Welcome to New Zealand‘s South Island. If you haven’t yet read the New Zealand overview, or made a stop in the North Island yet, please do before moving on.
The South Island has significantly more terroir to cover, so strap in and enjoy the ride.
A note about the maps: I realize they are quite small, but good news—they’re active links. Click on a map and it will take you to the Google Earth page for a zoomed-in experience. Enjoy!
We’re starting our tour of New Zealand with this FUN FACT: New Zealand is both the most isolated and smallest (by volume) wine producing country in our world. It is 1,000 miles away from its nearest neighbor, Australia, and produces just 1% of the world’s wine.
Remote and low-volume it may be, but its impact and place in our industry is certainly one to be examined.
On a personal note, I choose to travel next to New Zealand in order to decipher a distinction in the wines produced—as compared to the grown varieties’ Old World origins and to its New World neighbors (specifically the U.S., Australia, and South Africa).
Good morning my friends and happy weekend. Welcome to another episode of wine news. A couple of callouts: Please take a look at SevenFifty Daily’s coverage of how bev-alch industry pros are using their positions to speak out on important political issues. Jancis Robinson has some similar content on her blog. And a bit of a debatable topic from Eater—how are you enjoying the latest season of the Great British Bake-Off?
On a personal note, I FINALLY received my certificate and my pin for passing my WSET Level 3 (with Merit; Theory portion with distinction—yes I’m bragging a bit 🙃). I actually sat the exam last February and received my results in April, but due to all the COVID-crazy it took awhile to get the official documents. As most of you are aware, I’m now in the throws of Diploma studies—sitting my D2 next week (eek!) and have already scheduled my D3 exam dates (yes that’s plural—the test is JUST that long) for 2021.
Alright, that’s enough about me. Scroll through the news, get some independent insight from the Blogs. And, as always, leave a comment, shoot me a note, find me on social media and let me know how YOU’RE doing.
Cheers!
While I’m rigorously working on all my WSET study materials and gathering my accompanying tasting notes encompassing the quality standards of the WSET grid, you should know…I still drink wine for fun.
Not every bottle I enjoy is as meticulously examined as others. (Although, admittedly, most are just so I can keep practicing my tasting/tasting note-taking.) In fact, probably like many of you, there are a few bottles in my cellar that are household staples—wines we’ve enjoyed in the past and continue to enjoy on a quasi-regular basis.
So, I thought it would be fun to show a few bottles I’ve been enjoying lately that aren’t associated with any work event or school study. Cheers!
Good weekend to you. Hope everyone is staying healthy and happy out there. I’ve been quite busy myself, hence lack of original content. But I assure you one of the things that’s keeping me busy are my WSET Diploma Studies, and I will have more D3 content coming soon. Meanwhile, my D2 looms over my head. (The test is in two weeks!)
But enough about me, there’s a lot of other stuff going on in the world. While Napa is taking tolls of damages done from the recent complex of fires, Sonoma is sending out warnings about how to prepare for the rainy season. Although, a bit of insider info: we’re under advisory for power outtages and. more wildfires as we enter another heatwave situation this weekend.
I’ve got an interesting section below entitled “Not Wine.” Find out what’s happening in the beer, spirit and food industries.
Of course, as always, don’t forget to scroll down to the Blogs for some independent insight.
Cheers!
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