Category Archives: Opinion

My considered thoughts on topics, but you can call them opinions

Books on wine

Best place to get great wine books is Book Depository. I’ll update this page with the ones I’ve found most useful. Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wine (good annual reference and guide – I generally agree with Michael’s palate it seems)

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Consumer NZ 2013 whites tasting

The December issue of Consumer NZ has the report of the panel blind tasting of New Zealand whites under $30. We tasted 60 wines, all purchased off-the-shelf by Consumer NZ. As with any panel, the scores among the judges varied, … Continue reading

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Chemical common sense – Letter to Decanter

Update: Decanter has published my response in the November 2013 issue. Let’s hope this puts an end to it. I’ve just sent off another letter to Decanter magazine. Seems some chap in the US didn’t like my balanced response to … Continue reading

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Stick to the science – Letter to Decanter, July 2013

It’s not often that I’m moved to write a letter to the editor of a magazine, but a news item in the April Decanter annoyed me. My letter was published in the July issue. The original story is here. Here’s … Continue reading

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Waipara Riesling Challenge 2010 overview

Early this year I bought two cases of the 2010 Waipara Riesling Challenge wines at the bargain-basement price of $9.99 a bottle (from www.blackmarket.co.nz). The challenge was an interesting idea: does the grape or the making make most difference? Or, … Continue reading

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