I first met Mike Eaton of TerraVin after drinking his 2004 Hillside Selection Pinot Noir at Gibbs Restaurant in Marlborough. Silky, aromatic, generous, yet balanced are words that spring to mind as I recall witnessing the wine blossom in the glass alongside a fantastic meal. The next morning I called…
Read More
Just north of Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island is an up and coming wine region called Waipara. Pegasus Bay has been shaping delicious pinot noir and riesling from this district for years, and now, finally, the rest of the world is starting to take notice. Waipara is overshadowed by…
Read More
I’m back from a brief hiatus. I went back down to Tasmania recently to visit two winemakers I’m exporting into the USA for AOC Fine Wines/SObER Imports: Guy Wagner of Bass Fine Wines and Brian Franklin of Apsley Gorge. As usual, it was quite chilly and the search for fireplaces…
Read More
The sound of tractors and semi-trailers grumbling down the roads after midnight. The purple birdshit on the hood of my Jeep, and the sweet smell in the air of rotting grapes on the vineyard floor. These are just a few of the signs that vintage is here and in 2008…
Read More
Touching down in Hong Kong after a whirlwind trip in Burgundy and Paris I was feeling like I’d been rode hard and put away wet. Fortunately, I had little thinking to do once I was at the airport, since I’d arranged for a ride to my hotel on Hong Kong…
Read More
What better way to begin Paris than with a kiss? After touring the beautiful oak forests of the Loire and the chilled vineyards of Burgundy, I had two days to visit with old friends and new chefs in the art capital of the world: Paris. As a young lad of…
Read More
The cold weather has hit Burgundy this winter. It doesn’t freeze here every year, but this year the vines are covered in ice. According to Maxime Cromier, my host and a trained oenologist, the cold will kill off some of the bad microbes and will benefit the vineyards when they…
Read More
This past week I visited the major oak producing forest in Nevers, France to see how oak barrels are made. The region is about 2 hours south of Paris by train just on the Eastern border of the Loire Valley and nestled in the heart of Burgundy. I was the…
Read More
It’s springtime here in South Australia, and the people have come to life with a vengeance after a dark cool winter. The sun is bright and there seems to be a perpetual cool breeze blowing off the sea to keep my skin from feeling too hot. With the arrival of…
Read More
Coming home is a great feeling. After travelling for 10 months in Australasia, I was again back in my old stomping grounds of NYC and, more importantly, the Long Island wineries. Just an hour and a half east of Manhattan, you can find yourself in some of the country’s most…
Read More