For session number two in the 2025 Let’s talk about season we’re delighted to welcome Nick Mills of spectacularly-sited, much-lauded Rippon Vineyard in Central Otago, New Zealand, who will discuss the joys and challenges of making Pinot Noir on a mountainous island in the middle of the largest body of water on the planet ­– and much more besides.

Let Nick explain: ‘Like you, I grew up living in a thin film of life, stuck to the outside of a molten ball of rock, spinning around in a vacuum. I’ve also grown up on an organic, multigenerational farm with mature, unirrigated, pre-phylloxera vines in a unique continental climate… out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

‘From my experience and travels in winegrowing, I feel that many tropes of wine communication on old/new, north/south, taste/value are becoming less and less helpful. Winegrowing is a universal craft, rooted in agriculture, and it’s now more important than ever that drinkers understand this.’ He is much looking forward to presenting and discussing his thoughts to Circle members and guests.

Nick, who has headed the Rippon team since 2022, is – with his brother and sisters – the fourth generation of the Mills family to farm the land, their focus to do justice to it and keep it alive for the generations to come. Though brought up on the farm, he planned a career in professional skiing. When that was cut short by injury he moved to France for four years, working at a number of top Burgundy domains. On his return to Rippon he introduced biodynamic practices. He is, he says, ‘as much a product of the farm as the vines and wines of Rippon themselves’.

To join this Zoom seminar, please register now or at any time before 5pm GMT on January 21st. The session, including Q&As, will last for approximately one hour. To register, follow the links below. Guests will be very welcome, but please let Andrea know their names.

Register here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7AieCLGARuar5-vFbjU9gg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We look forward to seeing you then.

If you can’t attend the live session, there will be a recording available to watch afterwards on the Circle’s YouTube channel (links to this and earlier sessions are in the members’ area of the website).

Michèle Shah & Liz Sagues, CWW online events organisers