Congratulations to Tim and Judy Finn and their team in reaching this significant milestone.

Thirty years is a lifetimes work and when you have started a vineyard from scratch in a region that has had no viticultural history, realizing the vision takes an unyielding resolve to overcome the many challenges of nature and human-nature in an uncharted path of discovery and evolution. Tim Finn says it was about 1991 that they started to realise the full potential of the Neudorf vineyard which in some ways you could attribute to vine age and selection (that is the right grapes for the site) although I suspect considerable hands-on experience was starting to really show results.

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My stepmother, Trish Marsh, hauled in this huge Bass earlier this year.

So impressed by Trish’s catch, I decided to share her remarkable feat with you. As you can well imagine, Trish is not the sort of person to be messed with, having that certain fortitude and resolve entrenched in New Zealanders.

I am also seizing on the opportunity to enlighten those who have no idea where White Island or Ohope Beach is; my folk’s Shangri-La. Perhaps I am also feeling a little nostalgic and craving a bit of New Zealand.

Dealing with White Island first, or Whakaari Island as it is known indigenously, it is located 48 km offshore from Ohope Beach, on the east coast of New Zealand’s north island, in the Bay of Plenty.

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The Wandering Palate predicts a renewed enthusiasm for the wine worlds must unfashionable white grape, particularly in the Asian market – only with an antipodean accent.

Gewürztraminer has unquestionably been the most maligned and misunderstood white grape amongst wine consumers over the last decade, even amongst wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs, it has been and arguably still is, out of favor.

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1. Everyone loves toast but toast is not necessarily a breakfast dish. Store sourdough bread in the freezer for unplanned barbecues, particularly to serve with drinks before the main event. If you wish slice sourdough before you freeze.

Brush bread slices with extra virgin olive oil and over a char grill or on a flat grill plate, heated to medium , toast bread slices till golden brown on both sides. Place side bowls of flaky salt, roasted garlic pulp, sliced tomatoes or finely grated Parmesan close by to barbecue for guests to slather or sprinkle on to the bruschetta.

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