Every wine has a story to tell

I read a beautiful story about a prize winning New Zealand wine this week, ‘The story behind the world’s best pinot noir‘ and it made me think of particular wines that have become markers of special occasions in my life.

On Valentine’s Day 1998 my husband proposed to me at the wonderful Marlborough Food and Wine Festival, so when we married a year later it was befitting to toast our lives together with a sparkling wine of that region. We got married in England, thousands of miles from where we’d got engaged, but toasted our happy occasion with Pelorus Brut NV, from Cloudy Bay in Marlborough (available to order online via www.advintage.co.nz). Little did we know that, a short three months after our wedding, destiny would call us back to New Zealand. My husband was offered a job in Wellington, New Zealand, and so began our married life.

On 29 May this year we celebrate sixteen years of married life – which has been spent living mostly in New Zealand (except for a year and a bit in California in 2013/14). We have three beautiful New Zealand born daughters and a wonderful lifestyle. This year, like every other year of our married life, we shall raise a glass in celebration of all we have achieved and toast to all that we hope for the future too.

We are both grateful to have supportive, wonderful family in the UK, that though far away in distance, are always close in our hearts and often treat us to a celebratory bottle of our favourite Pelorus on our anniversary. With the extensive collection of NZ and International Wines from Advintage, it’s only a click away to order a bottle of beautiful wine to celebrate that special story.

At the time of writing it’s autumn in New Zealand and with the autumnal nights I am reflecting on where I was this time last year, in the spring of sunny California. I was preparing for my first half marathon, which I ran in the scenic wine growing region of the Santa Ynez Valley, a short drive from Santa Barbara, on the 10 May – Mother’s Day (in the USA and, also, in New Zealand).

I think it’s only right I should order myself a little tipple that will warm my heart this coming Mother’s Day in New Zealand and I’m plumping for Gnarly Head Zinfandel, also available online, from Advintage, as one of their wonderful imported wines. It sounds just the right wine to enjoy on a candlelit evening with a few slices of dark chocolate. The onset of winter doesn’t feel so bad with a few delicious treats to savour!