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This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.
I was sitting in an outdoor patio in Healdsburg on a classically beautiful early afternoon. The sun was shining, a nice breeze was blowing and I ordered oysters. With the briny, delicate oysters, a natural pairing is a crisp, acidic sauvignon blanc.
Although I was in Sonoma, I found myself sipping a sauvignon blanc from Mt. Beautiful from North Canterbury in New Zealand. While it is not uncommon to find New Zealand wines throughout the U.S., there is a connection between Mt. Beautiful in New Zealand and California.
David Teece, founder of Mt. Beautiful, is a New Zealand native who lives in Berkeley, California. Raised in Lower Moutere along the Tasman Bay on the South Island of New Zealand, Teece’s father started a trucking company that transported items from outlying farms to the cities. His father also purchased a fallow quarter-acre lot next to their home, which Teece and his brother cultivated crops.
Oh how we love Pinot Noir! That beautifully fickle grape that makes a medium bodied wine with notes of fruit (strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blackberry), earth (herbal, mushroom, leather) and spice (cinnamon, clove, smoky, tobacco).  Whether from Sonoma, Napa, Santa Barbara, Oregon, New Zealand or Burgundy, Pinot Noir is a perfect food wine.
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