When Julia headed to New Zealand to judge in their most prestigious wine competition, the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, she wasn't content with simply tasting 500 competition wines. She packed her schedule with winery visits and tastings on a one-woman mission to find first-class wines and bring them back for the rest of us to salivate over. Judging by the number of wines she managed to look at, it's just as well that electronic tasting notes weigh so much less than wine. And this was based on visiting only two smallish regions. Imagine if she'd been let loose on the whole country...
This is the guide to her forays into Waipara and Canterbury in the South Island, and Waiheke Island and Auckland in the North Island.
North Canterbury – limestone lovers (Tasting articles) 19 June 2013
Waipara Valley – the players (Tasting articles) 18 June 2013
Waipara regional tasting (Tasting articles) 17 June 2013
Introducing Waipara and North Canterbury (Inside information) 17 June 2013
Kumeu River – an Auckland pearl (Tasting articles) 7 June 2013A clutch from Waiheke Island (Tasting articles) 28 May 2013
Waiheke Island – an introduction (Inside information) 28 May 2013
Air NZ Wine Awards results (Free for all) 26 November 2012