TWO WINE TITLES FOR YOUR CAR’S GLOVE BOX

MICHAEL COOPER’S BUYERS GUIDE
TO NEW ZEALAND WINES
Michael Cooper – Hodder Moa - $34.99

Whenever I stand in front of the Chardonnay section at my local Glengarry’s wine store and feel overwhelmed by the hundred or so NZ Chards on display there I wonder how I could ever make a choice if I didn’t have with me the current edition of Cooper’s invaluable guide. I never buy wine without having it with me. It is totally indispensable and the best guide on the market by a country mile.
I see inside the book that this is the 17th edition. Because of space considerations the previous editions on my shelf only go back to 2000 but it is interesting to note that the 2009 edition is double the size of that 2000 edition which I guess is a reflection of the dramatic growth in the NZ wine industry over that time.
With Cooper’s wine judging commitments, his various extensive magazine articles and his other books, particularly the just-published Wine Atlas of New Zealand, I really cannot comprehend how he achieves so much. I guess he doesn’t need a lot of sleep!
He is our most highly regarded wine writer and when you look at the time and effort, and the scholarship, that must have gone into this new bumper edition you can see why he enjoys such a reputation.
Thank you Michael, my copy is already in the car.

Footnote:

After tasting his way through nearly every NZ wine in the last year for his annual Michael had a slight quandary - this year the Best Buy white award was so close he couldn’t separate two wines.
However they were both squeezed out for the overall Best Buy by a Hawkes Bay Red. This year’s overall Best Buy is Mission Hawke’s Bay Reserve Syrah 2007
The co-winners for the Best Buy white are Main Divide Waipara Valley Riesling 2007 and Mount Riley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008.

CUISINE WINE COUNTRY
Edited by Susan Buchanan
Fairfax Media- $17.50

Strictly speaking this is an annual magazine but I see it in some ways as a poor man’s version of Michael Cooper’s Wine Atlas of New Zealand. Also of course Michael’s definitive book is not something you want to lug about the countryside. Whereas this publication is definitely designed to be in the car and if it gets too tatty by the time you have finished your tour than then you can always buy another.
It doesn’t deal in any detail with individual wines but rather is a guide, region by region, to the wineries along with accomodation and dining information and suggestions on other activities as well as information on the ever increasing number of wine festivals.
Cuisine wine writers John Saker and Kerry Tyack have been around the entire country with all wine regions covered - Northland, Matakana, Regional Auckland, Waiheke Island, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa/Martinborough, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Waipara and Central Otago.

Wine and food enthusiasts can navigate their way around New Zealand's wineries with the book's easy-to-read wine trail maps. Each region's map makes it simple to put together a tour to suit your own requirements.
Good value.