Wine writing is a trade that must uphold certain standards to retain its credibility.

How best to find the pick of the bunch after a tough harvest.

A luncheon in Auckland next week celebrates the achievements of successful female leaders in the wine industry.

Owning a vineyard is often seen through rose-tinted glasses, writes John Hawkesby.

Owning a vineyard is no longer an essential part of making wine.

Originally from the United States, Mike Weesering and his partner Claudia planted the first grapes on their Pyramid Valley vineyard in North Canterbury in 2000.

Spain has now embarked on a bold new initiative to compete with the best on the world's wine stage.

With all the cheap wine that's doing the rounds these days, it's nice to sometimes open a bottle of something reassuringly expensive.

Malbec is a little-known, little-grown and not-so-often purchased varietal in New Zealand.

Most New Zealand wine producers wouldn't plant in the Waitaki Valley if you paid them.

Rebecca Gibb talks to the makers of some of our best organic wine about why they do it.

In the great tradition of our national game, there are names that command respect and awe for prowess, skill, strength and the sublime qualities that made them giants of rugby.

Winter is a time of rich and earthy flavours. Viva selects some robust wines that suit the season's cuisine and asks the opinion of their makers on the best foods to go with them.

It's show season for the wine world. Trade exhibitions in Europe mean half the New Zealand wine industry is out of the country, pouring its wines day after day. It also means international wine competition results are out.

It is a strange irony that some red wines, like cabernet sauvignon, can often give off aromas of chocolate, yet chocolate on its own or as a flavouring for desserts is one of the most difficult of all foods to match with wine.

Long-held beliefs about wine may not always be true.

There are a number of local producers who have been so consistent over a significant period of time there is a danger of them being taken for granted. Those that have become such an integral part of the winescape we no longer notice them.

What could be more romantic than a cycling tour of Europe's best wine regions?

It's hard being a chardonnay drinker these days.

If there is anyone who knows how to survive and excel as a woman working in a man's world, Sarah Limacher does.

The untrained palate may not always recognise an expensive wine, but that's not to say the quality isn't there.

A cloud of scepticism was descending. "We will taste the Champagne first at eight degrees in the classic narrow champagne flute and you will get accentuated chardonnay flavours," said Didier Mariotti, Champagne G.H. Mumm's chef de caves.

The 2011 harvest is all but over for the country's winemakers. The vineyard managers can take a well-earned break after the harvest hullabaloo, happy in the knowledge the wines are safely in the tank.

Fancy working with your mum? Rebecca Gibb talks to some Kiwi winemakers who are keeping it all in the family.