Our lives, twined around vineyards and a small farm, are lived at the pace of the seasons. This sounds idyllic doesn’t it? So turn away now if you’d like to retain the bucolic image you have floating in your imagination. The reality can sometimes be a little more startling and frantic and sleepless than […]
Thinning is a strange thing that’s mostly restricted to this time of year –late spring/early summer. It’s strange because we seem to have spent a GREAT deal of effort encouraging plant growth through a myriad of land-mine moments, such as late […]
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 […]
