I am a huge fan of New Zealand wines, and for many years have been tasting and exploring all that New Zealand has to offer. Sometimes an opportunity arrives to try wines from other regions around the planet, so attending the House Wine tasting of international wines presented by Martin Cahnbley from Planet Wine, was a must.

Martin Cahnbley was born in Germany and grew up in South Africa. He attended the University of Cape Town, close to some of the most beautiful and welcoming vineyards and wineries in the world. He started collecting red wines from the exceptional 1978 South African vintage and the cellar continues to grow.

Martin has been involved in marketing roles in the wine industry in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and further afield since 1987, and founded Planet Wine in 2003. With wine enthusiasts, Alexs Rasputin and Kaiser Wilmar, he also recently opened Ground, a wine bar below Cahn’s Wines & Spirits in Auckland.

THE TASTING

Martin introduced himself, his background in wine, and the stories of his adventures around the world, exploring the wine regions & wineries. All eight wines were really interesting and enjoyable, some pet nats, natural wines, unusual grape varieties, bush vines, some ancient history, 6,000 years of wine making in Georgia, wines matured in concrete vats, terracotta. He was able to tell us about each winery, the people he’d met very interesting indeed. Jules is also very knowledgeable when it comes to natural / alternative winemaking processes & contributed to the evening’s discussions too.

The evening was both very informative and entertaining – the group of a dozen or so attending, were all engaged, interested and had lots of questions, sharing their experiences of some of these wines and tasting events that Martin had presented previously here in New Plymouth. The House Wine venue is compact & comfy, great for acoustics so everyone could hear perfectly, Jules providing some yummy nibble platters to accompany the wines. All in all an excellent tasting of very interesting and different wines from around the globe.

Cheers, JB

THE WINES

THE WHITES

2022 Testalonga I am the Ninja 2022 – Swartland, South Africa
2022 Bisci Verdicchio di Matelica – Marce Italy
2021 Fraga do Corvo Godello – Galicia, Spain
2020 Pheasant’s Tears Rkasteli Tibaani – Kakheti, Georgia

THE REDS

2018 Godelia Mencia – Bierzo, Spain
2021 Kaapzicht Rooiland Pinotage – Stellenbosch, South Africa
2018 Prima Dona Tannat – Canelones, Uruguay
2021 Mariette Roman Zinfandel – Geyserville, USA

I scribbled some notes to self on the evening but if you’re interested, tasting notes for most of the wines are on the Planet Wine website You can purchase them online too. Shop here: https://www.planetwine.co.nz/

Jules also has an interesting range of his Known Unknown wines and a selection of others at House Wine too – Shop online here: https://www.knownunknown.co.nz/

Planet Wine – https://www.planetwine.co.nz/

House Wine – https://www.knownunknown.co.nz/