mailme@joellethomson.com

Joelle Thomson

Wine writer and award winning wine author

What I am drinking, reading and savouring each week

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Cranford Hospice Wine for hospice August 2024 Tutored tasting Masterclass Closing the gap Palliser Estate Pinot Noir Chillable reds Masters of Wine Wine books Reading Great books The Oxford Companion to Wine Removal Zero alcohol Bubbly Alcohol removed wine Gamay Beaujolais Blenheim Rangitane Waghorn Te Muna Valley Producer profile Small wine regions Pinot pioneers Rias Baixas Mora Marsanne Rhone Austria Hiedler Rene Mure Cellaring wines Aged Releases Barolo DOC Unfiltered Oak Barbera Day two wines Children make you rich and poor Cognac Study Roscoe Johanson Friday drinks with Vavasour Te Kairanga Martinborough Vineyards Grove Mill Rockburn Ghost Town Fuder Louis Vavasour Johanneshof Emmi Méthode Marlborough Joelle Thomson Winetopia Wellington Tasting Winetopia 2023 Lloyd Howes Baths and bubbly South Island Sparkling wine Tohu Wines Yealands New Zealand Spain Marlborough wine Dave Clouston Two Rivers Wines Sir Ian Botham Shane Warne Women in wine Kate Radburnd Gemstone Riesling International Women's Day Australia Bordeaux Dogs Rapaura Springs Mike Bann Martinborough in March Tastings Wine tastings Esk Valley Cyclone relief fund Albarino Vintage 2023 Clayvin Pinot Noir Viticulture Rebuilding Winegrowers Charitable Trust Jenny Dobson Fiano Cyclone Gabrielle RWT Barossa Keeper Penfolds Douro Alexandra Chasing Harvest Mike Kush Shaky Bridge Semillon Barrel ferment Architecture Dave Sutton winemaker Kowhai The seed Te Kano Ataahua Routeburn South Africa Pinotage Big Sky Outdoor wine Viper Chard Farm Hunter's Wines Bollinger No 1 Family Estate Astrolabe Clayvin Palliser Luna Ben McNab MK II Vergence Zen Hammock wine Clare Valley Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot More-ish Taylors Wines Biggest Chardonnay tasting Festival WIne and food Trinity Hill Homage Roger Parkinson Mike Kershaw Nga Waka North Canterbury Rothschild Sir Clifford Skeggs Akarua Joel Watson Wilco Lam Charlie Zheng Luna Estate Dry River Wines Ausssies Bubbles MiruMiru Dry River New Zealand Syrah Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association Gimblett Gravels Le Sol Syrah Wairarapa Huntress Waitaki Dry farmed grapes Skeetfield Wine reviews Willpower Pot luck dinner Jules Taylor Sweet and dry Skin contact Pink wine Tom McDonald Syrah Tom 125 years Church Road Church Road Unreliable Natural fit Moody Thin skinned Temperamental Cool climate Sideways film Rosé Wairau Valley Bull Paddock Triptych Older oak New Zealand Pinot Noir regions Supermarket wine aisles New Zealand Pinot Noir Ben Dugdale Dry Riesling Bel Canto Gastro pub Burgundy Billecart Salmon Dhall & Nash Hand picked Kerruish Folding Hill Bendigo Fishing Waihopai Dream Marisco Brent Marris Distributing Importing Bertrand Soalhat Chablis Morgon France Family life Chianti Classico Tim Bourne Te Rehua Pahi Kiwa Kupe Single vineyard Organic Pinot Noir Carrick Pinot Noir Coffee Friday drinks Proust interview Tim Severne Heartwood Fat n Sassy King of Kiwi Chardonnay Tony Bish The Urban Winery Damien Pignolet Cheese souffle Hawke's Bay Champagne Mary-Jeanne Hutchinson Craggy Range High priced Pinot Noir Coal Pit winery Dolphins Martinborough Vineyard The Escarpment Vineyard Larry McKenna Negociants roadshow WIne tasting Sauvignon Blanc Ben Glover Zephyr Wines Great whites Dog Point Vineyards Marlborough Pinot Gris Family La Tache DRC Date change Winetopia Auckland Wine definition Riesling Giesen Zero percent wine Fleetwood Mac James Bond Lemon meringue pie Soho Fitness Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir Fasting Reyouvenate Wellness Health Life mantras Guitar Aurum Matt Connell Switzerland Wine of the week Italy Petite Arvine Martinborough Ata Rangi Geographic Indication GI Masterclasses Wine options WInetopia Judy & Tim Finn Neudorf Ukraine Aged wines Wild Earth Felton Road Open mindedness Cats Pegasus Bay Golden Egg Urban Winery Chardonnay Bannockburn Doctors Flat Pinot Noir Central Otago NZ wine

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Top 10 best bubbles to buy

Top 10 best bubbles to buy

December 8th 2024 If Champagne is the king of sparkling wine, then its queen must be those exceptional bottles that contain the same core ingredients (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with the inclusion of Pinot Meunier, on Read more

Craggy Sauvignon Blanc wins top spot

Craggy Sauvignon Blanc wins top spot

December 4th 2024 Image above: Lyre trellising on a small portion of Craggy Range's vast vineyard in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough Craggy Range Winery has won a top spot in Wine Spectator magazine's Top 100 Wines Read more

Preview tasting of the long awaited Oraterra

Preview tasting of the long awaited Oraterra

November 3rd 2024 Wilco Lam is fresh back in Martinborough from hosting a tasting to unveil the much awaited name, wines and brand that he has been working on for the past two years. “We wanted a name that we Read more

Wild Earth's new Earth & Sky 2023

August 5th 2024 It was warmer than usual, drier than usual and riper than usual, which could be an expression of climate change (warmer weather) or an unusually warm year. Whatever it comes to down, the new 2023 Ear Read more

What is Marlborough's best kept vinous secret?

August 4th 2024 What is Marlborough’s best kept vinous secret? There are several contenders but it has to be a wine that is rising in stature, both in volume and in value (quality, in another word). So, here it Read more

What does Dry July mean to you

July 12th 2024 If Dry July has passed you by (no rhyme intended), spare a thought for the makers of New Zealand's newest 0% alcohol wine, the Giesen family, who added another dealcoholised wine to their now growing Read more

Five top drops - Pinot Noirs to drink this July

July 10th 2024 This month marks the 14th consecutive one in as many years that I have written an annual Pinot Noir report for publication in Drinksbiz magazine. This time round, I wrote with a sense of awe at the Read more

Rock on Rockburn new releases

July 9th 2024 Rockburn takes its name from the rugged, rock strewn landscape of Central Otago and has two vineyards, one on the Gibbston Back Road in Gibbston Valley, the other at Parkburn in the Cromwell Basin Read more

Discover Te Muna Valley's deliciousness

June 28th 2024 I have long been a follower, writer and fan of Te Muna Valley, its majestic landscape and outstanding Pinot Noirs, so I am thrilled to be hosting the opening half of a new event called Discover Te Read more

First Marlborough Prosecco for Xmas

First Marlborough Prosecco for Xmas

December 6th 2024 Marlborough's first Prosecco was released this year, just in time for the festive season and made entirely from the Glera grape, only in this case it was given bottle fermentation which adds depth of Read more

Fresh new white from Marlborough

Fresh new white from Marlborough

December 3rd 2024 Whitehaven Wines of Marlborough has come a long way from its early days when founders, Sue and (the late) Greg White decided to say goodbye to a life spent living on board their yacht and hello to Read more

Alchemy Wines brings old and new together

Alchemy Wines brings old and new together

November 30th 2024 An old brand with a new lease of life sounds like something of a cliche but in the case of Alchemy Wines, its new owners have been the saviours of this brand, which could have bitten the proverbial Read more

A for Askerne in Hawke's Bay

A for Askerne in Hawke's Bay

November 22nd 2024 A sunny half day's drive brings me to Hawke's Bay for Harvest Hawke's Bay but first, a tasting at Askerne Winery with John Loughlin followed by a look (a euphemism for tasting) at Alchemy wines, now Read more

Wine of the week from The Huntress

November 18th 2024 The Huntress is the woman behind the evocative label on this wine of the week, which pays homage to the native flora and fauna in Aotearoa New Zealand. As gorgeous as I find the label, the wines insi Read more

Staking its name on Chardonnay - Neudorf

Staking its name on Chardonnay - Neudorf

November 17th 2024 One of New Zealand's oldest wineries has released three new wines made from the grape that first put it on the map. That grape is Chardonnay and the winery is Neudorf Vineyards, tucked in a sunny Read more

Cuvar named Champion Wine of Hawke's Bay

Cuvar named Champion Wine of Hawke's Bay

November 11th 2024 One of Hawke's Bay's newest wines has won three awards and been named Hawkes Bay’s Top Wine of the Year at the Bayley’s Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards. The wine is the 2021 Čuvar Guardians Read more

Ben Tombs talks about Craggy Range top wines

Ben Tombs talks about Craggy Range top wines

November 9th 2024 For a winery that has staked so much of its identity (four of its five Prestige Collection wines and its Giant's Winery) on Hawke's Bay, Craggy Range has a surprisingly strong focus on Martinborough Read more

Meet German Pinot Noir from Claus Bischoff

Meet German Pinot Noir from Claus Bischoff

November 3rd 2024 The photograph on this post is Spatburgunder in the Mosel. Image taken by Joelle Thomson. Two new German wines arrived in New Zealand this year from Weingut Claus Bischoff. Both are sealed with Read more

Contact Joelle

If you have found this website and have ideas, need advice on wine or want to book a tasting, send me an email at:

mailme@joellethomson.com