Wines Under $25: The Indispensable Wine Guide 2009

Wines Under $25: The Indispensable Wine Guide 2009

Helping banish the risk of choosing an undrinkable bottle of wine, the eleventh edition of The Indispensable Wine Guide by acclaimed wine writer Joëlle Thomson is published this month.

Joëlle sorts through hundreds of wines for each new edition, separating the delicious from the average, to give the wine buyer the benefit of her tasting expertise and honest opinion. Her wines of the year are selected by variety and best-value wine, and the book includes a list of wines that failed to score a three-star rating, so the reader knows which wines haven't lived up to Joëlle's palate and intellectual analysis. The Indispensable Wine Guide 2009 is the only New Zealand guide that includes the best of what's on offer from not just local wineries but also from the major wine-growing regions of the world.

In this new edition, Joëlle looks at the environmental issues facing the industry and what carbon neutral means for wineries. She touches on the sustainability policy that was adopted last year and notes that the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand membership has risen rapidly since 2007. 'Chances are, the wine in the glass you're holding right now is far more environmentally friendly than it was five years ago,' says Joëlle.

Her predictions for the 2009 year include: experiencing better wine service in bars, cafés and restaurants due to the launch of the Master Sommelier qualification by Pernod Ricard New Zealand; better wine glasses in restaurants and cafes - she'd love it if they were Riedel or Spiegelau; less moral panic about drinking a glass of wine a day or every few days; better pinot gris; and the continued ascendancy of good gin and tonic (with lime, thanks).

Joëlle Thomson always planned to write about something she loved, but it was only when working as a flambé waitress in the Shetland Islands she decided 'that' something would be wine.

Since graduating from journalism school at Wellington Polytechnic in 1989, Joëlle has worked as a television copywriter, provincial newspaper journalist and barmaid in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She penned her first column at Capital Times in Wellington in mid-1994 and has been going to wine tastings ever since.

Today Joëlle is the associate editor for multi-media lifestyle magazine MiNDFOOD, and also writes for Cellardoor, New Zealand Winegrower, Off Licence News and other magazines and newspapers. She is a member of the British-based Circle of Wine Writers, and judges wine and food competitions in New Zealand and further a field.

ENDS

The Indispensable Wine Guide 2009: Wines under $25 by Joëlle Thomson is published by HarperCollins Publishers (NZ) ISBN 9781869506643 RRP NZ$24.99

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