Category Archives: Uncategorized

Does alcohol consitute “the necessities of life”? How important in these troubling times is it to have access to alcohol? Yesterday the morning breakfast show, The AM Show, polled New Zealanders as to how important this is in life: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2020/03/poll-should-alcohol-be-considered-an-essential-product.html … Continue reading →

I have received so many questions about this film that it may pay to get a few out of the way asap: Was this the best movie (slash) documentary you saw at this year’s Film Festival? NZIFF this year was … Continue reading →

One of my sadly dear departed friends once went to 47 films at the Auckland Film Festival. I do not know, but the following year he smashed the 50 or 60 movie barrier. I managed 24 myself, but ten of … Continue reading →

Kim Knight’s review in Canvas, 9 Feb 2019, contained several errors, so I thought it would be nice to set the record straight. We have been to the Tavern twice now, once for casual drinks and a snack and once … Continue reading →

Castellani Chianti DOCG 2016 ($16.95)Bright fruit, wild berry and savoury tomato, with an undercurrent of licorice. Medium bodied, supple tannins with Sangiovese’s characteristic freshness on the finish, this is a concentrated, vinous wine at an excellent price. I tasted this … Continue reading →

I have been meaning to post this for a while now, but the issue is becoming more and more prominent that I need to say something now, before any more wines get hurt. Some years ago I was fortunate to … Continue reading →

Have been offline for a couple of weeks, but been working on some tricky material, so humble apologies. Meantime, I am currently in the South of Spain and just enjoyed two cracking wines that I must share with you. After … Continue reading →

After our amazing barbeque under the stars at Samaipata, we all piled back on the bus and headed back down the gorge road to our hotel for the night, Laguna Volcan, stopping about half an hour into the gorge. Laguna … Continue reading →

Bodega Uvairenda markets its wines under the brand Vinos 1750, in recognition of the altitude at which the estate is located. Their vineyard is on a moderately steep hill overlooking the town. Our bus somehow managed to get all the … Continue reading →

We did not land in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, or just Santa Cruz as everyone calls it, Bolivia, until a little after 2am. It is a three hour flight from Lima, Peru, but there is a time difference of … Continue reading →