Wine reviews and news from New Zealand by Sue Courtney http://www.wineoftheweek.com en-us Wed, 1 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT Copyright 2012 Sue Courtney http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 1 Feb 2012: Wine Me Up Wednesday on Radio Live (www.radiolive.co.nz) started again on the 18th January and I was back in the Ponsonby studio talking about wine I love and rate the best. [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120201 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201202.htm#20120201 31 Jan 2012: My kitchen bench has been a bit like a mad scientist's lab this past week. Glasses of wine lined up along the counter, bottles of wine in the fridge, the freezer and in the sink, a trusty thermometer and a minute timer. I've been conducting experiments on how long it takes to chill down a bottle of wine [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120131 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120131 31 Jan 2012: "That's dark for Gamay Noir," I exclaimed. Yes Gamay Noir - a classic grape variety most famous for producing the top flight Beaujolais - that's the name of the wine region just south of its famous neighbour, Bourgogne, or Burgundy as we English-speaking people call it [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/archives/wine120207.html http://www.wineoftheweek.com/archives/wine120207.html 24 Jan 2012: Did you make any wine goals this New Year? I usually do and top of the list is to try something new. I've already tried this week's Wine of the Week but for most of my readers, and many others also, Dolcetto and especially Dolcetto from New Zealand will definitely be new [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/archives/wine120131.html http://www.wineoftheweek.com/archives/wine120131.html 23 Jan 2012: My recent tour of the vineyards of Northland, New Zealand has come to an end. But it won't be the last time I visit this gem of a wine region that doesn't usually feature on the itineraries of international wine media. Production is small so they don't export to the international markets [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120123 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120123 20 Jan 2012: The white sands of Karikari Beach, on the northern side of Karikari Peninsula in New Zealand's Far North, seem pristine, untouched. Walking barefoot along the beach I hear the sand squeak beneath my weight and feel the dry fine grains of quartz run between my toes [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120120 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120120 18 Jan 2012: On the first day of my carefully made plans for my Northland trip I missed a visit to a vineyard, then took the wrong road to the next and arrived late. But it wasn't my entire fault. Let me explain [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120118 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120118 12 Jan 2012: It's not hard not get ensconced in history when you travel to Northland and the Bay of Islands. It's where the early settlers landed. It's where the first white baby was born in New Zealand. It's where the missionaries began to convert the so-called heathens and it's where New Zealand became a nation. And there is one man from this era whose name lives on everywhere. Samuel Marsden [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120112 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120112 10 Jan 2012: "Everyone who is making Chambourcin in Northland is selling it," says Rod MacIvor, owner/winemaker at top Bay of Islands winery, Marsden Estate. He echoes John Clarke's comments from our Ake Ake visit. It's September 2011 and I'm at the winery with my travelling partner, Glenda Neil, to taste wines and have lunch. We chat with Rod in the restaurant and he has bought out a magnificent collection of wines for us to try [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120110 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120110 9 Jan 2012: "Chambourcin is our best selling wine," says John Clarke, owner / winemaker at Northland's Ake Ake Vineyard. I'm not surprised when I taste the richly coloured and soft, ripe, juicy tasting Ake Ake Chambourcin 2010 ($25). It has 'luscious drinkability', for want of a better description. [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120109 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120109 5 Jan 2012: Bruce Soland is still talked about in Kerikeri as the local golf pro, but it's wine that takes up all of Bruce's spare time these days and he definitely takes wacky to the extreme. And why not, because the tourists love it. The wine's not bad either [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120105 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120105 4 Jan 2012: Kelvin and Chrissie Mowat named their vineyard adjacent to State Highway 10, just 1.7 kilometres north of the Kerikeri roundabout, for the pukekos that live by the bordering Whiringatau Stream at the bottom of their paddock. The colourful swamp hens that New Zealanders call pukeko, not only frolic in the stream and the bottom paddock but their images, as memorabilia, are everywhere [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120104 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120104 3 Jan 2012: If you're looking for a luscious, juicy, dense, chewy red next time you are on your Northland New Zealand travels, then turn off State Highway 10 onto Cottle Hill Road just a little south of the big roundabout on State Highway 10 at Kerikeri [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120103 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120103 2 Jan 2012: The northern wine region of New Zealand is overlooked by many wine-passionate tourists who book their flights to Queenstown and the alluring Central Otago wine region of the South Island, but for the many non-wine tourists that head north from Auckland to the Bay of Islands and beyond, some quirky wine experiences await [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20120102 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201201.htm#20120102 31 Dec 2011: It's come to that time when we reflect on the year that's passing. Of course wines feature in my reflections. These are the wines I've selected as my Wines of the Year and the close contenders [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20111231-1 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201112.htm#20111231-1 31 Dec 2011: Our Xmas feasting traditionally starts on Xmas Eve and this year was no different. It is a huge food and wine occasion in our now depleted family. We go the extra when it comes to food and special wines are opened to share. And most importantly there's no worry about drinking and driving because we sleep over [...] http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/index.htm#20111231 http://www.wineoftheweek.com/blog/blog201112.htm#20111231