The Profile: The Kurow kid
Grant Taylor’s winemaking career owes its genesis to a bunch of pesky worms. Without them, the fruit on his family’s apple tree might never have yielded such formative, jeopardy-rich beverage adventures.
Valli Wines has been growing grapes and making wine in Otago for a quarter of a century, but the Valli Wine Bar recently opened in Kurow by Grant Taylor and Nicole Schofield is the company's first self-owned public face.
The Kurow Post Office, built from Oamaru Stone in 1934, has been transformed into a bright space where cyclists come to relax after a long day on the Alps to Ocean, locals gather for a glass of wine to catch up on local news, and staff get to share their passion and knowledge of the region and its wines, Nicole says.
"The wine flights have been designed to be entertaining, thought provoking and most of all educational, whether it be comparing different Otago regions, varieties, vintages or winemaking technique," she says.
Marlborough’s 2024 vintage was “a return to form for Marlborough summers”, says Astrolabe General Manager Libby Levett.
RNA technology could be a gamechanger in vineyards, with the ability to turn gene expression on or off to protect…
A combination of lower grape yields, lower price per tonne, and increasing vineyard operating costs, is hitting Marlborough grapegrowers in…