http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.joellethomson.com en-us Tue, 28 Jul 2026 23:07:25 +1200 Rocketspark http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/167915/altitude-meets-attitude-at-centrals-coal-pit-wines/ When many New Zealanders are enjoying the sun on Greek beaches, Spanish cities or London streets, winemakers in the deep south are releasing new wines during the coldest months of winter. By 'deep south', I am referring to Central Otago - one of the southernmost wine regions in the world. This week's trio of new releases comes from a small producer with a high quality focus - Coal Pit Wines.The winery and home vineyard are tucked away at the top of a dramatic driveway in Gibbston Valley, Central... Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:47:29 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post167915 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/167827/fermentation-in-french-oak-weaves-its-textural-magic/ Marlborough is famous for white wine but generally not for Rhone Valley white grapes or wine styles. Enter Brave Roots Wine and Viognier. As New Zealand wine brands go, this one is pretty new. Brave Roots Wine began its journey in 2023 when founders Alina Tenetka and Masha Skorchenko started making wine, releasing their first commercial wines in March 2025.This month, the duo behind Brave Roots has released the 2025 Brave Roots Viognier, using Marlborough grapes and creating a wine tha... Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:33:58 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post167827 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/167706/when-a-big-vintage-is-still-small--pinot-noir-in-a-cool-climate/ When winemaker Paul Mason says the 2025 vintage will go down as one of the biggest and earliest harvests on record, he's drawing on over 20 years of experience in one of the coolest parts of a cool climate wine region - the south end of Te Muna Valley in Martinborough, in the Wairarapa wine region. The entire region is home to 1,166 hectares of producing vines. Pinot Noir makes up 493.97 of these hectares* and is considered the flagship variety in the region. Today, Paul is the full ti... Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post167706 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/167160/a-common-thread-at-worlds-biggest-wine-awards-for-aotearoa/ It was a relative rarity for New Zealand Pinot Noir to take top spot at big global wine awards a decade ago. This year, it is almost a dead set regularity, as the world’s biggest wine competition showed in June this year, awarding eight platinum medals to New Zealand wines, four of them for Pinot Noir.The competition is the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards, which showcases the strength and diversity of the world's wines as well as the power of Pinot from New Zealand's cool‑climate regions.&nb... Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post167160 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/167357/new-soho-stella-sauvignon-blanc-review/ 2026 Soho Stella Sauvignon Blanc RRP $26.9918.5/20From the first swirl, Stella Sauvignon Blanc asserts its aromatic presence with ripe grapefruit, passionfruit and blackcurrant leaf unfolding into lifted lemongrass and freshly picked herbs held together in a tight, bright young wine.Made with grapes grown in the Awatere and Wairau valleys in Marlborough, Stella was fermented entirely in stainless steel to retain its vibrant freshness and youthful energy. Residual sugar of 2.9 grams per litre put... Thu, 09 Jul 2026 21:34:39 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post167357 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/166919/authentic-expressions-of-place--new-zealand-chardonnay/ It's not often I start a wine story in the first person but I've been working on a State of the Nation style story about Chardonnay for a couple of months now and the story seems to have taken on a life of its own, evolving into a larger story than originally planned. Watch this space for more to come. In the meantime, Chardonnay continues to be impressive in New Zealand, both for the range of styles made and the ever increasing focus by winemakers on purity and quality - rather than winema... Sat, 27 Jun 2026 13:14:07 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post166919 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/166533/pinot-power-at-affordable-prices/ Pinot Noir is one of the world’s most notoriously difficult and expensive red grape varieties to grow, with only a handful of regions in the world producing top quality results on a consistent basis. Alsace, Burgundy, Central Otago, Germany Marlborough, Martinborough, North Canterbury, Oregon, Tasmania and parts of Victoria in South Australia can all make excellent expressions of Pinot Noir but the best tend to high priced, which makes affordable Pinot something of a rarity.The picture is slo... Fri, 19 Jun 2026 21:21:46 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post166533 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/166456/nectar-by-name-and-by-taste/ Wild mood swings, cool edges and fierce winds are the tip of the challenging iceberg that is the Wairarapa’s weather these days but despite the challenges, winemaker Jannine Rickards chose to make her home here for another reason – Pinot Noir – and her latest wine is an outstanding example.The wine brand she founded in 2017 is called Huntress, meaning she is now onto her ninth vintage and this week she released her latest.The Pawero Pinot Noir is my pick of the range (see my review, b... Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:59:24 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post166456 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/166435/tale-of-two-new-chardonnays/ These two new Chardonnays landed on my tasting table this week, highlighting two very different styles from the cool nights and hot days of Marlborough to the moderate maritime climate of Waiheke Island. Here are my reviews. 2025 Soho Carter Vineyard Waiheke Island Chardonnay RRP $60Waiheke Island is a subtropical haven in the Hauraki Gulf with a moderate maritime climate and vineyards on which white grapes thrive. It’s also home to the vineyard that delivers the grapes giv... Tue, 16 Jun 2026 22:36:25 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post166435 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/post/165953/californian-cabernet-shows-a-cool-side/ For a region (or should we say a 'state') that has the perhaps dubious accolade of being the fourth biggest producer of wine in the world, California features strangely rarely in our glasses at this far flung end of the Earth. But two recent encounters with big bold reds from the sun drenched climate of California (which made 81% of all United States wine, in 2020*) have forced a rethink of hot climate red wines. Not least because California also has cooler climatic pockets, as the second vintag... Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +1200 http://www.joellethomson.com/blog/#post165953