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I’ve said it before, we live in a country obsessed with Sauvignon Blanc which is a grassy, zesty, high acid white wine; so why don’t we all equally have a passion for Gruner Veltliner? The best thing about Gruner Veltliner is the zesty and refreshing aspects of it but also the fact that there are some examples of it that has been aged in oak or had contact with it’s lees (old yeasts) which give a richer texture and also that characteristic nutty character you get from a refined Chardonnay (another NZ love). Austria, as you may have guessed, is...

We live in a country that where white wines are Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. The Chardonnays that we often see, nowadays, is restrained with the odd oak-bomb pushing its way through but that doesn’t matter too much as Sauvignon Blanc is still the fruit bomb that takes the stand. It is aromatic in a big, grassy, passionfruity way. So if we all love Sauvignon Blanc then why don’t we give more time of day to other aromatic grapes? Sauvignon Blanc has high acid and a lot of fruit-forward aromatics to it but so does Riesling, Pinot Gris has a lower...

It isn’t every day that you come across a truly interesting and unique producer of wine. Many wineries, especially in the “New World”, are copies of each other – that is to say that every winery in Central Otago grows Pinot Noir, which isn’t a complaint I should add, it is just what about the producers that try something new? I am a big believer of the ‘little guy’ and the game-changers who are clearly doing what they do for passion as opposed to a secure retirement. Matej Skerlj is one of these producers. Instantly you have become worried as...

I was never part of the party. A consistent and persistent outsider. Sitting on the benches. Watching everyone else from afar wondering what in the world the deal was, what all the talk about, and why I wasn’t part of it. I was a traditionalist, I guess in many ways I still am. I was told that Burgundy was the vinous equivalent of Jerusalem and that I must, as a wine drinker, focus all of my attention on climbing the rocky, limestone-infused and chalky path that was, in order to get there – to taste perfection. So I’d sit there...