There are times when ingredients appear in the garden in such a way that the resulting meal is a no-brainer. Such was our Sunday evening considerations- artichoke, broad beans, peas and basil. Throw in some homegrown bacon and the whole thing has a pasta resolution. […]
Tis the season…. for green garlic. Also known as spring garlic or wet garlic, this is the young version of the garlic we all know. As an ingredient garlic has become ubiquitous and as unseasonal as other ‘basic’ ingredients […]
I been gone. For six days, to South Australia. It’s a long time to be away in the growing season; M. Nature can throw a lot at you in that time, and throw she did. Gale force nor-westers to be exact and seriously high temperatures for this time of the year. Yet, thanks […]
Ahhh Spring. Life seems just a little bit easier. It’s an illusion we all buy into gladly handing over wads of ‘readys’ for a little later evening purchase served with sides of outside meals, more social times and a fervent belief […]
We are just beginning our ‘hungry gap’ here in North Canterbury. It’s a time of year when very little harvestable food is available. We still have the stored crops of winter and a few greens cheating the season in the tunnel house and protected positions, but there is no fruit or anything else beyond the […]
At the end of the tunnel. It’s always the darkest before dawn. June is the month of darkness. Of stillness, and reflection. The wines are safely away in barrel or fermenting quietly. The vineyard is still, burrowing into its winter hibernation, pruning happening at a leisurely rather than frantic pace. For a short period of […]
Pinot Noir is one of the most elusive, fickle mistresses in our industry. Lynnette Hudson, (aka ‘The Groove’) attempts to shed some light on this winemaking process, through the diary entries she’s been keeping over the last six weeks. March 28th: Gorgeous morning, perfect for the first day of picking. The Pinot Noir grapes taste […]
Wine critic Alice Feiring recently said; “The benchmark for me is that if you’re growing great tomatoes, you’re making great wine. The two seem to go together”. I would like to think she wasn’t simply making a statement about regionality and degree days. I would like to think she was also talking about an affinity […]
Last Sunday afternoon was a peaceful one; spent at a friend’s place in Gore Bay, oblivious to the weather warnings about a ‘super cell’ or super storm brewing to the south of us. That evening as we travelled back into the Valley from the north an enormous cloud was tracking towards us from the south. […]
Summer of Riesling is at full noise. Every year I swear I’m never doing it again, but I keep getting pulled back by the seductive siren calls of some seriously good New Zealand Riesling. Riesling producers are like Pinot Noir people. They’re not normal. They’re edgy and interesting and just freaking get it. They don’t […]
