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2025 New Zealand White Wines: Pump Up the Volume
New Zealand, featured
, Feb 2026
New Zealand turned the volume knob to the right in 2025. Crops were large, tanks were filled up, and the season spoke loudly from the outset. Yet the cool opening notes of summer set a slower tempo, and not every vineyard kept pace as the year unfolded. As ever, it was those who adjusted the dial that got it right, managing yields and nutrition based on nature’s bounty.
Te Mata Coleraine: 1982-2023
New Zealand, featured, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Nov 2025
An unplanned purchase of Te Mata’s debut 1982 Coleraine led to a memorable vertical with Co-owner Toby Buck and Head Winemaker Phil Brodie. Who said all great ‘82s come from Bordeaux?
New Zealand Reds: Making the Bucket List
New Zealand, featured
, Jul 2025
New Zealand has long held a spot on the global travel bucket list for millions of people, but the country’s wines—particularly the reds—remain curiously undercelebrated. New Zealand reds have never been as good as they are today.
New Zealand Whites: Never Gonna Give You Up
New Zealand, featured
, Mar 2025
An island nation at the bottom of the earth renowned for its native flightless bird as well as "Flight of the Conchords," New Zealand has made a name for itself around the world for its light-filled interpretations of Sauvignon Blanc. As Marlborough looks back on half a century of Sauvignon, it seems the country has a complicated relationship with its star performer.
Kumeu River: The Kiwi Dream
New Zealand, featured, Verticals & Retrospectives
, Sep 2024
Consistency, balance and a distinct house style have placed Kumeu River among the classics. From humble beginnings 80 years ago, this estate has established itself as a major player in New Zealand and around the world.
New Zealand’s Latest Red Releases: Growing Up
New Zealand, featured
, May 2024
New Zealand is considered a young wine-producing country. Its early success was built on drink-me-now Sauvignon Blanc. However, its vines and winemakers are maturing, and time is showing that the country’s wines are now coming of age some 200 years after the first vines were planted.
2023 New Zealand Whites: The Cyclone Vintage
New Zealand, featured
, Apr 2024
New Zealanders will forever remember the summer of 2023 as the year Cyclone Gabrielle swept away homes, vineyards and dreams. Wine producers on the storm-battered North Island had few reasons to smile. However, it was a different story for South Islanders: they escaped the worst of the weather’s wrath yet were burdened with survivors’ guilt as their colleagues across the Cook Strait were overwhelmed by the elements.
Book Excerpt: Vintage Crime – A Short History of Wine Fraud
New Zealand, featured, France: Loire
, Oct 2023
In her new book Vintage Crime – A Short History of Wine Fraud, Rebecca Gibb MW tells the history of wine through some of the most well-known cases of fraud, in addition to less well-documented incidents that intrigued Rebecca personally.
All Change: New Zealand Reds
New Zealand, featured
, Apr 2023
New Zealand has experienced a summer of upheaval: an unforeseen Prime Ministerial resignation, historic flooding, landslides, a cyclone and an egg shortage. The country’s wine industry is also in a state of flux.
Cellar Favorite: 2003 Te Mata Estate Coleraine
New Zealand, cellar favorite, Cellar Favorites
, Apr 2023
Back in the day, when I used to cover New Zealand, it was clear that the country boasted a clutch of wines that could truly repay cellaring. One of those was Coleraine from Te Mata Estate in Hawkes Bay.