While Sauvignon Blanc grapes can be found on both of New Zealand’s main islands, they’re the leader in Marlborough on the South Island. The region gets a lot of sunshine, but also has a heavy ocean influence and very cool nights. This helps the wines offer that ripe tropical fruit balanced by lots of refreshing acidity. Looking for some good ones to taste? Seek out bottles from Dog Point Vineyard and Mohua.
While you’re mostly likely to find New Zealand wines offering the tangy, aromatic style of Sauvignon Blanc, some producers are branching off. A few winemakers are following in the footsteps of those producers in Bordeaux and the Loire (such as Didier Dagueneau), fermenting or aging the wines in oak barrels. Want to try? Look to Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko bottling. The wine is fermented in oak barrels and then the bottles are kept in the cellar for three years before being released. While Te Koko has all the fresh acidity of Sauvignon Blanc, it’s a complex and amazingly textured wine. Rather than the typical passion fruit and grapefruit scent, you’ll get a little gentle apricot, lemon pith, and ginger. Wines like this show that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc still has some tricks up its sleeve.

Chardonnay
While Sauvignon Blanc dominates the NZ white wine scene, Chardonnay is the pretty younger sibling who’s just waiting to getting noticed. Many Chardonnays from New Zealand exhibit a depth and brightness akin to White Burgundy. Despite being a new world wine region, the Chardonnays of New Zealand don’t have too much in common with, say, riper examples from California. Most Chardonnays come from Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, or Gisborne. The ocean’s cooling effect in these areas doesn’t allow the fruit flavors in New Zealand’s Chardonnays to get too tropical. Even in fuller-bodied styles with marked oak influence, the mouth-watering acidity will keep you reaching for your glass. White peach, lemon zest, and aged cheese flavors make it a perfect food wine. Wondering where to get started? Look for the Chardonnays from Kumeu River Wines in Auckland.

If you’ve had just one wine from New Zealand, it probably was a Sauvignon Blanc. The grape makes up a mind-boggling 72% of wine production in New Zealand.

Pinot Noir
If you enjoy Pinot Noirs from the Willamette Valley in Oregon or California’s Sonoma County, you should seek out Pinot Noir from New Zealand. In fact, there is a huge cultural exchange within these regions. Because of the alternating seasons, it is very common to hear of winery interns traveling across the Pacific to work two harvests a year. This extends to some of the best in the business—Ted Lemon of Sonoma’s famed Littorai also makes wine at Burn Cottage in Central Otago, for example.

Styles vary across the country, so it’s a bit hard to make generalizations, but most NZ producers try to embrace the balance that their climate affords them. New Zealand pinots don’t have the weight of warmer climates, but they don’t quite have the earthy mushroom notes of Burgundy either. Most NZ Pinots have a splash of black cherry or strawberry flavor, complemented with violet and cloves.

Most Sauvignon Blanc is like a friendly puppy—bursting from the glass and ready to play. This is not a wine that makes you hunt for flavors and aromas—they are right up in front, ready to get noticed. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has the classic herbaceousness of the grape—you might taste a little bell pepper and jalapeño—combined with ripe fruit: think passion fruit and pink grapefruit. These wines are also often compared to gooseberries—small, green fruits that have a burst of tartness just like the wine.

You’ll mainly find Pinot Noir from Marlborough, Central Otago, and Martinborough, which is on the southern tip of the North Island. While Pinot Noir may be in Sauvignon Blanc’s shadow in Marlborough, producers such as Greywacke and Wither Hills still make examples worth seeking out.

Central Otago is an outlier in regards to climate. The sea’s influence is less strong in this region, since grapes are planted further inland and at higher altitude. These wines maintain NZ’s characteristic freshness, but often with more alcohol and body than other styles from further north. Central Otago Pinot Noirs tend to be wonderfully concentrated and plush. They don’t come cheap though—a bottle of Central Otago Pinot is likely going to set you back at least $30. Rippon, Felton Road, Mt. Difficulty are a few Central Otago producers at the top of their game.

Red Bordeaux Blends
Blends made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from the North Island around Hawke’s Bay really shine. My favorites come from Gimblett Gravels, a district planted on fine sand and stony gravel along the Ngaruroro River. This place is especially suited for these grapes because the soils and higher temperature allow for the grapes to get perfectly ripe. Look for Craggy Range’s Te Kahu or Trinity Hill’s The Gimblett: these blends are like gymnasts that move effortlessly along the uneven bars with fantastic displays of strength. They are elegant and fresh with rich, textured tannins. If you love Cabernet-Merlot blends from Washington State or South America, you will be doubly won over by the aromas of black cherry, cedar, and clove.

Syrah
Syrah is just edging into the New Zealand wine game but it is definitely a grape to watch. Like Merlot and Cabernet, it mostly sticks to the warmer climates of the North Island where it can ripen best. Syrahs from New Zealand offer savory black pepper flavors complementing juicy plum and violet. While they don’t have the wild, gamey side of Northern Rhone Syrah, these structured wines don’t quite fit with the sun-kissed style of Australian Shiraz either. Try them out for yourself, starting with wines from Mission Estate Winery—a producer whose history dates back to 1851.

Note: All wines provided as tasting samples for review consideration, with the exception of the Greywacke, Rippon, Felton Road, Mt. Difficulty, and Burn Cottage.

If you want the all important toasty rice bits, or socarrat, you’re going to need a paella pan. The width of a paella pan helps with rice distribution, ensuring that the rice cooks in a thin layer. A pan that feeds two is generally about 10-12 inches and a pan that serves eight is about 18 inches. The most popular pan sizes are 14 and 16 inches, which feed 4-6. Which size pan you get depends on how many people you plan to feed.

The wider the pan, the more people it feeds. They even have pans that are 4 feet wide! Years ago, around Christmas, Mike and I were in London and we saw two giant paella pans at Covent Garden. The saffron deliciousness wafting through the chilly air was so tempting so we decided to join the huge queue for a taste. I’m sure Hola Paella (now closed forever) wasn’t the most authentic paella in London, but it attracted a lot of attention and was a perfect snack to warm us up on a cold day.

If you want the all important toasty rice bits, or socarrat, you’re going to need a paella pan. The width of a paella pan helps with rice distribution, ensuring that the rice cooks in a thin layer. A pan that feeds two is generally about 10-12 inches and a pan that serves eight is about 18 inches. The most popular pan sizes are 14 and 16 inches, which feed 4-6. Which size pan you get depends on how many people you plan to feed.

The wider the pan, the more people it feeds. They even have pans that are 4 feet wide! Years ago, around Christmas, Mike and I were in London and we saw two giant paella pans at Covent Garden. The saffron deliciousness wafting through the chilly air was so tempting so we decided to join the huge queue for a taste. I’m sure Hola Paella (now closed forever) wasn’t the most authentic paella in London, but it attracted a lot of attention and was a perfect snack to warm us up on a cold day.

We are in touch with nature. We grow without harming nature. Our gardens previously had a flood irrigation method. Tons of water could be wasted. We replaced our entire garden with drip and sprinkler irrigation systems so that our water resources do not decrease. We are investigating whether we can provide the energy we use in our packaging area with solar energy. We share our experiences with our farmers and protect Finike Agriculture. Our investments to grow new crops in our gardens continue. The fruits on the tree can be of various sizes and qualities. 1. Quality fruits are used, but unfortunately, stained, non-caliber large or small fruits, which we call discard, cannot be evaluated at good prices. We create added value by drying these fruits, which have no difference in flavor and water ratio, and making jam or freshly pressed fruit juice. Our difference is not using any preservatives or additives. We make our jams without added sugar with apple concentrate and fruit itself. It is among our investment plans to increase our production, which is very limited for now. It is obvious that your brand has a serious contribution to Finike in terms of economy. Can you talk a little about these? Do you have any other projects to increase this contribution?
Our Finike is geographically in a very beautiful location and has an incredible microclimate. A very valuable black grape grows in our Yazır village, 30 km from the center. It is a very old breed and is only watered by rain. I’m talking about the Yazır grape. Until this year, this grape was only sold in the markets of Finike and the surrounding districts. The site for the first time this year we were able to reach out to every part of Turkey. We got incredibly positive feedback. We opened a new market channel. We are negotiating with the villagers to increase the production of this grape. We will ensure that farmers continue farming by protecting our values, agriculture and our land. We are replanting many old breeds, which were consumed in the past but have been discontinued due to market concern and loss of productivity today. There are types / flavors that are forgotten but should not be forgotten. As an example to these; we can list scented lemons, red lemons, sugar oranges, Jaffa orange and chadox.

How many people do you team?
Team of 35 in winter and 17 in summer. Most of our employees are women. We will grow in agriculture and increase our employment. During these processes, we all became interested in farming. Do you have any advice on this matter? What did the epidemic show us in agriculture, which we are in and whose effects are felt deeply in every sector?
The farmer needs to continue farming. Price and production stability must be ensured, which both the farmer and the consumer are satisfied with. These two sections should not be offended by each other. The farmer should not stop production because there is no financial gain, and his children should be able to continue farming. We must protect agricultural areas and not become dependent on foreign countries in agriculture. The coronavirus has shown us that we should not be dependent on outside food. We are experiencing climate changes due to global warming and various reasons. For example, a tornado disaster occurred in the last two winters in Finike. There was nothing like this before. We need to not harm the environment and protect the forest areas. Everyone should plant a tree in their life, irrigate it …

The widest usage area of ​​DIY projects is in garden decoration. Garden decoration DIY ideas, where you can use all waste materials from old tables to jars, from plastic bottles to old glasses, will enhance the creativity of you and your children. It is also possible to spend more fun and productive time with your family thanks to the DIY projects you can prepare as a family. We have prepared great ideas for you to prepare economical and useful garden accessories.

Old tables are new barbecue sets!

The best garden decorations do-it-yourself ideas are useful. Wooden tables on wheels, which are used as crisper in the kitchen, wear out over time, and become unusable. You can use these tables and similar tables in the garden under the barbecue. While these tables can be easily moved because they are on wheels, they also protect children who play around from dangers. In addition, since it rises to the same height as the dining table, it enables the cook to cook and serve more easily.

Turn your old hot tubs into an outdoor hot tub!

Although this idea may seem a bit impossible, it is not that difficult. Most of those who renovate their bathrooms throw away their old jacuzzis even if they are still using it. Sometimes you can use these jacuzzis, which are thrown out because there is no space in the new bathroom, and sometimes because they are worn out, as an outdoor jacuzzi in your garden. This jacuzzi, around which you can make supports with a few pieces of wood, can be a source of entertainment for you and your children. If you want, you can light it with different lights.

Make paths, fields from round stones

This is a decoration method used in all gardens. However, you can rearrange it completely according to your own style. In other words, instead of classical stones, you can make a cooler decoration by combining seashells or stones that are flat but with crooked shapes.

The easiest garden decoration method, plastic bottles

Plastic bottles, which enter our house with many drinks and fill almost all the garbage, become a part of our lives instead of being waste material. These materials, which we can use as accessories throughout the house, are perfect for garden decoration. You can use these bottles directly, by painting them, pasting papers on them, and decorating them in various ways. Cut the middle of the bottles into a square or rectangle. Remove this part and put soil in it. Plant a flower in the soil that will not grow too large or heavy. That is all.