Hi, I'm Sue Courtney from Auckland, New Zealand and I've created Wine of the Week because I have a passion for wine, a passion for writing and a passion for playing around with my computer. It was that first glass of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc that did it. It was 1988 and we had just spent a couple of months travelling around the South Island of New Zealand. With a couple of hours to spare before having to check-in for the ferry to the North Island - a 3 hour journey on one of the country's most treacherous waterways - a stop in Blenheim to visit the Marlborough vineyards was hastily scheduled. We decided to visit Hunters Estate but got lost. Lucky for us, as we found Cloudy Bay!

It was 10.00 o'clock in the morning and I never imagined what it would be like to have the flavours of freshly bottled sauvignon blanc explode in my mouth. Aromas of freshly cut grass and flavours of passionfruit and gooseberry combined with refreshing acidity. No wonder the wine was such a hit with critics in the UK - a cult wine. We had never heard of Cloudy Bay prior to that day. Now it is world famous, sought by thousands. Lucky me. I used to buy a dozen every year. Now there are plenty of other mouth watering savvies to buy as well.

That was the start of my love affair with wine, an affair that I want to share.

My web site, accessible via the domain name WineOfTheWeek.com, is a "webzine" - that is a virtual wine magazine - and will allow me to do this. It provides the opportunity for me to promote our delicious New Zealand wines to the rest of the world.

When I started Wine of the Week I offered ...

• Wine of the Week - a wine I have tasted recently and which I think is worthy of world-wide accolade. It may not necessarily be a new release. While normally a New Zealand wine, this will not always be the case when a stunning overseas wine comes my way.
• Featured Personality - will be a personality in the Wine or Wine and Food Industry whom I have have recently met with for the purpose of interviewing.
• Featured Restaurant - will be somewhere I have dined recently and enjoyed, not necessarily in New Zealand.
• Featured Publication - may be a book or a printed magazine or a webzine (e-zine) about food and wine or simply a magazine which includes a section on wine. If a book is featured, it may not necessarily be a new release, but certainly a book that I think will be a good read.
• Wine News- this will be provided to me by press releases from wine people or it will be something of interest I find newsworthy.

Realistically that was too far too ambitious so the categories of Featured Personality, Featured Restaurant and Featured Publication are now mainly archives, like other material, wine reviews and wine stories on the site - accessible at the click of a button - there will be no more hunting for the magazine in which you read a good article several months ago. Just use the search feature on the front page.

I love wine. I love the marriage of wine and food. I love writing about wine, food and my experiences. Although I write for a suburban newspaper the scope is limited. So is the readership. This 'webzine' will reach all wine and food lovers who like to cruise the cyber highway - anywhere in the world - in your own home, in an internet cafe and, dare I say it, at work! The cyber-highway goes everywhere and it's the only safe place to drive with a glass of wine in hand! And as my own 'WebMaster' I become editor of my own magazine!

• I love wine.
• I regularly taste wine.
• I undertook Wine Education classes at Takapuna Grammar taught by Mike McGuinetty in 1990/91.
• I undertook the Advanced Wine Assessment Course at the Australian Wine Research Institute in Adelaide in 1999.
• I undertook a journalism course in 1998.
• I undertook a post graduate research paper in Web Commerce Technologies (Massey University 57.754, 1999) and focused on using the Internet for competitive advantage in magazine publishing.
• I joined member of Cellarmasters Wine Club in 1989.
• I have been a member of North Shore Wine and Food Society since 1990 and am honoured to be a Life Member.
• I was the Editor of North Shore Wine and Food Society newsletter 1992-2000.
• I contribute a weekly wine column to the suburban newspaper, Rodney Times (circulation approx 36,000 in Mar 2007).
• I contribute a monthly wine column to 'Urban and Country'.
• I have contributed the New Zealand 'Insider News' to Food & Wine Wine Guide 2008 & 2009.
• For five years I wrote 'Lingering Tastes' and then the 'Wine and Vine' column in the monthly lifestyle magazine, New Zealand Growing Today, until they decided they wanted to emphasise more on gardening; and was the inauagural wine columnist for the trade magazine, FoodService.
• For a while, during 2004 and 2005, I contributed a wine column to Third Age New Zealand magazine (now defunct).
.
• I have contributed articles to The University of Auckland 'Alumni News'.
• I have contributed articles to Wine Enthusiast magazine.
• I have contributed articles to The New Zealand Herald.
• I have contributed articles to Robin Garr's Wine Lovers' Page and Avalon Wine and Gourmet in Oregon.
• I am a Wine Educator - I previously taught Wine Appreciation classes at Westlake Boys High School on Auckland's North Shore and taught at Orewa College north of Auckland until 2004, retiring from night school teaching in 2005.
• I had the best individual score in Liquorland Wine Options National Final in 1994 - my team that year was 'St Hallet and the Wirra Wirra Angels'
• I was in the winning team of the Liquorland Wine Options National Championship in 1995 - the team was 'Too much wine makes you Braindead'.
• In 2003 I started started playing Wine Options again and have always had a Top 5 finish, winning at least once in that time.
• I stewarded at the Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition in 1996 and at the Liquorland Royal Easter Wine Show in 1997 and 1998 .
• I was an Associate Judge at the Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, at the Royal Easter Wine Show in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (the perennial AssJu).
• I was a Senior Judge at the Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition in 2003 & 2004.
• I was a Senior Judge at the New Zealand International Wine Show in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
• I wrote the tasting notes for the New Zealand International Wine Show's "Champion's List" nationally distributed supplement in 2005 and for the www.nziws.co.nz website and publicity material in 2007.
• I also wrote the tasting notes for the award winning wines booklet for the Air New Zealand Wine Awards in 2005 and again in 2007.
• I have worked as a waitperson in one of New Zealand's top hotels - The Chateau Tongariro - silver service was the standard.
• I have judged at Sommelier of the Year since its inception in 2004.
• In 2005 I passed the entry level exam to the Court of Master Sommeliers

This site is non profit making. People ask me why I have a website if I make no money out of it. Well, at least I'm not losing money because of it. Perhaps you would like to commission my services for an article on New Zealand and New Zealand wine for your wine or lifestyle magazine. E-mail me for more information.

While I do receive wine samples and sometimes go to trade tastings, I also attend the $15 weekly consumer tastings at First Glass Wines and Spirits in Takapuna, Auckland. My wine reviews from their tastings also appear on their website.

Any wine prices mentioned on this site are in New Zealand dollars, unless otherwise stated.

The views expressed on the site will be my own but I will, from time to time, invite a guest commentator or a panel to evaluate a selection of wines.