Hello, Wine Idealists! This week’s /NEW/ Edition of The Wine Idealist will also be the /FINAL/ edition for 2015… I have taken a bit of a different tact with this final post than in year’s past. I’ve written a small poem for you all. I hope you enjoy reading it… – – – Natural Wine Rules – … Continue reading Natural Wine Rules – Cheers! 2015 –
– – The Wine Idealist is 3 years old! Happy Birthday to The Wine Idealist! Thank you for reading! I started this blog, back in November 2012, because I wanted to learn more about natural, organic, and biodynamic wines, specifically from Australia and New Zealand. And, because I like drinking wine… obviously. Being a journalist, I figured … Continue reading Happy Birthday! – The Wine Idealist is 3 Years Old!
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
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)
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
There’s a hill in Hawke’s Bay that is divided in half by two names. It pushes high into the sky and looks out over the Gimblett Gravels and Bridge Pa Triangle, two of Hawke’s Bay’s most famous winegrowing sub-regions. Just over 30 years ago, this whole area was a literal wasteland. A speedway track, an army … Continue reading ‘Balance Above (a Beautiful Wasteland)’ – Bilancia/La Collina, Hawke’s Bay, N.Z.
“I have a few colleagues who are very particular about the way they think wine should be made… When we released our first wine, in 2012, we had no idea what we were going to call it, and someone at work said to me, ‘the way you make wine is the wrong way’, and I said, … Continue reading ‘Learn The Rules’ – The Other Right, South Australia
“I think sometimes, as winemakers, we’re aware of certain wines that grip you and others that don’t, and sometimes you get to a point where you’re just absolutely bored, and you want to try and achieve something more…” Andrew Greenhough is a man with a Masters in Art History, who gave up his ambitions of … Continue reading ‘The Art of Wine’ – Greenhough, Waimea Plains, Nelson, N.Z.
Welcome to Wine Idealism... 