Pioneering is something the Ibbotson family know a bit about. The family's vines were planted in 1978, making it one of the first vineyards in Marlborough and one that, initially, sold its grapes to other wine producers, until the family decided to dive in and make their own wines for the first time in 1994. They quickly began to win a staggeringly long list of awards for their diverse range of single vineyard Sauvignon Blancs and won New Zealand Winery of the Year four times between 2010 and 2017 from Winestate magazine. The rest is history... Buy Saint Clair wines here What's in a name? You may...

If there is one beer that has been the driving force of modern brewing it’s the IPA. Our thirst for the stuff seems insatiable, and although it has morphed and evolved and branched out in many weird and wonderful directions - it is still the traditional, no thrills, hop forward, common or garden version that garners most respect.Its roots lie in England in the early 1700s with the invention of indirectly heated kilns for malting which took beer out of the dark ages and into a more enlightened pale phase (or at least made pale malts more accessible and easier...

The word Alsace typically brings to mind the dry, aromatic white wines that inspire Riesling devotees and lovers of lush Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris but there is another string to the bow of this typically arid, cool climate in north east France. Rouge is the hot new wine in Alsace. Not only is climate change heralding a rethink about where on Earth Pinot Noir can thrive, but it is giving Alsatian winemakers an opportunity to strut their finest stuff with a grape that has long made its home here, albeit often in lighter bodied wines. Ah, but change is afoot and...

We see numbers as absolutes, entities that exist unto themselves inhabiting the quantitative realm and shunned from the qualitative. But, as is often the case when humans get involved, turns out that numbers are actually quite subjective - or at least their meaning.The sequence 444 is a perfect example. This is an angel number - a series of repeating digits that, for whatever reason, some people believe hold a divine meaning. In this case, the number 4 pertains to wealth, and when repeated thrice, is a strong signal of an upturn in financial fortunes.This sort of superstition pops up all...

If a smooth, velvety red wine appeals, then Gamay is it and this newcomer from Te Kano over delivers with its plush red fruit flavours are held in a full bodied, beautifully balanced wine.  Pop in store to buy this exceptional new wine...  2022 Te Kano Gamay Noir Northburn Central Otago RRP $59.99 All of the grapes that went into this wine were hand picked and while 90% were traditionally destemmed, the remaining 10% were fermented as whole bunches in a sealed tank. This smaller volume went through full carbonic fermentation. Two portions were pressed to neutral, older oak barrels for...