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.

Dating right back to the Greek and Roman gods, wine has always been part of religious culture.

The New Zealand wine industry prides itself on its green credentials yet has thus far failed miserably on environmentally friendly packaging.

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?

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.

The New Zealand wine industry should be proud of its achievements.

"Pinot noir is not easy to make.It's a bitch." It's a blunt opening line from Marlborough winemaker Matt Thomson.

Remember to buy a card one lunchtime this week, as it's Mother's Day next Sunday. Florists will become bouquet factories and you should probably take your dear old mum out for lunch: Burger Fuel and Subway won't cut the mustard.

It's Easter, which means it's time for wine columnists to write another article about wines that go with chocolate. Yawn.

A road trip to try some of our rarer wines is a treat more tempting than chocolate eggs.

A hush descends over the table. A small group of wine enthusiasts watch with due reverence as the cork is gently pulled from the 1968 bottle of French first growth Chateau Haut Brion.

Cycling through Marlborough is picturesque, says Maria Slade, especially when there's wine at the end of the road.

China is getting a taste for fine red wine: five Bordeaux chateaux have been bought by Chinese firms in the past year.

Viva chats to winemaker Axelle Araud of Moet & Chandon.

Is it worth paying a premium for wines from a "good year" or should we stick to the labels?

Demand has soared for a North Island pinot noir crowned best in the world.

With an annual output of around only 150,000 bottles, Champagne Dumangin is probably not on your wine radar. It's not exactly in your face, clamouring for attention. Not yet.

It'll soon be time to crank up that heat pump and drink a wine that warms our cockles.