Terroir is a French term that describes the relationship between the climate, soil and landscape of any one place. It is a combination of an unlimited number of factors, such as temperature, sunlight, rainfall distribution, slope, aspect and drainage of a particular site, as well as tradition, technique, culture, and agronomy. It is how each of … Continue reading Terroir Australis, or…
Natural, organic, and biodynamic winegrowers of Australia and New Zealand, unite! inGRAPESweTRUST presents…. What’s In Your Glass? was held for the third time in a row in sunny, beautiful, Newcastle, and featured over 60 artisan, natural, organic and biodynamic wines from right across these two great countries! “It can’t be done,” they said. “Small wine events … Continue reading Newcastle Knows What’s In Your Glass… 2015
The Real Wine Fair has a lot to answer for. You see, it was the Real Wine Fair, held over three years ago, in May 2012, in London, that triggered my love for natural, organic, and biodynamic wine. I attended as a relative newbie to the natural wine scene where I encountered Adam and Julian … Continue reading What’s In Your Glass? 2015
“Everything we do is really to look after a very singular and unique piece of land,” says Nick Mills, from Rippon. Rippon is the name of (probably) the most beautiful piece of land in the world that grows wine. It’s located “on a bit of dead end road,” on the outskirts of the resort town … Continue reading ‘Articulating Place’ – Rippon, Wanaka, New Zealand
Hello, Wine Idealists! Happy Friday! I hope this post finds you smiling and well (and with, possibly, a glass of something nice in your hand!)… There’s some exciting news afoot, here at thewineidealist.com and #wineidealism HQ! Now, before you start to think… – “Oh yeah, righto mate. What kind of cheap crap do you think … Continue reading Help Keep The Wine Idealist Sustainable… Support #WineIdealism!
David Hunt is the fourth generation to have custodianship of a small farm, known as Ivybrook, which is tucked away on Thomas Road, 2km from Maslin Beach, South Australia. His great grandfather, Peter Hunt, was the the first Hunt to walk onto the property in 1913, with his wife Ruth. Here, they established a sheep and … Continue reading ‘Sustainability is All In The Family’ – Ivybrook Farm, Maslin Beach, SA
“Wine has this magical capacity to become a kind of liquid geography that can show the little nuances of a particular time and place, and I feel like it’s a moral failure not to aim for that,” says Mike Weersing, of Pyramid Valley in New Zealand. “You might not get there every time, but you must do … Continue reading ‘Transcendence’ – Pyramid Valley, Waikari, New Zealand (Part Two)
“I wanted to find a place where the voice was so loud that you couldn’t hear the grape,” says Mike Weersing, winegrower at Pyramid Valley, in New Zealand. After 15 years of searching, Mike and his wife Claudia, who were originally from the US, finally settled on an old sheep farm in Wairkari, North Canterbury. They … Continue reading ‘The Empyrean’ – Pyramid Valley, North Canterbury, New Zealand (Part One)
Bart Arnst is one of New Zealand’s leading organic grape growers. In another life, he may well have been a prop in the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, or, perhaps a member of the Hells Angels MC. But, in this one, he plays the role of a gentle giant sitting amongst a sward of yarrow cover … Continue reading ‘Push The Progression’ – Bart Arnst and The Darling Wines of Marlborough, N.Z
… and now for something completely diff, well, almost completely, different. Campbell Mattinson’s book, The Wine Hunter: The Man Who Changed Australian Wine, is not only one of the best wine books I’ve ever read, it’s deadset one of the best books I’ve ever read. Hands down. The book is a fusion of fact and dramatisation, not … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Wine Hunter…’ by Campbell Mattinson.
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