Sauvignon Blanc

Early adopters of Australian wines -- in the 1970s -- may know Oatley's name from his inaugural project -- Rosemount Estate. For more than three decades he led a team that produced wines found gracing prestigious restaurant lists around the world.

Oatley though, is a competitor. Witness his record-cinching yacht racing record -- or, in this case, his penchant for coaxing premier Australian terroir to produce accessible and sumptuous wines.

This fifth-generation Aussie is bound to the land. His 2001 sale of Rosemount left him lacking a legacy for his children, and a longing for nurturing these harsh lands into producing great wines.

Full Story: The Oatley excellence - Connect Savannah.com

  To celebrate the new partnership an in-store, neck-collar competition will run, with the top prize of a pair of tickets for the new trip to New Zealand, worth over £9,000.

  Ten runners-up will win a 12 bottle case of Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc.

The new ‘Villa Maria Tour of New Zealand Wineries' is a 24 day trip that encompasses the length and breadth of the country's north and south islands. Twelve of the country's wineries are visited and visitors will be given hands on experience in Villa Maria's wineries and vineyards.

Full Story: Villa Maria joins forces with Journeys of Distinction - Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade Review

The high-profile wine commentator attended the Nelson International Aromatics Symposium at the Upper Moutere Community Centre on Saturday, where 160 delegates tasted and discussed riesling and gewurztraminer wines.

They included winemakers as well as influential overseas wine trade people who had attended the Pinot Noir 2010 conference in Wellington last week.

Mr Clarke said sauvignon blanc had done fantastic things for New Zealand. "It's still the best sauvignon blanc in the world when it is properly done, but you must find a way of keeping the value of it as a brand." New Zealand sauvignon blanc had taught people that it was worth paying more for wine, he said. This was an important message for Nelson, which did not have such big vineyards and economies of scale. Nelson produces just 4 per cent of New Zealand's annual grape harvest.

Full Story: Wine critic urges Nelson to protect brand's value - The Nelson Mail

Fortunately, all of the other guest rooms at Quamby Estate are tip-top, chic and luxurious, even, with oversized timber-floored bathrooms, lavish pod-style white bathtubs and king-size beds. They're the kind of creature comforts denied the 19th-century convict labour once shackled and quartered in the aforementioned confines of this historic Tasmanian homestead.

Those wretched souls, let alone their masters, could not have imagined that distant descendants such as, well, me, would one day be luxuriating guests here at what has become a boutique hotel-cum-lodge; not to mention quaffers of a locally produced bubbly, accompanied by fine regional cooking, at wineries little more than an overseer's lash away.

Quamby, which grandly overlooks the kind of convincing lush English-style pastures rarely encountered on the parched mainland, is just 20 minutes north of Launceston.

Full Story: From shackles to sav blanc - Sydney Morning Herald

He's not your average vineyard owner, but then his instinctive gambles have have brought better-than average success. TIM CRONSHAW talks to Peter Yealands, the wild man of the winery world.

The Rich-Lister bought hundreds of the cuddly rodents to keep the grass down between endless rows of grape vines at Yealands Estate.

Sadly, they came to grief at the largest single vineyard in Australasia owned by him and wife Vai when they were picked off by the local hawk population.

Full Story: Yealands - the wild man of wine - Stuff.co.nz