Best cellar

Wine editor Jo Burzynska. Photo / Supplied

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. Jo Burzynska, Viva's wine editor, has always been intrigued by wine. As a university student in the UK in the eighties, she remembers being so unimpressed with the wine available that she had a go at making her own fruit wine.

"The result was so bad that even then my undeveloped palate could identify it as truly horrendous," she laughs. "Thus stopping production in its tracks.

"I had tasted enough wine, however, to realise that not all of it was the same. I found a local wine store with helpful staff, who really helped me start exploring wine. I then took an evening class in wine while I was studying for my Masters in English."

Plans to do a PhD went out the window, as her passion for wine was ignited, and after working for a wine chain she soon found herself running her own busy wine shop in central London.

She took her Wine & Spirit education Trust exams, won a scholarship to Portugal to look at port production, and studied journalism. This led to a job as a business journalist at the Financial Times, but it was the role of that paper's wine writer - the legendary female Master of Wine, Jancis Robinson - that she really aspired to.

Leaving high finance behind, Jo worked for a number of leading British wine magazines, before moving to New Zealand where she started writing Viva's weekly wine column. She also runs her Adventures in Wine school and writes for international publications.

Travel is an imperative part of her job.

"With good wine being so expressive of the place from which it comes, I've found visiting the world's wine regions invaluable to my understanding of the subject. I've been to some amazing places - from the high altitude vineyards of Argentina to the classic regions of France.

"Not all trips are idyllic, however. Some can be gruelling, and see me covering huge distances and tasting over a hundred wines in one day. Some are pretty stressful, such as the trip to ex-Soviet state Moldova, where I was one of the first Western wine journalists brave (or should that be foolish) enough to check out its wine industry.

"Here I tasted my worst ever Sauvignon Blanc (a fetid thing with a bite like battery acid), visited a winery strewn with decaying birds, was repeatedly warned not to write about the country's breakaway republic of Transnistria before encountering civil unrest and corruption.

"It was my wine travel, of course that brought me to New Zealand, where the people, landscapes and wines inspired me to relocate here. My move meant losing the staggering selection of wines available in the UK, but has been more than compensated for by the excitement emanating from the youthful and dynamic wine industry that's now on my doorstep."

As a wine writer, Jo receives a staggering amount of wine, often more than two cases a week on top of the tastings and wines sampled at the winery, not all of which, she says, are ambrosial. "I guess I basically taste bad wine so others don't have to."

Hence her new book, Wine Class, written, she says, because she knows how easy it is when you're faced with an overwhelming wall of wines in a store, to stick with what you know.

"And then you miss out on some amazing taste experiences.

"Wine is one of the world's most diverse and complex drinks, shaped by an array of influences that include grape, place, weather and the people who make it. It's what makes it so interesting."

Win Jo Burzynska's new book!
Wine Class - All you need to know about wine in New Zealand (Random: $39.99) covers tasting techniques and breaks down wines into easily identifiable components. There's advice on where to buy wines, plus a directory of recommended retailers. There are tips on how to serve and store wine along with a whole chapter devoted to food matching.

"Wine is meant to be fun and sociable, so I encouraging readers to get together with a group of friends to do tastings," says Jo. "In the book there's everything you need to know about setting one up at home, which should enable you to convivially explore beyond your vinous comfort zone in comfort of your own home!"

Viva is delighted to have 10 copies of Wine Class to give away.

To go in the draw to win one, write your name, address and phone number on the back of an envelope and send it to: Wine Class, Viva, NZ Herald, PO Box 3290, Auckland. Entries close July 8, winners announced July 15.