Wine with Leslie: New Zealand wines that mum would love for Mother's Day

Look to New Zealand's cool regions for a wine for cool mums

Wine-tasting on Waiheke Island, Auckland. New Zealand is a small producer in world terms but their impact on the wine world has been huge.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and if I was to pick any wine to please a random Irish Mammy I think I would choose New Zealand. New Zealand has been on my mind a lot of late: in part because they seem to be about the only country that has competently dealt with Covid thanks largely to their smart, competent and compassionate Prime Minister — who wouldn’t want Jacinda Ardern as their leader (or in fact their mammy!).

The other reason is that a bunch of wine samples arrived to my door in compensation for the cancellation of the annual New Zealand Wine Fair. I have selflessly worked my way through them and I was struck again and again by how consistent the wines are at all price levels. New Zealand is a small producer in world terms but they produce around 1% of the world’s wine — their impact on the wine world has been huge. Almost 90% of their wine is exported and that consistency has been key to their success.