Just a quick reminder about our annual Rescue Helicopter fund raiser event this coming Sunday. Buy on-line from our website (click here) or call us. We won't have door sales on the day and booking your space is essential. Get a few friends together and come and support the Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust (Westpac Rescue Helicopter). All proceeds ...

Im busy preparing some new oak for our 2010 Pinot Noir to mature in this year. Firstly a little hot water inside, bunged up and rolled around should reveal any obvious leaks - if I can see or hear steam escaping then thats trouble. After that I usually fill the barrels up with cold water and rest it overnight which helps to swell the wood and ...

Winter in Christchurch. Cold frosty mornings and grey rainy days not pictured.

First turn on your sound. Talking about export and strategy and target markets, our son Sean commented: "You should go where Matt goes". So who the heck is Matt? He doesn't tell us, he shows us. And it is not "Who the heck is Matt"? It is "Where the hell is Matt?" Brilliant! Hope you enjoy too!

Bottling tomorrow and Im just doing a last final check to make sure the Free SO2 levels are exactly where I want them to be. SO2 as Im sure you are all aware is an age old protectant against bacteria and oxidation. That purple liquid in the ...

Not exactly wine related. Just a great ad.

Pinot Gris or, "The False Friend", as Olivier Humbrecht labelled it when he came to New Zealand to speak at the Aromatics symposium a couple of years ago. Certainly the white grape-du-jour of New Zealand in the past few years with a huge increase in plantings and subsequent new wines on the market. However we seem to be heading down ...

Or have I just discovered a new planet? Or could it be a disco ball?  What is it? Despite its 3D effect it is in fact a picture I took today as I was racking some white wine from one tank to another. Close to the bottom of the tank and with only my torchlight to guide me this spherical new world ...

Eureka! I Hope! Looks like the blog may now be linking through to our new facebook page. That gives you two places to find up to date news on Sandihurst. Fingers crossed that it continues as smoothly as drinking an award winning Sandihurst Pinot Noir!

From this picture you can see in a nutshell the process I go through when pressing the Pinot Noir skins here at Sandihurst Winery. The fermenter holds around 1.5 tonnes of grapes. Once fermentation is finished the skins gradually start to sink to the bottom of the vat. With regular tasting I make the call on when the wine ...