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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, France: Loire, featured
, 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.
New Zealand Whites: The Great Divide
New Zealand, featured
, Apr 2023
Fault lines score New Zealand, but it isn’t a seismic activity that’s splitting a once united wine community. The divide between small, quality-conscious producers and volume-driven players is widening. The results of the tricky 2022 vintage highlight the country’s divergence.
New Zealand Reds: Treading Lightly
New Zealand, featured
, Apr 2022
It’s hard to believe that just over 40 years ago, New Zealand’s South Island was considered too cool to plant grapevines, let alone make fine red wines. In a single generation, this notion has been turned on its head. There have inevitably been growing pains as the vines sought out their rightful places and the grape growers and winemakers made their mistakes, but it seems that there is now a coming of age as mature vines meet mature – and increasingly sensitive – winemakers.
The Wines That Shaped My Life
New Zealand, Germany, France: Burgundy, France: Champagne, France: Bordeaux, featured, France: Rhône & Beaujolais
, Mar 2022
A charity dinner themed around the significant wines of my career threw up a couple of surprises. I doubt DRC and Blue Nun have ever found themselves reviewed in the same article. In these days of bleak headlines, the vignettes accompanying these eclectic wines hopefully put a smile on your face.
Desperately Seeking Sauvignon
New Zealand, featured
, Mar 2022
A small 2021 vintage sent international wine buyers scrabbling to secure their New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc supply, but what the wines lack in quantity, they’ve made up for in quality, while Chardonnay continues to make a strong case as New Zealand’s finest white variety.
Making the Case for New Zealand Reds
New Zealand, featured
, Mar 2021
In my inaugural red wine report, I consider the latest crop of New Zealand Pinot Noirs with a focus on the 2019 vintage and take a look at 2018 Bordeaux blends and Syrahs flowing from Hawke’s Bay.
New Zealand Whites: The State of Play
New Zealand, featured
, Nov 2020
In her first report for Vinous, Rebecca Gibb MW takes the temperature of the New Zealand white wine scene and uncovers the latest vintages: 2019 and 2020.