Category Archives: New Zealand

Pinot Noir: Otago’s New Gold Rush

For two weeks we have been rambling through New Zealand’s south island, zigzagging from Christchurch to Queenstown, back to Dunedin and down through the Catlins to Invercargill, west to Lake Manapouri and Milford Sound, north to Cromwell and over to … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Wine, New Zealand, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Craggy Range Revisited

It is fourteen years since I first met David Peabody; fourteen years since I sipped my first Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc; and fourteen years since I first wrote an article about this inspirational family-owned winery. Since then, Craggy Range wines … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Wine, New Zealand | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alex Down the Hobbit-Hole

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Alex Down the Hobbit-Hole

Inside Out in Akaroa

Gardening is not usually my bag. My mother has the green fingers, and the tendency to arrive home with clippings from friend’s gardens, Botanic Gardens, woodland or verges. But I do appreciate other people’s efforts, and I can name a … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Travel | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Inside Out in Akaroa

Flirting with Chocolate

 “All you need is love. but a little chocolate now and again doesn’t hurt”  – Charles M. Schulz A coquettish breeze. Turquoise skies smudged with wispy clouds. A broad deck overlooking bare, craggy hills and milky blue bays, sailboats, sunshine … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Wine, New Zealand | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Flirting with Chocolate

Amuse Bouche

‘New Zealand’ suggests sheep and hobbits and rugby. It whispers of kiwis – birds and fruit – and an on-going feud with Australia as to who invented the pavlova. It rumbles about earthquakes and volcanoes.  It mumbles Sauvignon Blanc and … Continue reading

Posted in New Zealand, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Kid on the Block

There’s a new kid on the Manila wine scene. Meet Don Revy, ‘an international wine company that sources new world wines for emerging markets’. And what better place to make the introduction than at Cav Wine Shop & Café on … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Wine, New Zealand, Philippines | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Kid on the Block

Prestige Wines at the Peninsula

Craggy Range Winery is ‘a sometimes contradictory combination of tradition and innovation…art and technology’ ‘My God! I’ve bought a desert!’ David Peabody laughs as he remembers his father’s initial response to the blind purchase of 110 hectares of old riverbed … Continue reading

Posted in Food & Wine, New Zealand, Philippines | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment