Wine People

Villa Venti was founded in 2002 by Mauro and Davide Giardini, and its vineyards are planted solely with native Romagna varieties. The winery is certified organic and follows biodynamic methods.

Demarie is a small, family-owned winery in Vezza d'Alba in the heart of Piedmont's Roero appellation. The winery...

Stu Devine is the proprietor of Devine Wine, a New Zealand marketing company. With a surname that means "of the vine" it's fitting that his specialty is in the wine sector, working in collaboration with two highly regarded New Zealand wineries. Devine’s career began in a vegetable and fruit nursery, tending to plants and eventually selling horticultural products.

“I really enjoyed the grape growers I worked with when I sold products for grapevines,” says Devine. “They were the salt of the earth and some of the most decent, easy-going people I had ever met, so I decided to follow in their footsteps and bought a vineyard of my own in Hawkes Bay.” 

His experience as a grape grower then led to a job in viticulture at a large winery. But, as much as Devine loved tending the vines, his outgoing personality and, as he puts it, “big mouth” took him in another direction, namely wine sales. In 2006, Devine formed his company, a partnership with Rod McDonald of Te Awanga Estate in Hawke’s Bay and Paddy Borthwick of Borthwick Vineyard in Wairarapa where Devine oversees all U.S. sales activity.

“I just tasted their wine,” says Devine when asked his reason for choosing to work with McDonald and Borthwick, “and that’s how simple it really was. The wine showed their honesty, their good looks, and their charm. Just one glass and you will understand why I was captivated. I have created a company where I represent the wine that I have an absolute passion for.”

Devine stopped by Grape Collective to chat about what's happening in New Zealand's wine world today.

Lisa Denning: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into wine?

Stu Devine: My background goes quite a ways back. I've always been into horticulture. I was a nurseryman, I grew plants and then got a job selling products to apple growers and vineyards. I come from a small region in New Zealand called Hawke's Bay, and I bought a vineyard in '93 with both...

The challenge for the gin lover is to find the true craftspeople of the gin world, to separate them from the herd. In that light, Greenhook and Steven DeAngelo almost belong in their own category, that of gin made not out of necessity but by design.

It's easy to see why the sun-drenched region of Languedoc in southern France holds such an enduring appeal to so many people. The charming villages, rolling green hills, sandy seaside and snow-capped mountains will tug at your heartstrings, making you wish...

"The grey market is incredibly important. Distributors used to have older wine but then all of a sudden things changed and they’re just selling current releases, and if they’re selling “library wine,” wine that’s been aged at the estate, you’re buying at an outrageous markup. Obviously the provenance is going to be perfect, but it’s a huge markup and if you’re a restaurant you’ve got to make money on your wine list. You want to price it where it’s attractive enough that somebody’s actually going to buy the wine." -Charles Puglia

Cornas is a small wine appellation in France’s Northern Rhône Valley. Located at the southern end of the region, its steep granitic hillsides are planted with only about 110 hectares of vines, all of which is Syrah. Until recently, Cornas wines were considered rather harsh and rustic; not worthy of the world's attention and frequently passed over in favor of wines from its storied neighbors,...

When we posted an item about Pinot Blanc last year, a reader responded: “I was searching for a California Pinot Blanc yesterday at BevMo. Not a one to be found but they did have 800 Chardonnays.”