Respected wine writer joins Cuisine

Respected wine writer joins Cuisine

Respected wine journalist and columnist John Saker is joining Cuisine magazine as its New Zealand wine writer.

Before joining Cuisine John was weekly wine columnist for Canvas magazine in the Weekend Herald. He is the author of Tracing the Arc and How to Drink a Glass of Wine and is currently working on two other wine books: one about New Zealand Pinot Noir, the other about wine and travel.

John will attendCuisine’s New Zealand wine tastings, participating in the Top Ten and Top Five taste-offs, and writing about the tastings for the magazine (as from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and sweet wines tastings at the end of September).

He will also write wine news pieces forCuisine’s upfront News & Views section plus other wine features for the magazine, a role to be shared with Australian wine writer Ralph Kyte-Powell.

Educated at Wellington’s Victoria University and Carroll College, Montana (US), John became New Zealand’s first professional basketball player when he played pro in France in the late 1970s. He played for the Tall Blacks at various times between 1975 and 1987, captaining the 1984 side.

His three years in France sparked a fascination with wine. From the start, he was introduced to the wines of Alsace and neighbouring Champagne. “Especially in the 1970s, choosing the place to wine and dine after the game was very much a part of the game,” he says.

Later moving to the south of France, John spent his final year in Draguignan, Provence, where, as well as being player/coach of the local basketball team, he worked in a vineyard during the week. “It was terrible for my basketball game,” he says.

After returning to New Zealand, he worked in the French Embassy for two years before taking up a career in journalism in 1984. Since 1990 he has worked freelance and won the Cathay Pacific Newspaper Travel Article of the Year Award in 2003.

In 1998 John began concentrating on wine writing, starting with a column in the Capital Times. Since then he has also written for Southern Skies, Signature Magazine, BMW Magazine and Wine & Dine magazine. His final column in Canvas magazine will appear in late September.

John says he is looking forward to the opportunities Cuisine will present for more in-depth writing about New Zealand wines. “I’m looking forward to being involved in the most comprehensive and best-run tastings in New Zealand,” he says. “I’m also looking forward to having the freedom to explore stories in and around New Zealand wine that I haven’t been able to follow up before.”

Lynley Belton, general manager of Fairfax Magazines says Cuisine is delighted to have someone of John’s calibre sharing his expertise with readers.

“John not only knows his wines, but also knows how to write about them in a way that brings them alive,” says Belton. “We know readers will enjoy the insights he can offer on the great wines that New Zealand produces.”

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