It's been a few years since I've been to New Zealand. I spent a few days in Auckland once and was blessed to be allowed to spend Christmas with a Maori family near Napier. Some of the family's men swam out into the bay to get fresh abalone for Christmas dinner.

Chang-rae Lee has a good article online at the moment about New Zealand's vineyards. The article describes New Zealand as having "the most lush, grape-heavy vineyards this side of Bordeaux." It's a long article (six very full pages) but well worth the read. I enjoyed it.

You can read it here.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 4991363. Posted by: Greg Cruey    Source

---