Scotch Wine Bar expands to include boutique wine shop in Blenheim

Scotch Wine Bar expands to include boutique wine shop in Blenheim

A boutique wine shop is to open in central Blenheim as the Scotch Wine Bar expands to include an off-licence next door. The off-licence will be open during the day and stock a wide range of wines from Marlborough and around the world. Co-owner Dan Gillett, who runs the bar with friend Charlie Chilwell, said the expansion would make Scotch a more serious wine destination.

Villa Maria challenging Bordeaux with $85 Hawkes Bay Cabernet

Villa Maria, a New Zealand winery with a track record stretching back more than half a century, is for the first time aiming to take on high-end Bordeaux with a Hawkes Bay Cabernet Sauvignon priced at more than $85 a bottle. The inaugural 2013 vintage, comprising 97 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and three per cent Merlot, comes from the Gimblett Gravels region of Hawkes Bay on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, the prime vineyard area for Bordeaux-style varietals.

McLaren Vale: geology in a glass

Did you know McLaren Vale is one of the most geographically diverse regions in the world? Under those rolling hills, vineyard vistas and vegie patches is a smorgasbord of clay, sandstone, shale, quartzite, siltstone, and limestone – some of it dating back 600 million years. About five years ago, a group of McLaren Vale winemakers and viticulturists banded together to try and find a way to better understand the influence this geology has on their wines – in particular, on Shiraz, one of the region’s key varieties.

A jaundiced view of the year in wine

Whitey casts his eye back over the past 12 months – which seemed to bring more bad tidings than good. Now that was a year. My hermit life became very challenging after I brained myself on a very low verandah while moving house last Christmas; an injury which rekindled the damage of many other head wounds from my reckless past.

Benchmarking the big red of Rutherglen

Rutherglen Durif might not be the darling of Australian wine writers, but it has attracted a niche consumer following. Recently a group of Rutherglen winemakers sat down to evaluate wines from across their region. It was a positive experience according to those involved. Nathan Gogoll reports.

Accolade Wines lays groundwork for public float with 10 per cent jump in sales

Australia’s second largest wine company, Accolade Wines, has laid the groundwork for a float in 2016 with a 10 per cent rise in sales to $486 million from its Australasian operations, which also have a hefty “tax asset” of $213 million to give an extra kicker to the business as it prepares to head back onto the stock exchange. Accolade, which owns the Hardys, Leasingham, Banrock Station and Grant Burge brands, notched annual sales from the Australia and New Zealand businesses of $486.4 million in the 12 months ended June 30, 2015, up from $442 million a year earlier.

Baja is making a lot more great wine than you might think

Tradition and climate usually dictate what grows where in the wine world. Napa is Cabernet country because the climate, by and large, is amenable to ripening the grapes. The same can be said for Nebbiolo in Piemonte, Chardonnay in Chablis, Syrah in Hermitage. So what is warm, dry, Baja California, Mexico, amenable to? All of these varietals, plus everything short of a few cool-climate grapes such as Pinot Noir and Riesling.

NZ-Korea FTA set to benefit NZ exporters – McClay

Trade Minister Todd McClay has welcomed entry-into-force of the New Zealand-Korea Free Trade Agreement. “This high quality agreement, negotiated and signed by former Trade Minister Tim Groser, will bring significant commercial benefits to New Zealand exporters,” says McClay. “Current duty-free access to the Korean market is ‘bound in’, and existing tariffs will be eliminated on $793 million, or 48 per cent, of New Zealand exports.

Marlborough wine company sponsors new Blenheim theatre

A Marlborough wine company has announced a 10 year sponsorship package for the new ASB Civic Theatre, in Blenheim. Whitehaven Wine Company managing director Sue White said she chose to invest in the theatre as a way of giving back to Marlborough. “I think it will be an asset to the region,” she said. White would not disclose the amount of money that had been invested through the package, but it was “significant”.

10 questions with: Michael Hill Smith MW

Michael Hill Smith co-founded Adelaide Hills winery Shaw and Smith in 1989. He was the first Australian to become a Master of Wine and won the first Madame Bollinger Foundation medal for an outstanding performance in the practical (tasting) papers of the MW examination. “Life is finite – don’t squander it. Or, in the words of Len Evans: “Every time you drink a bottle of inferior wine it’s like smashing a superior bottle against the wall.”

Scroll to top