awareness days. There are just so many of them. Sauvignon Blanc Day is 3rd of May. Whatever you think about these awareness days for grape varieties, this was an…
A pruning masterclass: cane-pruning Sauvignon in Marlborough
This morning Mike Eaton kindly took me out to a vineyard he’s working with in the Awatere Valley (Marlborough, New Zealand) to give a quick pruning masterclass. Here’s the film –…
Y2KX The Mystical Being 2017, a skin-contact Sauvignon from Marlborough
It was good to try this: a really characterful, interesting Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough. It’s from Y2KX Collective, a virtual winery, who are specialising on making interesting wines. Alana Mcgettigan is…
In Marlborough, where big can be good: Rapaura Springs
Rapaura Springs is a somewhat surprising rising star in the Marlborough wine scene. They are owned by the Naylon family, and I tasted with Brendan Naylon and Sam Harrop who…
Interesting Marlborough: meeting the Vandals
Vandal is a micronegociant project based in Marlborough, New Zealand. It began in the 2016 vintage, and it’s a collaboration between three local winemakers who all had kids, and who…
Interesting Marlborough: Clos Henri
Clos Henri is the Marlborough outpost of the Bourgeois family of Sancerre. They first came to New Zealand in 1999 and decided they wanted to make wine here, but rather…