So after my time spent making Pinot Noir at Villa Maria, I hit the road with my friend Iñigo, a fellow traveller that I met while walking on the Camino de Santiago in 2009. 

We found the freshness of New Zealand's produce and seafood to be reason enough to make our own dinners in the Backpacker's where we stayed.  Apart from saving some cash that can otherwise be spent on beer and wine, making dinner in a communal kitchen was a great way to get to know other people on the road.

The local beverages above are Speights, the beer of the south island, and a Peter Yealands 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.   The beer was my favorite mainstream brew down there, and it wasn't expensive.  The Yealands SB, also available here in the States, is zesty, citrus driven, with classic grassy notes that epitomize Marlborough Savvy.   It is a great white wine for the fare seen above, too:  Cabbage, carrot, avacado, and mesclun salad; grilled salmon in garlic butter; and green-lipped Havilock mussels.  This picture will always make me nostalgic.... and hungry! 

Anyway, if you see Yealands wines, or Villa Maria wines for that matter, you can trust that they offer good product for a reasonable price.  The Yealands Pinot Noir was one of the first Marlborough reds I had that made me stop, sip again and again, and think, "New Zealand's got it."  And they do.  From picturesque landscapes, to wacky wildlife, this country is a traveller's dreamland.  Their local flavors don't fall short at all, either.

Well, with this trip done, it's off to the next adventure:  The Rhone Valley!
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So these things may be unrelated... maybe not. 
With the recent seismic shaking in the south island (Christchurch is just south of the Marlborough region by a couple hours drive), I've started thinking how Mother Nature can wreck anything she wants, any time she wants.  As a Marylander I really have no experience with earthquakes, and I hope to never get too familiar with these savage phenomena.  If I end up in Cali for wine work, though, I'll likely feel more than a few tremors.
The disaster in New Zealand also made me recall the Chilean quakes of last year.  This stuff had a huge impact on shipping and storage of wine for some facilities.  I wonder how the wineries of Marlborough and the Otago valley are coping. 
We are all at Nature's mercy, especially when our livelyhood is a product of the earth.  And now, a kick-ass Washington state Merlot:
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Northstar 2006 Merlot...
If you want to taste wine that validates the hype about WA, look no further.  Without paying the price you would for a bottle of Leonetti, you get the solid structure, the plum, black fruit and mocha, the velvet tannins, and that deliciously lasting finish.  Great with steak, but also a good wine for pairing with chocolate and fresh blackberries.
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Well, after a pretty long hiatus of no writing (except for my bimonthly City Living Magazine articles), I've had a realization that I cannot lose sight of the vision... the transformation of an amateur palate into a connoisseur... someday.
In the meantime I'm enjoying working as a wine professional, selling, sipping, spitting almost every day.  Always learning and always enjoying the fact that I work with a product that I love.  Why my words came to such a sudden halt, I don't know, but I hope to be back and as prolific as possible.
Okay, to what matters.  This bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir will run you about 20 bucks.  Wild Rock is a sustainable winery affiliated with Craggy Range (one of the more prestigious establishments from New Zealand). It hails from the Central Otago region of the North Island (think Lord of the Rings), which has a cooler growing climate.  So you get a fresh Pinot with bright acid.  You get cherries, a resinous allure, and something slightly floral on the nose.  But no umami, i.e., no meaty deli meat aromas. 
The flavor is lush and fruity with a raisiny, spicy finish.  The tannins are light, and the wine is almost see-through clear.  Overall, it is a pleasant wine.  Good for stirfry, good chilled down just a bit to combat this summer humidity.  I give it a B+.
Question to anyone who might happen by:  Are you drinking more South African wine because of the World Cup?  if so, which ones?
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Technically speaking, last night I really was in New Zealand, attending a charity wine auction sponsored by the Washington D.C. Rotary Club.  There was plenty of good food and wine to choose from, but only two wines stood out to me as being noteworthy:  The Lil' Rippa Pinot Noir and the Lil' Rippa Sauvignon blanc. 
The latter, a crisp Sauv. blanc loaded with crisp zestiness, was the perfect glass to kick off my evening of meeting a few of the members of the club.  The pinot noir was a wine I returned to after some eating and bidding on silent auction items, but it startled me with how dank and deep the aromas were.  Bacon fat and musty basement smells mingled with some fresh red berry... a for-sure A wine in my book.  Now I just need to find out where I can find it aroud here...shouldn't be too hard
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