2428 days ago

Volcanic wine tasting with John Szabo MS

New Zealand School of Food & Wine

Volcanic wines are hot, literally. It’s no secret that Mount Etna in Sicily, the Canary Islands and the Yamanashi region in near Mount Fuji are all home to some of the world’s most diverse and exciting wines, which is why one of the leading authorities on volcanic wines is coming to New Zealand to host tastings on Saturday 28 July and Sunday 29 July.

Master Sommelier John Szabo will lead two tastings on volcanic wines at the New Zealand School of Food & Wine’s annual W&F Celebration, part of Auckland’s new Elemental Festival.

He was the first Canadian to add the letters MS (Master Sommelier) to his name, in 2004, and has since written Volcanic Wines, Salt Grit and Power - a book about volcanic wine regions.

Auckland is a fitting city to host Szabo since the greater Auckland region’s volcanic field has at least 52 volcanoes. The city’s scoria cones range from 10 to 120 meters in height, contributing an unexplored aspect to Auckland’s wine terroir.

“The question is how we can enhance the reputations of wines grown in the Auckland region given most of this region’s wineries are on volcanically derived sedimentary rock,” says Celia Hay of the NZ School of Food & Wine.

Szabo will speak at the school’s annual Wine & Food Celebration on Saturday 27July and Sunday 28 July in Central Auckland.

For more information and to arrange an interview with John contact:
Celia Hay
celia@foodandwine.co.nz
021 981 947

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More messages from your neighbours
5 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!

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5 days ago

Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑

Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.

We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?

Want to read more? The Press has you covered!

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🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
  • 52.6% Human-centred experience and communication
    52.6% Complete
  • 14.7% Critical thinking
    14.7% Complete
  • 29.9% Resilience and adaptability
    29.9% Complete
  • 2.7% Other - I will share below!
    2.7% Complete
551 votes
20 hours ago

Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!

William Hansby Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.

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