Decanter double 
Two NZ wines received top honours in Decanter magazine's (US) annual World Wine Awards. Central Otago's Bald Hills Pinot Noir 2005 won the International Pinot Noir Over £10 Trophy and Nelson's Seifried Riesling Sweet Agnes 2006 the International Sweet Over £10 Trophy. Decanter's highly anticipated World Wine trophies are awarded to 25 international wines each year. 
(September 2007)

Not your average winery 
Americans can finally appreciate the work of artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser on home soil, with the opening of the Quixote Winery in California's Napa Valley. Owner Carl Doumani commissioned the eccentric Viennese-born artist to design the building after spotting his distinctive prints in a calendar. Work on the winery began in 1988 and took almost a decade. "People either love it or they think it's the nuttiest thing they've ever seen," says Doumani of Hundertwasser's design, which features a gold onion dome, trees growing out of the roof and no two windows alike. Born Friedrich Stowasser in 1928, Hundertwasser began exploring themes of ecology and personal freedom as a painter in the late 1940s. By the 1980s he was regarded as an influential artist and thinker, and began applying his revolutionary notions to the architectural form. He lived out his years in his adopted home of NZ, where he died in 2000 aged 71. The public toilets he designed in Kawakawa remain one of the country's leading tourist attractions for design enthusiasts. 
(11 February 2007)

Pedalling their wares 
NZ features in a New York Times guide to "less-pedalled wine regions to please the palates of cyclists." Writer Stefani Jackenthal recommends Marlborough, Hawke's Bay and Central Otago for their respective viticultural and scenic pleasures. Her picks for tour operators are Wine Tours By Bike (Marlborough), On Yer Bike Winery Tours (Hawke's Bay), and Trek Travel (Central Otago). 
(11 June 2006)

Kiwi wine takes US by storm 
An extensive article on NZ's burgeoning wine industry examines its history and development in an American context, interviewing US importers and connoisseurs of NZ wine as well as ex pat US vineyard owners such as Barbara and Patrick Stowe (Rimu Grove) and John Kemble and Karr Field (Kemblefield). "I still remember my first sip of NZ wine," says wine judge Paul White. "It smelled of kiwis, but when I tasted, it was this wild, spicy, herbaceous fruit salad with lettuce. It was this roller coaster experience. At the time, I had no idea that NZ even made wine." Now, as wine importer Howard Kalmer points out, "every top restaurant from New York to San Francisco has NZ on their wine list." NZ wine exports have grown from just 15,000 cases in 1995 to 1.5 million cases of wine per annum. 
(15 February 2006)

Pinot lovers unite 
Wellington is to host its third Pinot Noir festival from January 31 to February 3 2007. 500 of the world's leading Pinot Noir experts, producers and enthusiasts have been invited to the prestigious tri-annual event, which was founded in 2001 to showcase the depth and quality of what is now officially NZ's most widely planted grape variety. Confirmed speakers and panellists for Pinot Noir 2007 include top French wine writer Michel Bettane and leading UK wine lecturer and judge Matthew Jukes. "Pinot Noir 2007 has some serious aims," says board chairman Steve Smith. "We want to promote NZ's super and ultra premium wines to the world, focusing on the uniqueness of our wines and the special contribution they make. But we also want to have 500 of the world's key wine media, trade, connoisseur wine lovers and winemakers join us for a celebration of NZ Pinot Noir and give them an experience like they have never seen."
(9 December 2005)

Southern wine hub
A new development in the South Island’s Hurunui region hopes to provide a focus for the area’s flourishing wine industry. The Waipara Wine Village will eventually comprise a hotel, villas, wine bar, ale house and a food and wine school.
(29 May 2005)
   

New world vanguard
NZ doubled its gold medal count from 2004 at this year’s International Wine Challenge in London, picking up an impressive 15. The gold increase was almost entirely due to red wines, showing that the world has finally looked beyond Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc (great as it is). According to Wine International magazine, NZ was the only nation to receive medals for more than half (56%) of its red wines entered. As if the gold medals weren’t enough, NZ also won the International Pinot Noir trophy for St Clair Doctors Creek Marlborough Pinot Noir 2003 and the International Sauvignon Blanc trophy for Sileni Estates Cellar Selection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2004.
(26 September 2005)
  

A toast to Martinborough
Toast Martinborough features in a Guardian overview of the world’s greatest wine festivals. “Martinborough is one of the few 'old world' wine villages in the southern hemisphere and home to much- lauded pinot noir and sauvignon blanc. Its population swells tenfold in November, when visitors glide, and later stagger, between neighbouring vineyards, high on a diet of rare older vintages matched with food devised by chefs from Wellington's finest eateries.”
(27 February 2005)
  

Wine boom continues
NZ wine producers are going for quantity as well as quality, with 2004 officially the largest vintage on record. At 166,000 tons, the national harvest was 40% higher than the previous high of 118,700 tons in 2002. Reflecting its status as the country’s best-known and best-selling varietal, Sauvignon Blanc made up 42% of the overall vintage.
(29 June 2004)
   

Best of the summer wine
The NZ wine industry is set to benefit from the country’s Rings-inspired tourist influx this year, with two major travel features in the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe. The former relates an American journalist’s experience at the 2003 BMW Wine Marlborough Festival, where “the array of wineries and wine-related exhibitors evoked, somehow, the personality of NZ itself - adventurous but calm, clever but modest, a friend of nature, a strong advocate of peace and conservancy. Names of a few wineries hinted at love of land: Sacred Hill, Shingle Peak, Grove Mill, Sanctuary, Omaka Springs, Clifford Bay, Lawson's Dry Hills, Montana..” The Globe article directs wine enthusiasts to the Marlborough event (14 Feb), as well as the Waiheke Wine Festival (Jan 31 – Feb 1) and Harvest Hawke’s Bay (Feb 6 – 8).
(11 January 2004)
    

I see red, I see red, I see red
According to leading wine magazine, Decanter, “red wines in NZ are undergoing a revolution that promises to be as dramatic as the discovery that Marlborough could produce world-class Sauvignon Blanc.” The December issue included 10 Kiwi drops in its top 50 New World reds for 2003; 2001 Terravin J. Cabernet-Merlot-Malbec, 2001 Esk Valley Reserve Merlot-Malbec, 2001 Kingsley Estate Syrah, 2001 Craggy Range Sol Syrah, 2002 Te Mata Woodthorpe Syrah-Viognier, 2001 Villa Maria Reserve Merlot, 2001 Herzog Montepulciano, 2002 Akarua Pinot Noir, 2002 Two Paddocks ‘The Last Chance’ Pinot Noir, 2001 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir.
(December 2003)

NZ: Wine Enthusiast 'Region of the Year'
American-based Wine Enthusiast Magazine named NZ "Region of the Year" at their prestigious Wine Awards for 2002. Said judges of our viticultural edge; "When examining the NZ wine industry, broader themes emerge, encompassing such important concepts as innovation, consistency, diversity and value. In 2002, no other region of the world offered as much in all of these areas as NZ. [...] New Zealand is a paradigm for other wine regions to emulate."
(13 April 2003)
   

A w(h)ine by any other name…
In a blow to New World wine producers - NZ included - the European Commission is seeking to place further limits on wine label terminology. "Champagne" and "port" are already off limits, now the Commission hopes to extend its "geographical protection" to standard terms such as "vintage" and "reserve." As one trade analyst notes the move is colonial hubris: "The global language of food and wine is European because Europeans took the language and their food and wine with them when they settled all over the world […] It's a bit rich for them to claim rights over terms which have become generic."
(4 September 2002)
       

One to watch
Special mention is given in Malcolm Gluck's wine column to the "spectacular" Wither Hills 2002 Sauvignon Blanc: "a beguiling sauvignon blanc of mouthwatering scrumptiousness." The 2000 vintage was NZ's most awarded sauvignon ever - could 2002 go the same way?
(14 September 2002)

Xmas cheer
Montana Wines, New Zealand's largest winery, have swallowed Corban's, creating a company that will produce 55% of New Zealand wine.
(7 December 2000) 
                    

Sauvignon savvy
Stoneleigh Vineyards' '99 Sauvignon Blanc: "this wine manages to have lots of tropical fruits in the nose, while maintaining the dry, herbaceous character that the grape is known for."
(22 November 2000)
                

Perfect Pinot  
An ever-increasing variety of New Zealand wines are being enjoyed and celebrated throughout the world. Al Bassano recommends our Pinot Noir.
(3 October 2000)

Giesen Estate best white of the show at prestigous US Awards
Giesen Wine Estate Double Gold 1999 Sauvignon Blanc, from Marlborough, has won best white of the show at America’s most important wine-judging event, the San Francisco International Wine Judging Competition. With 2,800 wines from around the world entered, it was largest competition yet.
(30 June 2000)

The fickle grape 
NZ actor Sam Neill talks Pinot Noir in a Time magazine profile. The star of Jurassic Park and The Piano established his Two Paddocks vineyard, which solely produces Pinot Noir, in Central Otago in 1993. "Pinot Noir is not one of those grunty, stand-a-spoon-up-in-it wines. It's fickle and voluptuous and complex," says Neill. "People say there's a lot of wine in the world, but there's not a lot of Pinot Noir, and admirers are looking for regional differences." A notoriously difficult grape to grow, the most prized Pinot Noir traditionally comes from Burgundy's 30-mile stretch of Côte d'Or. Central Otago Pinot Noir is gradually building a global reputation alongside those from similarly cool and rocky regions in Australia, the US and South America.
(13 September 2007)

Taking issue with food miles 
A UK Times eco-columnist's suggestion to reduce food miles by drinking French rather than NZ wine has stimulated a response by NZ winemakers and politicians. She argued that transporting wines from France results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions because of its closer proximity to the UK. "Our basic concern with the food-miles issue is that it is looking at only one aspect of the energy budget for production, marketing and sales of a product," says NZ Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan. "Focusing just on transport, as food miles does, is not the way forward." Many NZ winemakers are involved in a sustainable agriculture initiative designed to reduce the environmental impact of their industry. Dave Pearce, winemaker for Marlborough's carbon neutral Grove Mill vineyard, argues that the NZ practice of shipping wine to the UK by boat produces less carbon emissions than "trucking a container of wine from Italy to London, and half the amount I would generate if I fly to London to do a presentation [on global warming]." 
(19 June 2007)

Air New Zealand's wines fly high
Air New Zealand's premium on board wine selection has been recognised as one of the best in the world. UK Business Traveller magazine named Air New Zealand the winner of three awards in its annual Cellars in the Sky competition, the most awarded to any one airline in this year's competition. The airline was awarded "Best Business Class Cellar" and "Most Original Business Class Cellar" and received "Best Business Class Red" for the Escarpment Martinborough Pinot Noir 2004. Other New Zealand wines that featured in the airline's cellar were the Konrad Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2005 and the Cottage Block Marlborough Noble Riesling 2002. Air New Zealand Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims said that 35 airlines has taken part in Cellars in the Sky, the most since the competition began in 1985. "This is the first time Air New Zealand has won the two overall Business Class awards and the second year running that we've won the Business Class Red award. This international recognition is fantastic and reinforces what we and our customers knew all along - that New Zealand wines really are show-stoppers."
(15 February 2007)

Right royal exposure 
The Queen's official 80th birthday was marked in suitably sumptuous fashion, with a 4-course lunch at Mansion House for more than 350 guests. The four British chefs charged with overseeing the dinner won the honour after competing on hit BBC reality TV show, Great British Menu. Te Mata Estate's Woodthorpe Chardonnay 2004 was chosen to accompany two of the four courses: the starter of smoked salmon with blinis, woodland sorrel and wild cress, and the fish course of pan-fried turbot with cockles and oxtail. Guests sipping John Buck's Hawke's Bay wine included Prince Charles, Princes William and Harry, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the Lord Mayor of London. 
(14 June 2006)

Heaven scent
NZ’s 2004 Sauvignon Blanc vintage has impressed American critics, with praise coming from numerous top U.S publications. Wall Street Journal: “Mouth-watering sauvignon blanc that just about [leaps] from the glass, with aggressive green-pepper smells, juicy tastes of lime and passion fruit, and clean, endless finishes.” Boston Globe: “The hallmark of Marlborough sauvignon blanc is citric and mineral flavors balanced by crisp, penetrating acidity. They have an appealing, almost electrifying zing.” Knight Ridder Tribune (Chicago): “Rooted so deeply to its location, a well-made wine can and does reflect its vineyard, its appellation, its country of origin and even its hemisphere. Just sip a sauvignon blanc from NZ if you don't believe me. At best, it is like first love: Surprising, breathtaking and unforgettable.”
(13 April 2005)
    

Man-made marvel
Peregrine Winery in Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, was one of five winners of the world’s biggest and best architectural award – the Architectural Review's ar+d Emerging Architecture prize - for 2004. The London-based award was inaugurated in 1999 and offers ₤10,000 in prize-money. The stunning winery was designed by Wellington firm Architecture Workshop. Architectural Review: The huge, calm gently curving silvery canopy floating over the massive base, all set among the orderly vineyards, makes an irresistible and poetic vision of civilization amid wild nature, and the jury was unanimously convinced by it.
(December 2004)

Top 40 hit
Cairnbrae ‘The Stones’ Sauvignon Blanc 2003 made Decanter’s list of top 40 wines under ₤10, following a rigorous blind tasting of more than 2,000 offerings. Observer critic Tim Atkin describes the silver medal winner as “lemon, sherbet; pungent and clean.”
(12 September 2004)

    

New World charm
The international reputation of NZ Pinot Noir continues to grow, with glowing features in both the Bradenton Herald and San Francisco Chronicle. The former article praises the grape’s “dark, earthy Burgundian profile with a little more consistency, a little more ripeness.” Burgundy expert Clive Coates agrees: “In the enologically short period of 20 years, an infatuated Pinot Noir has planted a big wet one on the lips of NZ,” he writes in the Chronicle. “If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Burgundy should feel pretty good about NZ's efforts to capture the aromatic, alluring, elegant, mercurial personality of red Burgundy in its Pinot Noirs. The wines aren't Burgundies, but they're pretty darn close.”
(25 October 2004)
    

New World edges in
Kim Crawford’s 2003 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc took top honours at the Sélections Mondiales des Vins in Montreal, winning the Grande Médaille d’or (grand gold) in its category as well as the Prix du Jury décernés par pays (best NZ wine in competition). “It’s certainly a feather in our cap to have the quality of our Sauvignon Blanc recognised in Montreal, the largest city of the province of Quebec, with its rich Francophone culture, conservative tastes and entrenched reverence for French wines, including Sauvignon,” said Kim Crawford Marketing Director, Erica Crawford, in Scoop. Gold medals went to the 2003 Stoneleigh Sauvignon Blanc, 2002 Coopers Creek Swamp Reserve Chardonnay, and 2003 Waipara Hills Botrytis Riesling, and silver to Brancott’s 2002 Reserve Pinot Noir.
(25 June 2004)
   

Mecca found in  Martinborough
“New Zealand, known for its crisp sauvignon blancs, may well become a mecca for pinot noir aficionados.” Boston Herald identifies Martinborough as the prime source for pinot production, in particular the dry river bed called the Martinborough Terrace.
(7 September 2003)
    

Charting the edge
Sydney's Sun-Herald publishes its 2003 top-10 lists for global rovers with Aotearoa again destination du jour. The chart toppers - Wine: Marlborough ("with its combination of bush, mountains and coastline ... Cloudy Bay, Cairnrae and Allan Scott are names to check out"); Animals: Taiaroa Head's Royal Albatross Centre ("the world's only mainland breeding colony for these impressive seabirds ... the concorde of the skies" above); Gourmet: Gourmet Garden Tours ("crispy pan-fried baby salmon served with stir-fried kumara threads in the Panorama Room of the Hermitage Hotel"); Walks: Fiordland's Hollyford Track; Snow: Tasman Glacier; Adrenaline: Fly by Wire in Queenstown ("the world's fastest controlled ride" in "the crucible for New Zealand's adventure sport industry") and Auckland makes the Music chart along with New Orleans, London and Memphis ("enough to entice Neil Finn home ... the core of a South Pacific groove")
(27 July 2003)
      

Two good
Four NZ whites won double gold medals at the San Francisco International Wine Competition - widely regarded as America's premiere wine judging event. Babich Wines 2002 Sauvignon Blanc, Kim Crawford 2002 Sauvignon Blanc, Mt Difficulty 2003 Sauvignon Blanc, and Seifried Estate 2001 Barrique Fermented Chardonnay were each awarded a double gold medal - which indicates a unanimous pronouncement of gold by the judges.
(3 July 2003)
 

Bay alchemy: red to gold
Sacred Hill Wines earned a gold medal for their Helmsman Cabernet Merlot 2000 at the renowned London International Wine Challenge. Chief winemaker Tony Bish sees the award as proof that "Hawke's Bay, indeed NZ, continues to produce outstanding red wines that can hold their own against some of the more traditional red wine producing countries." And - in a clear case of taking wine appreciation to new levels - a group of Kiwi climbers braved hazardous weather conditions to carry a bottle of the award-winning drop to the summit of Mt Cook, to honour both the winery and Ed Hillary's Everest conquest. 
(22 May 2003)
     

Get thee to a nunnery
Detroit Free Press recommends Marlborough's Old Saint Mary's Convent in a feature on romantic getaways "off the beaten track." "Lavender, vineyards and olive groves surround the property, and there's a pond you can putter in with a rowboat." The picturesque locale has an added appeal for "gourmand travellers," with the renowned Allan Scott vineyard and restaurant just across the street.
(9 February 2003)
     

Bottoms up
Deutz Marlborough Cuvee beat Bollinger, Moet & Chandon, and Veuve Cliquot in a blind-tasting by seven British bubbly experts. Which? magazine organised the test, asking local supermarkets and high-end liquor stores to submit the best of their respective bunches. The grand winner? Tesco's own-brand champagne, at just £12.99 a bottle.
(5 December 2002)
    

Nation of giant-killers
American wine guru, Michael Franz, has made a wager that the NZ wine industry ("well organized, unusually cooperative, and marked by a spirit of openness and innovation") will be producing the best wines outside Europe 20 years from now. “Despite a small population and a relatively limited land mass, NZ has the right kind of people and geography to act as a giant-killer when it comes to wine.” 
(5 November 2002)
       

The sweet taste of success
NZ wines raked in the medals at the 2002 London International Wine Challenge. The respected annual competition is the world's largest blind-tasting session, with thousands of wines judged alongside each other regardless of price or brand. Gold medal winners were Villa Maria's Reserve Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2001 and Reserve Chardonnay 2001, Gibbston Valley Reserve Pinot Noir 2001, Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Pinot Noir 2000, and Mount Riley Seventeen Valley Pinot Noir 2000. Deutz Marlborough Cuvee won the Great Value Sparkling Wine of the Year award for 2002.
(5 September 2002)
      

Values party - BYO
Don’t miss Marlborough’s “tangy, medium-bodied, cranberry-dried” Saint Clair 2000 Doctor’s Creek Pinot Noir.  “Perfect with poultry or perhaps salmon, it epitomizes the remarkable values coming out of New Zealand”.
(19 January 2002)
        

NZ wine's quantum leap
In the 21st century, on-the-edge New Zealand towers on the global wine map with what is acknowledged as some of the world's best sauvignon blanc (pinot noir is on the way). Europeans sit stunned by the quality of the wines.
(10 November 2001)
              

The real McKiwi
How can you tell New Zealand wine has really arrived? The French start labelling their products "Kiwi Cuvee".
(28 July 2001)
 

Sip worthy
Villa Maria Private Bin Riesling 2000 has "a delicious certainty of fruit".
(23 June 2001)
                  

Another shade of white
Bridget Jones not withstanding, the reign of Chardonnay is over - Sauvignon Blanc is the white of the moment, and Marlborough's "peppery, citrus driven" offerings have set the contemporary standard.
(1 July 2001)
            

Pinot edge
New Zealand "can and will" challenge the Cote d'Or for first place in the Pinot Noir stakes, with wineries like Felton Road, Ata Rangi and Palliser Estate producing complex, top-line drinking.
(13 May 2001) 
 

Vine delights
Check out "petroleum-charged, aromatic, oily" Villa Maria Reserve Riesling.
(7 April 2001)
           

Golden drop standard 
New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA are on the way to mutual acceptance of differing wine standards, making market access easier for everyone.
(10 April 2001)
           

Sauvignon summer
"Stick with sauvignon blanc. The good ones are so much better, for the price (Cloudy Bay, perhaps the best in the world–certainly the most striking–goes for less than a so-so California chardonnay), than other summer staples that there’s really no point in drinking anything else."
(30 January 2001)
                     

 

New Zealand wines meet the challenge 
Hong Kong: Kiwi wines dominate in the South China Morning Post's Kevin Sinclair's answer to the challenge of how to build the perfect home wine collection from scratch.
(17 May 2000)