"Pinot noir is not easy to make.It's a bitch." It's a blunt opening line from Marlborough winemaker Matt Thomson.

Remember to buy a card one lunchtime this week, as it's Mother's Day next Sunday. Florists will become bouquet factories and you should probably take your dear old mum out for lunch: Burger Fuel and Subway won't cut the mustard.

Despite tough times the wine industry continues to be regarded as edgy and sexy. We're not talking heavily reduced wines at your local supermarket ... no, these are wines with integrity, verve and genuine panache.

You don't want your wedding tipples to leave a bad taste in your guests' mouths, so choose them wisely.

It's Easter, which means it's time for wine columnists to write another article about wines that go with chocolate. Yawn.

A road trip to try some of our rarer wines is a treat more tempting than chocolate eggs.

A hush descends over the table. A small group of wine enthusiasts watch with due reverence as the cork is gently pulled from the 1968 bottle of French first growth Chateau Haut Brion.

Cycling through Marlborough is picturesque, says Maria Slade, especially when there's wine at the end of the road.

China is getting a taste for fine red wine: five Bordeaux chateaux have been bought by Chinese firms in the past year.

Is it worth paying a premium for wines from a "good year" or should we stick to the labels?

Demand has soared for a North Island pinot noir crowned best in the world.

With an annual output of around only 150,000 bottles, Champagne Dumangin is probably not on your wine radar. It's not exactly in your face, clamouring for attention. Not yet.

It'll soon be time to crank up that heat pump and drink a wine that warms our cockles.

I was at a tasting recently when someone stood to ask me a question. In fact, she wanted to ask me three questions, but being the economical type of guy I am, I managed to give her just one answer.

When you've paid $200,000 for a seat on a galactic flight, the last thing you want is to be served a dud beer.

An obsession among "new world" wine producers is to compare their wines to their European equivalents. Around the winemaking fraternity, you hear producers comparing their sauvignon blancs to the Loire. Cobblers, I say.

Most New Zealand wineries believe they will be profitable in 10 years' time despite the "tough times ahead", a wine industry survey reveals.

Ewan McDonald finds not all good US fruit of the vine comes from Napa.

The art of wine-tasting requires the use of all of your faculties.

Do wines taste better drunk from a glass while meandering among the vines from which the grapes were grown? I think so, but then I am hopelessly sentimental.

The media attention surrounding Prince William's trip to Christchurch and Greymouth was almost as big as the circus over pint-sized pop star Justin Bieber's New Zealand tour.

Our wine industry is a young one by world standards - but does it matter how well our bottles age?

A $200 bottle of Martinborough pinot noir was crowned the finest at a tasting in California, ahead of renowned wines from around the world.

"If champagne speaks of celebration, then port speaks of relaxation."