2085 days ago

New Zealand Wines!

New Zealand School of Food & Wine

The Certificate in NZ Wine runs over 4 sessions and is followed by an Advanced programme of another 4 sessions.

This week we have enjoyed tasting and learning about innovative estates such as Burn Cottage from Central Otago, Heron’s Flight who make an exceptional Sangiovese in Matakana. Always a pleasure to taste the wines of Hans and Therese Herzog and we savoured the Mistral, a blend of 60% Viognier, 20% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne.

Te Mata’s Cape Crest showcases Hawkes Bay barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc and is interesting to compare with Sancerre from Henri Bourgeois also the owner of Clos Henri. Pegasus Bay’s Finale is New Zealand best example of a Sauternes style with deliciously ripe Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

Learning about New Zealand’s wine geography and tasting some special wines along the way is always rewarding.

The wines that were tasted were -
- Hans Herzog Estate, Mistral 2016
- Burn Cottage Vineyard, Pinot Noir 2016
- Te Mata Estate Winery, Caupe Crest Sauvignon Blanc 2017
- Heron's Flight Vineyard - Matakana, Amphora Sangiovese 2016
- Pegasus Bay Winery, Finale 2017
- Henri Bourgeois Sancerre, 2018 (Clos Henri Vineyard)

Image
More messages from your neighbours
2 hours ago

Heartbeats Cardiac Support Group Meets at Sunnynook on Thursday

Trent Lash from Heartbeats North Shore

Heartbeats, cardiac support and heart services charitable trust, has its next monthly meeting of the Sunnynook group on Thursday 26th February at Sunnynook Community Centre.
WHERE: Sunnynook Community Centre, 148 Sycamore Dr, Sunnynook
WHEN: this Thursday 26th February
TIME: 7:00 - 8:00pm in the meeting room on the north side of the building, entrance from outside.

Heart disease causes 31% of all deaths each year in New Zealand and about 3,000 of these are premature . . . . they could be saved with better knowledge of a heart attack, and greater education on heart disease.

If you are a heart patient or heart event survivor, come along and meet people with the same life-changing condition in a friendly, informal and engaging informative way. You will learn a lot, and it may save your life.

Heartbeats is all about 'by the patient, for the patient' and we are committed to helping heart people everywhere lead longer and full lives.

Bring a spouse, partner or friend - everyone is WELCOME

21 hours ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.

Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.

For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.

Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?

We hope this brings a smile!

Image
20 days ago

Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.

Image