So remember the syrah I turned my nose up at, on the flight over? Boy was I ever wrong! I knew about the NZ Pinot Noir coming over. And I had heard that there were various Bordeaux blends from Hawkes Bay. But NOBODY was talking about syrah. Well they should. This is a different style… Continue reading New Zealand Day 4 – Syrah
Category: Wine
Red wine, white wine, roses, wines from Canada, France, New Zealand, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, South America, all kinds of wines from around the world.
New Zealand Day 1
Off down under, to cold rainy weather. It’s winter in the southern hemisphere, and having a very temperate climate, the Kiwi’s like to pretend you don’t need heat. Ahem. Air New Zealand flight cramped – I hate 777 3-3-3 layout. But the food is well above average for plane food, and the wine selection very… Continue reading New Zealand Day 1
Bubbly Primer
Sparkling wine is now made all over the world to generally very high standards. I would encourage you to sample them all. (Unless you’re absurdly wealthy. Then by all means limit yourself to champagne and sneer at the rest of us plebes.) For those of you who are relatively new to bubbly, and champagne, here’s… Continue reading Bubbly Primer
Screwy
So what’s wrong with this picture. Bottle of wine: check. Catchy label:check. Screwtop: check… Hey wait a minute here! This wine is from Portugal! Didn’t they pass a law that all Portuguese wine had to be corked with the real thing? It makes sense. Portugal produces about 90% of the world’s cork. Their cork forests… Continue reading Screwy
Job Perks (or perquisites if you’re feeling all academic)
Every once in a while, somebody shows me an old bottle of wine and asks what I think. Normally the wine is not very good wine to begin with, and has been badly stored for way too long. However a couple of months ago a friend showed me five bottles ranging from a ’69 champagne,… Continue reading Job Perks (or perquisites if you’re feeling all academic)