So crucially are we now aware that geography and climate have an essential bearing on grape varieties and therefore wine itself. The first planting of cultivated grapes was recorded in 1819. The grower Samuel Marsden wrote “New Zealand promises to be very favourable...
North America Producing 3 times the amount of wine than Australia, America is a force to be increasingly reckoned with on the world wine stage. Wine making began erratically, like so many ‘New World’ countries, with early settlers coming to terms with existing...
South Africa has been making wine for over 350 years, longer in fact than either America or Australia, thereby claiming the distinction of the oldest of the ‘New World’ producers. However, South Africa’s penetration of the global marketplace is very recent. For most...
Many thousands of years ago, in a barely remembered world before McDonalds and Tescos, man was classified as hunter/gatherer. In this phase of his multi-tasking, the world was a challenging environment and survival was the order of the day, with little time for...
There are generally two distinct styles of sweet wines made in almost all wine producing countries in the world. They fall loosely into two main categories, wines made from ultra-ripe, dried or rotten grapes, and those made by the addition of alcohol (fortified). It...
