Airline passengers recieve a welcome by singers in this popular T-Mobile advert from Germany.  Best enjoyed with a glass of the any one of the brilliant Sandihurst Rieslings.

Yes they are. And also a little mad...

October 31st sees the start of the Great Wine Capital Conference held this year in Christchurch. Christchurch was recently successful in a bid to became a member of the Great Wine Capitals of which there are only 9 in the world. The conference programme looks to be really interesting, not  to be missed in the line up will be the International Wine Tasting on Wednesday 3rd Nov - a ...

Out in the vineyard its time to deal to all those stray shoots which tend to sprout from around the base of the vine. They often appear near the graft union between the rootstock and the varietal in question although can occur all the way up the trunk to just below the fruiting wire. Some people call it Bud Rubbing, to others its Toenailing. Either way its a tough job ...

A shot of a Gewurztraminer shoot from our home vineyard. Already you can see a small bunch of grapes showing. Our job now is to manage those grapes through until flowering time which is approximately 6 weeks away. The weather at flowering is crucial to the amount of fruit that will 'set' on each bunch. Steady warmer temperatures encourage more fruit to set. Until that point, the threat of frost is not ...

An insight into the European culture perhaps - a classic childrens cartoon from the early 1970's. Originally from France, this episode of Barbapapa is from German TV and is called  'The Wine Harvest' where a group of children/young blobs try to make wine. They even build their own wine press. Brilliant, even if you dont speak German.

The first ever TEDxChCh will take place this Friday, October 22nd, 2010. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. Sandihurst will be one of the sponsors for the event which has a line up ...

There are already two bunches of fruit on this growing shoot, in fact they were already there when the bud was formed in the previous season. With enough loving care and attention throughout the season they will be picked and processed through the winery coming out the other end, in about 12 months time, as approximately one glass of wine. It could be yours.

Yes its that time of year. Youve finished pruning, one of the more crucial, time consuming and costly tasks in the vineyard - the buds start growing and the season starts again. But around this time every season comes the frost alerts. Its seems to be the price we pay for our wonderful cool climate terroir which makes NZ wines so fantastic. A handful of times over the next few weeks the forecasts will ...