I’ve talked about the wines of Theo Coles here before on this blog. His brand is The Hermit Ram (although he also works on other projects), and the other night…
Air New Zealand lounge wine round up
I’m in the lounge at Auckland airport heading to Hong Kong and then Thailand. Flight delayed by a few hours, so time to try all the lounge wines. Airlines don’t…
Dinner at Roots, Lyttelton: one of New Zealand’s great foodie destinations
While we were down in Christchurch, it was great to be able to visit Roots in Lyttelton. It’s a much-talked about New Zealand foodie destination and the only restaurant outside…
A lovely evening at Scotch Bar, Blenheim
I’d been in Blenheim for three days before another big night at Scotch, the epic wine bar in town where it’s easy to rack up quite a spectacular bill if…
Takaki Okada’s after-vintage hangi
I landed in New Zealand just in time to catch Takaki Okada’s (Folium Vineyard) after-vintage hangi. For the last few years Takaki has hosted this event. A hangi is a…
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: a great dinner celebrating this variety at Tredwells
Last night I went to a brilliant dinner at Tredwells. Food by the talented Chantelle Nicholson was paired with a fabulous range of 12 Sauvignons from New Zealand, selected by…
The wines of Te Pā, Marlborough, New Zealand
The MacDonald family were Maori farmers in the Wairau Bar area. Haysley MacDonald began planting grapes here in 2003, and were a major grower selling to large companies. But since…
Zephyr Wines, Marlborough, New Zealand
I remember meeting Ben Glover years ago (in 2006), when he was working for Brent Marris at Wither Hills. This is where he established his reputation, and later he developed…
Marlborough, where big can be good: Villa Maria
Villa Maria describe themselves as New Zealand’s most awarded winery. They became this through the clever strategy of making lots of small production high-end wines and then entering all the…