Wine and Spirits Travel

I’m still working closely with Tourism New Zealand in their quest to get readers to experience one of their exciting adventures – for free! The options continue to get more and more exciting and this campaign  offers two trips I’d love to go on. Option No. 1 is called Culture Kaboom and it gives you the chance to explore both the culture and the landscape of New Zealand. You’ll start by landing in a city built over 50 volcanoes and then you will head east to actually see steaming geysers, boiling mud pools and a hot water beach. This area also happens to be the center of Maori culture so you can experience real New Zealand hospitality while you hang out with locals visiting a marae and digging a hangi. To get a glimpse of this breathtaking land, check out this video . Option No. 2 is City Splendour and that’s just what it is. You will have a chance to explore New Zealand’s largest cities – Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. The itinerary includes everything from eatin

A few months ago I wrote about the Stories Beat Stuff contest to win trips to New Zealand. The first phase of the competition is complete and now it’s time for Tourism New Zealand to get on to the second – and give away more trips. Things have gotten even more exciting as the prize value has increased from $20,000 to $30,000 and there are two more experiences for you to compete for. The key to the competition is how far you are willing to go for a trip of a lifetime. In this case, you need to make a video or take a picture explaining exactly what you would trade for that trip. Then, you need to get as many votes as possible. Ask your friends to help out too because you can bring three friends along on this trip at no cost to them! I’m really excited about this contest because I’m still planning a trip of my own to New Zealand. While I don’t have to trade anything for it, I’d love to hear more about what adventures I should add to my trip. Here are the two new ones added t

Day three of the Food Network South Beach Wine & FoodFestival was filled to the brim with some wonderful New Zealand wine, some foodie girls going wild, and a thrilling barbecue by a man who knows the chew. I was back down at the Perry Hotel bright and early in the morning for the Wine Spectator Seminar: Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc & Pinot Noir Style Diversity.  The leader of the seminar was New Zealand wine expert and winemaker Patrick Materman, who filled in the blanks on the region and led a tasting of wines from Brancott Estate and Stoneleigh Marlborough . Since I am currently planning a trip to New Zealand, I was especially interested – and impressed with the offerings. I’m always a fan of NZ sauvignon blanc and was happy to discover the ones from these brands, which were full of tropical and grassy notes. I also tasted New Zealand Pinot Noir for the first time and found the 2010 Brancott Estate Letter Series “T” to be more fruit forward and richer than m

I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled postings (couldn't resist saying that!) to bring you something very special. I have been working with  Tourism New Zealand  on planning a trip there this winter. SInce they are in the middle of some very unusual promotions, they asked me to pass them along to my readers. New Zealand is a place that I can't wait to get to and I'm more than happy to help some readers have the same opportunity. For the next 12 months, the tourism board in  New Zealand  is running a competition to give away trips. There's a catch, though. I go to places and write about them, but if you want this opportunity you need to do the writing first. It's called  Stories Beat Stuff  and the best stories win, but your stories need to be on a specific topic. They need to convince Tourism New Zealand that you really, really want this trip. How far are you willing to go for an all expensive paid trip to New Zealand? The good part is that you don'