A very enjoyable birthday

I recently attended a very enjoyable 70th birthday celebration for John Buck, co-founder of Havelock North's famed Te Mata Estate winery. Naturally we tasted quite a bit of wine - not just Te Mata's, but some historical curiosities from the Te Mata vineyards of more than a century ago (when they were owned by gentleman farmer Bernard Chambers) and an extraordinary selection of vintage madeiras which John had gone to some trouble to source, the oldest of which dated to 1827. I have written about the event on my good friend Raymond Chan's wine website, here.