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• The nature of our beast

  With a few notable exceptions, poetry tends not to reside much in the mouths of New Zealanders... Of course I am making generalisations here, as I’m sure we can both think of a few more esoterically-minded oenologists in this country but the fact they stand out as they do speaks volumes.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 12 January 2012
  
  

• Somewhere exciting

  Framingham's recent Sweet Wine Tour (Pretty Tasty!) showcased the 2011 wines: a veritable treasure trove of delicious, understated and ever so faintly mad wines.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 18 October 2011
  
  

• In for a penny...

  Generally wine writers etc get sent bottles direct and unsolicited. Often, they also get invited to lunches, dinners and sometimes more, to showcase new releases and launches. These are almost always at least a little bit fabulous, and can indeed be truly lavish at times. So, isn’t this a form of payment too? Isn’t the expectation a complimentary review and promotion? It’s a good question. While ever mindful of the perilous slipperiness of the moral high ground upon which I am now residing, the answer, I believe is no.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 28 May 2011
  
  

• The Declaration of Independence.

  The biggest elephant in the crowded room is the fact that generally, the public is completely unaware that any payment between producer and reviewer is changing hands. And to me, this is where I start to feel very uncomfortable indeed about the unclarified proclamations of independence – and their use as such by producers and retailers, who are after all complicit in the whole situation.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 26 May 2011
  
  

• Is it you or is it me?

  While everyone has their favourites (I could survive on Champagne and Burgundy, if I really had to) to write off an entire variety seems foolish at best, and displays a pretty plain and profound unawareness of wine.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 10 April 2011
  
  

• V for Very Nice

  Viognier is not often a wine for shrinking violets but done well, it is good stuff indeed.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 19 March 2011
  
  

• The billion dollar question

  What can the New Zealand wine industry do to protect its "premium" brand image internationally? “The only option available to the wine industry in this situation is to develop its own supra-brand that will replace the now defunct national premium image." Really?
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 13 February 2011
  
  

• Would you like fries with that?

  Musings on wine in the news...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 12 February 2011
  
  

• Lindauer Special Reserve Brut Cuvee

  My husband, a natural cheapskate, came home from Woolies yesterday with Lindauer Special Reserve Brut Cuvee, and really, I have idea how they make the stuff for this price - $11 at my local supermarket, no doubt the same at yours - for heaven's sake, it spends 24 months on lees.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 30 December 2010
  
  

• Hihi Wines - still no laughing matter...

  Andy’s niche appears to be easy to drink, uncomplicated (but never bland), sharply priced wine – no wonder he is going from strength to strength.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 20 December 2010
  
  

• Oh So Pretty - and best of all, delicious too...

  My first foray into the box of treasures I ordered yielded the 2007 Weingut Gottardi Sudtiroler Blauburgender Mazzon – Pinot Noir from the Sudtirol in Italy's Alto Adige (looks Austrian, sounds Austrian... is Italian - tricky beasts those foreigners...)
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 3 December 2010
  
  

• Come fair weather or foul

  When it comes down to it, business is business, whether it is growing grapes, making wine, selling bananas or making stainless steel handrails. Presumably at least some of those caught up in the current difficulties are guilty of having jumped on the bandwagon, expanded too fast, taken on too much debt, not having sound business plans or making a sub-standard product – take your pick (and I am sure there are some guilty of the whole shebang).
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 30 September 2010
  
  

• 2010 Forrest Estate The Doctor's Riesling

  Light, breezy but with plenty of style - if you have not yet tried any of the increasing number of lighter-styled rieslings out there, then you may as well start with one of the best and seek out The Doctor's 2010.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 12 September 2010
  
  

• You say tomato, I say Te Mata

  What really struck me at Te Mata’s recent Showcase 2010 tasting: the fact that they are part of that small group of producers which operate an inverse relationship between the quality of the wine they produce, and the amount of nonsense and hyperbole they spout promoting themselves.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 19 July 2010
  
  

• Marlborough Part Three - Greywacke and Dog Point

  We attempted to gain some insight into the development of Healy and Sutherland’s Dog Point but, looking back through my notes, it seems after all the jokes, gossip and discussions on cheese and small goods, there was precious little wine stuff left to report. And Kevin could be described as laconic only on a good day so little more was gleaned on the evolution of Greywacke, though he did appear to be quite tickled that Jane thought the label was a photo of a woman’s bum.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 24 June 2010
  
  

• Trouble, fermenting?

  Who would have thought? After years of the relentless message from New Zealand Winegrowers that the world just can’t get enough Marlborough sauvignon blanc, a couple of large vintages and the whole thing goes pear-shaped. Could there really have been no risk management policy whatsoever?
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 17 May 2010
  
  

• Champagne Pol Roger NV

  Whilst Jane will no doubt still prefer a strong pot of English Breakfast, I have always felt you could do a lot worse than to emulate the impressively civilized Winston Churchill and start each day with a bottle of Pol Roger.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 9 May 2010
  
  

• 2009 Framingham Noble Riesling

  Usually 375ml is plenty for a dessert style wine but this particular one would not go amiss in a 750ml format; indeed, I found myself nearly licking the inside of the final glass (such is my dedication to the fine art of tasting wine).
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 22 March 2010
  
  

• Sweet dreams

  Nice???? A wine most wine lovers would give their eye-teeth to have a glass of? And he remembers it as being nice, in the same way that he thinks a biscuit is nice. This of course then had me puzzling over our different responses. After all, the wine in the glass was the same, so why did I have an almost Pavlovian reaction to its memory whereas Matthew just remembers it as something vaguely pleasant.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 13 March 2010
  
  

• Honesty is the best policy...

  But when asked if a local wine was liked (especially when the NZ ones were discussed) the room was full of nodding donkeys plus a tiny few brave souls who gave their honest opinions. And yet in the breaks for morning and afternoon tea, the place was alive with chat of over-extraction, too much oak, high alcohol, the emperor’s new clothes; all the usual suspects. Well, why not say that when a useful discussion could actually be had??
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 4 February 2010
  
  

• 2009 Montana Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

  It cannot be denied that without Marlborough sauvignon, New Zealand would not enjoy the status in the world of wine that it does today. It is the very thing that allows the niche/boutique players (and retired orthodontists/company directors) the platform for their own wares.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 28 January 2010
  
  

• The joys of growing older?

  Just as we left, I spied a box we had not yet examined and in it found a bottle of Forts de Latour. In the Aladdin's cave of the Victory Hotel, a Bordeaux second wine didn’t really merit a second glance but this was 1975 - my year - so I quickly grabbed it and they popped it on the bill. Out the door to the taxi. When asked if he had had a good night, our driver growled, "Yep, I reckon. Nobody's puked yet" which effectively silenced us for the rest of the trip.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 21 January 2010
  
  

• 2009 Misha's Vineyard 'The Gallery' Gewurztraminer

  It would be fair to say Jane's love of gewurztraminer is exceeded only by her ability to not let the truth stand in the way of a good story, so it was perhaps a tad unfair that I got to attend a tasting that had such a delicious example of the variety.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 3 December 2009
  
  

• Felton Road New Release tasting

  Blair Walter is a most charming and clearly very talented winemaker and by all accounts Nigel Greening is a passionate man. Of course, these attributes alone do not make success. The desecrated orchards of Otago bear witness to the number of charming and passionate people who have arrived into the region in the hope of making great wine but managed to make a mess of things.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 21 October 2009
  
  

• The show must go on...

  Each year as the wine show season rolls around, the wine show critics make an appearance. Most detractors point out the perceived deficiencies and limitations of the method of scoring wine in the shows, though they seldom seem to offer any actual constructive alternatives.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 15 October 2009
  
  

• 2008 Esk Valley Hawke's Bay Chardonnay

  Hard to imagine anyone not liking this wine, yet neither is it a boring, characterless crowdpleaser by any means. A bit like its maker?
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 3 October 2009
  
  

• Lindauer Sauvignon

  Sauvignon, sauvignon every where, too many drops to drink...Lindauer have fortuitously hit upon a novel approach to help whittle down the tank volumes in the form of a sparkling sauvignon blanc. Well, it had to happen, didn't it?
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 4 September 2009
  
  

• Another day, another dollar (well, one can but hope).

  A busy week in the provinces with Kooyong, two vintages of Clonakilla, Dry River, and Chivite Riserva 1996...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 14 August 2009
  
  

• Notes on a tasting

  Can New Zealand pinot noir now be broadly categorized into three styles – Light and Cheerful (or the unfortunate flipside, thin and weedy); Pinot That Wants to be Syrah (mine’s bigger than yours); and Textural and Interesting (the sexy intellectual approach)?
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 4 August 2009
  
  

• 2002 Pagodes de Cos

  Yes indeed, on the basis of this wine one could argue that there is a long way to go before Bordeaux is caught up by its New World pursuers...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 17 July 2009
  
  

• Are we masters of our fate or the captains of our souls ?

  Many producers seem to vacillate between taking on the world as the best sauvignon blanc/pinot noir/syrah producers anywhere (not to mention the odd crack at outdoing the Bordelais) and sliding into bankruptcy...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 13 July 2009
  
  

• 2009 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc

  The first 2009 wine to cross our path, and not a bad 'un at that...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 3 July 2009
  
  

• Esk Valley Tasting

  Hosted by winemaker Gordon Russell, a look at Esk Valley's current releases plus a couple of older treats as well...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 29 June 2009
  
  

• 2007 Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay

  At the risk of beginning to sound like the Independent Wine Neudorf Promotional Monthly, here is yet another delicious wine from the talented Nelson crew...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 19 June 2009
  
  

• New releases from Montana

  A mixed bag from New Zealand's largest producer...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 19 April 2009
  
  

• 2004 Chateau Pichon Baron, Pauillac

  Every now and then you taste a wine that helps to recalibrate your palate .......
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 10 February 2009
  
  

• Eat, drink and be merry

  Some vinous New Year resolutions, if you will. Much more fun than the typical monastic variety, and what’s more, much more likely to become resolved...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 5 January 2009
  
  

• Highlights of 2008

  After a particularly vinous evening, we set differences aside and tried to compile a list of highlights of the year. Finding no common ground, we have published separate lists . . . .
  

  22 December 2008
  
  

• Ruther delicious...

  I am always amazed that more people haven’t discovered Rutherglen Muscat and Tokay as these wines offer unbelievable quality and value for money. They regularly win awards at shows around the world and always bring a slightly glazed look to the eyes of those in the know, shortly followed by drooling. . . .
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 December 2008
  
  

• 2007 Seresin 'Leah' Pinot Noir

  So what a delicious treat is Seresin's 2007 'Leah'. Named after proprietor Michael Seresin's daughter, it is a soulful example of the variety; finely tuned, fragrant, supple and very satisfying indeed...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 25 November 2008
  
  

• Grasshopper Rock Pinot Noir 2006

  Grasshopper Rock is a relatively new Central Otago producer with lofty ambitions indeed – single vineyard high-end pinot noir production. The 2006 pinot noir is very fragrant, juicy even, packed with fruit . . .
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 19 October 2008
  
  

• 2003 Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes

  Any time of the year is a good one for dessert wines as far as I am concerned...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 October 2008
  
  

• 2007 Esk Valley Merlot Malbec Rosé

  Thankfully, Esk has always taken rosé seriously, and year after year produces an absolute cracker of a wine...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 October 2008
  
  

• 2006 Neudorf Nelson Chardonnay

  A wine to convert back those who have strayed from chardonnay's charms...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 October 2008
  
  

• 2006 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Syrah Viognier

  Syrah is the trendy red variety at the moment, and Syrah with a splash of Viognier is just the cat's whiskers...
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 October 2008
  
  

• 2004 Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico Barone Ricasoli

  I have to say that I do have a soft spot for Tuscan wines; I really enjoy that particular quality they have (well, the better ones anyway) of perfectly balanced intense fruit, firm acidity and quite drying, almost bitter tannins.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 October 2008
  
  

• The choice is yours...

  People love to say these days that we have more choice than ever, in what we do and buy. And that may be true in many ways, but looking down the ranks of wine shelves, you would be forgiven for laughing a hollow laugh when faced with the sea of samey-samey Australian reds and industrially-produced Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 May 2008
  
  

• Thoughts on...

  There has been much discussion recently about the merits and motivation of those wineries submitting multiple single vineyard (or similar) bottlings to wine shows with the implication being that they are merely chasing medals (which is a bit disingenuous really as surely this is the very raison d'être of wine shows?).
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 March 2008
  
  

• Grape Expectations : 29th September 2008

  Last week I tasted over fifty wines. And this week, I shall probably taste another fifty. This is not thankfully my AA confessional moment, as you will note of course that I wrote ‘tasted', not ‘drank', but instead merely part of my job description.
  

  by Emma Jenkins on 1 August 2008
  
  

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