Not ideal conditions for vintage but Auckland and Northland (New Zealand) areas have experienced heavy rain over the last 36 hours, which is not what grape growers will want. For those not familiar with grape growing the effect of rain late in the ripening period can be to swell the berries as grape vines quickly [...]
Stoneleigh vineyard in Marlborough New Zealand has a trial underway of red vineyard netting rather than the conventional black or white. The idea is that it will reduce shading and focus the reflected light in the most beneficial part of the visible light spectrum. I wonder if a transparent net is possible?
Due to an IP dispute Marlborough’s Herzog winery is changing it’s name to Hans Herzog in the Australian and New Zealand market. The full story is over at Stuff.co.nz. If you are visiting Marlborough the Herzog restaurant is must. You will probably need to book though.
Iowa researchers have been looking into the possible tainting effects of ladybirds entering the winemaking process. Apparently this has become an issue in a small number of US winegrowing areas because of a surge in numbers of prey species, resulting in an increase in the number of this normally beneficial predatory insect. The strange thing [...]
Look out, wine flavored ice cream is on its way. Reportedly packing 5% alcohol. I like the sound of the port flavored one.
I was in Matakana yesterday and visited a few vineyards to see how the 2007 vintage is going. Like most parts of the greater Auckland and Northland wine regions (as well as most of New Zealand) they were affected by cool weather in December. Fortunately Mid January brought warm dry conditions that persisted until mid [...]
Have a look at Josh’s latest feature over at Pinotblogger. He has some of the gory financial details that come with winery start-ups.
Sometimes the language around wine can be very difficult to come to grips with for the newcomer. Yet once your familiar with the vocabulary you tend to forget how odd it can be. I was reminded yesterday about the use of “horizontal†and “vertical†in relation to wine tastings, A vertical tasting is where time [...]
For those of you who just can’t get enough Chateau d’Yquem there may now be a answer. A 15 litre answer! Chateau d’Yquem is to bottle 120 nebuchadnezzars (the name of the 15 litre bottle) of the 2005 vintage. Head over to Bordeaux Wine Investments if you want one or perhaps a couple?
While in the southern hemisphere harvest is underway, the northern hemisphere is beginning the annual cycle once more. The team over at The Cork Board has news of bud break in Napa Valley. Not surprisingly it’s that early starter “Chardonnay†leading the way.
My fining posts seem to be quite popular judging by this sites web stats, so why not a few more. It’s pretty hard to top “fish products†as a strange fining agent or allergen declaration but “milk products†is still rather odd. Like isinglass and egg whites, casein (a milk product) is a protein fining [...]
This is a little trick I learnt many years ago when working in a winery. If you think that your wine may have hydrogen sulphide or mercaptans or disulphide, sulphidisation by another name. 1. Take two identical clean glasses. 2. Pour equal measures of the wine in question into each glass. 3. To one of [...]
A couple of weeks ago I was in an Auckland wine store. I was looking for a good Cabernet Sauvignon based blend when I was asked if I wanted to try a Pinot Noir. A sales person from this particular winery was doing an in store tasting. “Why not†I said. The sales person (who [...]
It appears that all the main wine growing areas of NZ have had little of the forecasted rain, which is good news. There is a little rain forecast for Nelson and Marlborough on Sunday but not a lot.
Not ideal conditions during vintage but it seems like most wine areas are being affected by a depression and frontal system. Conditions have been ideal for much of the country since mid January so hopefully this won’t affect quality. Fairing the best seems to be the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne but there have been high [...]
Man O’ War Vineyards at the Eastern Waiheke Island (New Zealand) have just launched the first stage of their website. Apparently there will be more information added soon. There are some fairly interesting things going on over there including what I believe is the steepest vineyard in New Zealand (planted in Syrah).
I read this morning in the New Zealand Heralds “Viva†lifestyle section (can’t find it online sorry) that the recent Pinot Noir conference held in Wellington (New Zealand) had found that New Zealand to be the second best producer of Pinot Noir in the world. I’m not sure this is what came out of the [...]
If you use cellar software like open cellar, and the wine cellar book, you now get instant market values for your wine through Global Wine Stocks. Due to both parties using a standard call vinoXML the necessary information can be imported directly. If it works as I imagine it’s intended you should be able to [...]
Some vineyard regions in Victoria (Australia) have been affected by smoke from the terrible bush fires that the region suffered. The smoke has tainted the grapes with a burnt character that will affect the wine.
There is a growing amount of press being devoted to the FBI wine investigation. The big question here is will this affect demand and prices at auction? Time will tell but the results form the next two months of auctions will be interesting.
But still about the same volume of wine will be produced reports the New Zealand Herald. Yields are projected to be down on a per hectare basis for New Zealand as a whole but due to increased plantings any reduction should be off set. Most of the wineries I have talked too are looking at [...]
I’m currently arranging a tasting of Chateau Latour vintages from the last 60 years. Its only in planning stages but the tasting will be in June this year at a yet to be confirmed venue in the Auckland (New Zealand) area. Although we will not be having every vintage. We will be taking in the [...]
Harvest has kicked off in a few spots with early ripening varieties like Pinot Noir. Everyone I’ve spoken too is very happy with the incredibly dry conditions that have prevailed through February from Matakana down to Waiheke and out to Kumeu. Crop levels seem to be fairly good although not excessive. If the good weather [...]
I’m looking for direct news of harvest conditions in Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina. I already have some great contacts in New Zealand but would love to here from more producers there as well. You can email me at this link