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Planet Wine Blog
From Oil Rig to Ostro – The Rising Star of an International Sommelier
Dynamic sommelier at Britomart’s Ostro and Seafarers Members’ Club, Edmundo Farrera, had early aspirations to study hospitality, but his Mexican mother wasn’t keen, and his first job ended up being on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite getting involved in politics as the rig’s representative, he knew it wasn’t his destiny and [...]
A Chianti Classic Steeped in Artistic Heritage
This is why I am in the wine game – the opportunity to mix business and pleasure and to develop great friendships. When I visit Tenuta Di Riseccoli in the hills just 3km east of Greve and 45 minutes south of Florence, in the heart of Chianti Classico territory, I feel like I am combining [...]
The man from Mendoza offers Auckland something more
Right up at the top end of Ponsonby Road in Auckland you’ll find a characterful wine shop with a difference. Proprietor Tomas Tonnelier is a Mendoza-native so there’s plenty of malbec, as you’d expect. But lining the exposed stone walls of El Borracho are also a wide range of wines from other parts the world, [...]
Verdejo reigns on the high plains of Spain
Verdejo vines may have been flourishing on the sweeping plateau of Rueda – a relatively short drive north west of Madrid – since the Middle Ages, but just in the past few decades a wave of new blood has injected renewed enthusiasm into the wine industry there. And the innovative approach to viticulture and winemaking [...]
Floriditas and Loretta – Two Cuba Street Culinary Landmarks
Three people and two restaurants have done a lot over the past decade to change the way people eat out in Wellington. We talk to James Pedersen – joint owner of Floriditas and Loretta – about the trio’s approach, and how they select wines for their lists. Was it always your dream to own your own [...]
Vina Tondonia – The True Custodian of Rioja
One of Rioja’s oldest bodegas – R López de Heredia – is the unofficial custodian of aged wines in Spain. Its legendary Viña Tondonia wines are revered around the word, and now they are available in New Zealand! The company is one of the most traditional in Spain, certainly in Rioja, and they still adhere to [...]
Eben Sadie – The Surfing Wine Visionary
Some say he has changed the face of South African wine. Others describe him as a reluctant guru, and his wines as the holy grails for wine aficionados. But everyone agrees Eben Sadie is one of the great visionaries in the new generation of South African winemakers. To mark the arrival in New Zealand of [...]
Millaman: Family heritage and old vines in Chile’s verdant centre
Beaten only by Brazil as the longest country in the world, Chile understandably has an incredibly diverse climate from north to south, but right at its heart is where Spanish conquistadors found the most hospitable conditions for growing grapes in the 1600s. Four centuries later, family-owned Millaman Wines continues to take advantage of the Mediterranean-style [...]
Good food, good wine and good company the perfect formula
They’ve been open barely a year and already Apero on Auckland’s infamous K Road has become the go-to local for inner-city dwellers with good taste. Chef Leslie Hottiaux (ex-sous chef at The Grove and Baduzzi) and partner Ismo ‘Mo’ Koski (ex maitre d' at Sidart and Merediths) have reinvented an old tattoo parlour to create [...]
The Revolution is over. Long live the Revolution
South Africa has regained its rightful place in the world of wine in the past 10 years. Much of the recent excitement has been driven by the winemakers in a small region only an hour north of Cape Town – Swartland. And one of the ways they have grabbed global attention is with their [...]