This year is the tenth birthday for Hop Federation and a lot has changed in recent times. Founded in Riwaka by Chief Brewer Simon and his wife Nicki Nicholas in 2013, Hop Federation became part of Māori business Kono in…
The Apple Shed Kitchen & Bar on the Mapua wharf has been a mainstay during the development of the area into the outstanding locale it is today. From the days when Dennis and Sharon Crawford started smoking fish in a…
There are two very good distilleries in Golden Bay, one is Dancing Sands and they have just released a tasty Lychee Gin. The Lazy Days Lychee Gin is “an ode to those days where you ‘should be’ doing lots but…
Following on from my previous column about how Motueka Winemakers and Growers (formerly Anchorage Wines) set about restructuring their business and vineyards they are now seeing some outstanding results from the efforts they made over the last few years. As…
It’s been several years since I caught up with Emme Heke from Heke Homemade Herbals so we sat down and chatted over a coffee (and tea!) a couple of weeks ago to find out what’s been happening in her world.…
The Under The Hood BBQ business is a fantastic success story I have been following for some time, and Michelle and Dave King’s story has taken another turn – or should I say, has taken on a life of its…
Scutt Wines is a tiny producer you may not have heard of before because owners Johnson Scutt and Georgie Hoby Scutt only recently made their wines available for you and me to buy after adding winemaking to their business interests.…
One of our favourite places to sit in the sun, enjoy a glass of wine and devour tasty a woodfired pizza was Kahurangi Estate at Upper Moutere, and we missed these pizzas when the cellar door changed hands many years…
Trudy Sheild is the very talented winemaker behind some of the best wines produced in this region, and I have rated her skills very highly for many years. During her time as the winemaker at Waimea Estates and for Middle…