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Buzzwine is the monthly column written by Russell
Allan for the Albany Community Magazine – the Albany Buzz – North Shore, Auckland.
Russell Allan lives at Omori in Southern Lake Taupo
beside the lake. He shares this idyllic setting with Lizzie (his long suffering wife
of 30 years) and Jean Luc – their faithful and totally eccentric Briard (French sheepdog).
BUZZWINE is written in an
irreverent style with insight and more than a hint of self deprecating humour. If
you like wine and travel you will enjoy theses columns. Click on any column name
below.
HARVEST TIME
AT OMORI ESTATE
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Main Men
Albany Buzz June 2008
 Omori
is a holiday home destination where the population swells from the 200 or so permanent
residents to over 7000 invaders during the Christmas period. These invading – mostly
city refugees – all dress in lycra, ride mountain bikes, hurl themselves around on
jet skis, water ski, and all carry water bottles to protect themselves from the very
real danger of dehydrating that can happen obviously at any time. They all seem
to be running, jumping and standing still at the same time. We locals look on in
a bemused fashion at all this hyperactivity, smugly safe in the knowledge that they
will all go away and we will have the place to ourselves again soon.
Omori is also the home of
the Omori Estate Vineyard. It is 400 metres in height above sea level and overlooks
the picturesque southwestern bays of Lake Taupo’s Kuratau, Omori and Pukawa Bays.
It is a beautifully tended vineyard with stunning views of the Lake, the often winter
snow covered Kaimanawa Ranges, and the dormant volcanic knolls and native bush covered
hills that are a feature of the area. It is a tranquil place for grapes to grow.
But why grow grapes here? Surely it is too cold in the winter, with frosts an ever-present
danger in spring and autumn, and on a hot day in summer’, the thermometer will only
register 25o - 26oC. And what about those volcanic soils? Omori Estate is lovingly
nurtured by Peter and Carol Britnell and 2008 is their 4th vintage. Their 2 hectare
vineyard is planted equally in Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir grapes. Yes, the lower temperatures
mean that the Pinot Noir will seldom achieve the sugar levels needed in most years
but what do they do? They make a stunning, fully Pinot Noir Rose. And I mean a serious
Rose – one that can hold its head up proudly in such exulted company as Esk Valley
and Unison Rose. But what about the Pinot Gris? It just loves the local terroir and
will rival the best examples of this wine from anywhere in the country.
The previous three vintages
were picked between 3rd - 10th of May and it’s an anxious time because of frost.
The ‘heat dragon’ machine can be heard cruising the rows in the middle of the night
and the early mornings. This year the grapes were picked on 21st of April because
of the great growing conditions our long summer provided. Until a week prior to picking,
the grapes had never been bigger and riper and then 150mm of heavy rain fell in three
days – the first real rain since the end of October 2007. Nature is a cruel mistress.
If a fully fledged Pinot Noir was to have been made, this was the year to do it and
waiting for the rain to stop was an anxious time. Miraculously the grapes didn’t
loose too much condition and the weather cleared for two days of hand picking. Harvest
is always an enjoyable time for the thirty or so locals who turn up every year and
the sampling of the previous vintage at the end of the day is a highlight. Over 12
tonnes of grapes left for Matariki in Hawkes Bay and we waited with baited breath
for the wine-makers report. The news was good – a fully fledged oaked Pinot Noir
will be made, along with a Rose and Pinot Gris. Other small vineyards in the district
were not so lucky and suffered from the rain, wasps and birds.
So, is it over for the year?
No, not at all. Winter means pruning and then the whole cycle starts over again.
What will the weather be like at bud burst and fruit set? Will the frosts come early
or late? What nasty little disease could attack the vines? Summer will come and the
vineyard will again be open for tastings. The ‘08 Gris and Rose will arrive (Pinot
Noir will arrive a year later) Christmas carols will be sung in the vineyard on Christmas
Eve and about 500 people will turn up for the fabulous New Year’s Eve party with
music by Hot Club Sandwich. And then the anxiety will start all over again. Will
the grapes ripen enough? Will it rain? Long nights will be spent on frost guard and
frost fighting. Nets will be put on to stop the birds eating the crop. Will the wasps
stay away? Welcome to the world of agriculture.
WEBSITES
www.omoriestate.co.nz
www.travelblognz.com/buzzwine.html
SPENDING THE BIRTHDAY
MONEY
Albany Buzz May 2008
 Buying a birthday present for
your wife is a perilous business and can lead to — at the very least — being the
recipient of ‘that look’ — a frightening thing at the best of times. I know this
now but I was a slow learner. The biggest debacle I can recall was when I cunningly
left brochures on Tahiti around the house to put Lizzie off the scent. It worked
so well that she was extremely surprised when I presented her with a new pair of
skis on her special day. After some serious discussion about how blokes and shelias
are different and with loads of contrition on my part, we came to an agreement —
we will each buy ourselves what we really want for our birthdays. Every year since
then I have spent my birthday present - money - buying wine for the cellar from my
favourite vineyards in Hawkes Bay, and this year was no exception. Hawkes Bay wines,
especially the red Bordeaux blends and big buttery chardonnays seem to be out of
fashion at the moment but fashion is fickle and if people want to waste their money
on trendy pinot gris, insipid un-oaked chardonnay, and cheap lightweight reds being
passed off as pinot noirs, then so be it.
First port of call was Esk Valley — 15km north
of Napier near the Napier Taupo highway. Part of the Villa Maria group, Gordon Russell,
the talented and dedicated winemaker, has ensured that Esk Valley produces wines
of class and substance year after year. I picked up the ‘06 Reserve Chardonnay —
always a classic — and with its oak and malolactic treatment it will open up into
a big rich, elegant and mouth-filling wine which I will broach in about 5 years —
the length of time a good Hawkes Bay Chardonnay needs to reach its peak. Reserve
Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec also found its way into the car boot. These reds are complex
and made to last. I know I will open them up well before the predicted peak of 2013.
At Unison Vineyard in the Gimblett Gravels on Highway
50, I got rather carried away. I just love everything that Bruce and Anna-Barbara
Helliwell make. Just like an exceptional restaurant meal when you know the food is
loved, taste a Unison wine and you know the care and passion that has gone into the
growing and making of the wine. We were also curious to meet the new owners, Philip
and Terry Horn. Their vision and passion is the same as Bruce and Anna-Barbara and
with Bruce staying on as consultant hands-on wine maker, expect Unison to continue
to rate as one of the 28 up-and-coming producers world-wide. Unison Selection and
Unison Syrah are musts for any cellar. In an effort to conserve the birthday money
for a further four wineries, a credit card was proffered. ‘What the hell’ said Lizzie,
‘It’s your birthday’.
There is nothing better than sitting in the sun
at the Craggy Range Terroir Restaurant. Great food and great wine. The cellar scored
some Gimblett Gravels Charonnay which will reward patience and the big 2006 Craggy
Range Block 14 Syrah which will open up over the next three years. Clearview Estate
at Te Awanga was another credit card stop. I just love their Reserve Cabernet Franc,
huge Reserve Chardonnays and Lizzie loves their dry and fresh and spicy Gewurztraminer.
I was now restricted to the birthday money so a
bottle of Black Barn Cabernet Franc and The Reserve Red (Franc/Merlot) was added
to the carton(s). This was followed by Sileni The Lodge Chardonnay and then to bed.
The next day found me with only $35 - not a great amount if you are visiting the
famous Stonecroft Wines made by the very focused and talented Alan Limmer. Thank
God for credit cards, so Reserve Syrah from the oldest vines in New Zealand, his
elegant Chardonnay and Old Vine Gewurztraminer were added to the stash. ‘Enough,’
said Lizzie with visions of the poor house swimming before her eyes. ‘I’ve still
got $35 to spend — and it’s my birthday money’, I said. As luck would have it, we
were just outside CJ Pask Wines — and would you believe it — the creamy and concentrated
CJ Pask Declaration Chardonnay was exactly $35.00. Divine intervention I called it.
WEBSITES
www.unisonvineyard.co.nz www.eskvalley.co.nz
www.stonecroft.co.nz
www.craggyrange.co.nz
www.blackbarn.com
www.clearviewestate.co.nz
www.sileni.co.nz
www.travelblognz.com
> Click on Buzzwine.
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THERE ARE THREE KINDS OF LIES
Albany Buzz April 2008
 ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies, and statistics’.
This statement has been attributed to Benjamin Disraeli — Prime Minister of the UK
from 1874 — 1880, and was popularised in the US by Mark Twain. Now I have no idea
if these two distinguished gentlemen drank wine, or for that matter, if they did,
did the drinking of such, lead them to tell whoppers or even quote statistics to
back these up? Recently however, I was looking at the 2007 New Zealand Wine Growers
statistics and if they contained any lies at all, the only place would be in the
predictions made for the years 2008 — 2010. The rest of the statistics were just
fascinating. If this was a quiz and you were asked to name the region of New Zealand
that has the most hectares of producing wine grapes planted, what would you opt for?
You would probably say Marlborough and you’d be right of course. If you were asked
to name the grape variety that is most planted in New Zealand, again you would have
said Sauvignon Blanc, and again you’d be correct. But what if you were asked to name
the next four regions and next four grape varieties? Did you say Hawkes Bay, Gisborne,
Otago and Wairarapa/Nelson in that district order and Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir,
Chardonnay and Merlot for the gape varieties?
What is most telling is the percentage gap between
the regions and the varieties, Marlborough with 53% is way out in front for wine
grape plantings with Hawkes Bay 34 percentage points behind on a mere 19%. We think
of Gisborne and Otago as large wine areas but they chime in on 9% and 6% respectively
while Wairarapa, Nelson and Waipara are home to only 3% each of the national wine
grape crop. And poor old Auckland? A mere 2%. But we use Auckland land for houses
and choked roads so it really is no surprise. Perhaps grapes planted on motorway
median strips might help and even add a certain flavour to the wine. Being an election
year, Helen is bound to adopt this idea for her carbon credit trading scheme and
wouldn’t we motorists feel great knowing that while we are stuck in traffic, we are
saving the planet.
In terms of grape variety, Sauvignon Blanc production
is way out in front with 42% while Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are at 18% and 16% respectively.
And in spite of all the recent hype, the great red hope — Syrah, languishes at just
1% along with Gewurtztraminer and Cabernet Franc. Even the much vaunted and trendy
Pinot Gris only rates a mere 5%. So what do we do with all this Sauvignon Blanc?
Surely it’s too much for us all to drink! The answer is we export it. 75% of our
wine exports are indeed Sauvignon Blanc. Pinot Noir is second but is a full 67
percentage points behind on 8% of our wine exports. Chardonnay follows with 6% and
Merlot and Cabernet blends on 2% and 1.2% And who drinks our wine overseas?
Well it seems that the UK can’ get enough of the stuff at about 28 million litres
followed by Australia and the USA at about 18 million litres each.
By now my head was swimming with statistics but
then I came upon some startling new facts? Did you know that we have 2 hectares planted
in Flora and 1 planted hectare each of Roussanne, Scheurere, Osteiner and Wurzer.
I don’t know if these are grape varieties or German pop groups but I’ll try and find
out and keep you posted. This could be the damned lies part of Disraeli’s statement.
He was a politician after all.
Website:
www.nzwine.com/statistics/
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THIS IS BAD — THIS IS GOOD
Albany Buzz March 2008
 Oak treatment, tannins, kerosene, triage,
acid noble rot, length, finish, volatile acidity, bouquet, oxidation, tca, brettanomycees,
and cigar box are all words associated with wine. It’s almost as if another language
has been invented to ensure that we, the average wine drinkers are kept in the dark
about wine. Let’s try and demystify some wine terms and descriptors so you can amaze
and annoy your friends with your serious vinous knowledge.
Kerosene is the smell or aroma you get from a very
well aged riesling and an aged Hunter Valley semillon. You may even get a hint of
kerosene on the palate. The wine will often be deep gold and almost stick to the
sides of the glass. No, the wine has not ‘gone off’. Admittedly it’s an acquired
taste but one well worth acquiring.
Oxidation means a wine has been excessively exposed
to oxygen. This can happen during the wine making process or more likely, the cork
is faulty and has let in oxygen. Minor oxidation will cause a wine to be dull and
lifeless. If the wine smells and tastes like sherry, or even worse — vinegar, that
is bad! An oxidised red wine will be almost brown colour and a white wine is likely
to take on a deep amber resin hue. In both cases, tip the wine down the sink or return
it to the supplier for a refund or new bottle. Some wines are deliberately exposed
to controlled amounts of oxygen before fermentation to develop more complex flavours
— this is good!
TCA or Cork Taint is caused by a chemical reaction
between the wine and the cork. This is a ‘corked’ wine. A mildly corked wine is hard
to pick but can taste and smell dull, musty, and damp. Full blown TCA is just like
stinky mouldy cardboard, and once tasted, will never be forgotten. This is bad. Three
cheers for screw caps, the antidote to TCA.
Complexity and length is a very good thing in wine.
If you find your wine displays lots of different flavours and these change over time
in your glass, then you have a complex wine. If the taste of the wine lingers on
in your mouth after drinking it, then this is regarded as a good sign. It is commonly
called length or finish. A good wine will also have three distinct phases which can
be discerned — an initial burst of flavour, a solid middle palate and a long lingering
finish. A skillful wine maker will have blended three distinctly different pressings
and given each a different level and type of aging to produce this desired result.
Look for this in a really good pinot noir. This is good. A wine with a beginning,
no middle and some end is easy to pick. It’s as if you can put your tongue through
where the middle taste should have been.
Tannins, Acids and Alcohol. Tannins are extracted
from the skins, pips and stems of the wine and some can be imparted by aging the
wine in oak. Excessive tannins are bad. Your mouth will feel furry and dry right
out. They may overwhelm the fruit entirely. Many serious red wines may appear to
have excessive tannins when young but with aging, they will meld with the fruit and
acid to produce a high quality drop with some definite oomph. This is really good.
Acids give wines their bite when you swallow. Too much acid means too much sharp
bite. If the wine feels hot when you swallow, this is the tell-tale sigh of high
alcohol. Many American cabernet blends suffer from this problem — huge alcoholic
and jammy creatures and this is bad. If you are drinking a wine where the fruit,
tannins and acid all seem to be in perfect balance, invite me around for a drink
immediately. This would be good.
Breathing a red wine by just taking out its cork
is not worth doing. The only bit that breathes is the little bit at top of the neck.
Breathing a red wine is good but all of it must be exposed to the air. Pour it into
a jug or decanter and leave for about 10 minutes, then pour it back into the bottle
for serving. This allows the wine to open up and show its true class and this has
got to be good.
There is just a little qualifier to add to all
this. It’s probably your mood that really decides how you enjoy your wine. Even a
great wine just does not taste so good if you are not enjoying the company and a
simple little rose can assume legendary status in a relaxed and convivial or romantic
setting — and this is very very good.
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Albany Buzz February 2008
GETTING TO THE BEST BIT
Albany Buzz February 2008
 We have all, at
some time, been in the company of a person who is doing their very best to impress
us with their knowledge of wine – and isn’t it a pain! Lizzie cruelly says that I’m
one of those pains! That said however, it is also true that the greater your knowledge
of wine, the deeper your enjoyment of wine can become. So in the interest of enjoyment
and at the risk of being a pain, the next two columns will explore some simplified
winespeak ideas. Much of this you may know already but it just may help you enjoy
your wine even more – and if that happens, then it’s been worth it.
Picking: The decision of when to pick the
grapes is crucial. Too early and the acids will be high, the sugars low and the flavours
wanted will not be there.
Cropping: The theory here is to remove many
bunches of grapes from a vine so the remaining bunches will be more concentrated
in flavour. Over-cropped vines will produce thin wines that are lower in sugar, colour,
and flavour. But if you like your wines this way, you will probably find them in
the bargain bins in supermarkets at $8.00 and under, and you will no doubt have more
disposable income that can be spent on bottled water!
Winemaking: Grapes arrive at the winery and
are often put on conveyor belts to remove leaves and other unwanted bits from the
picking. If a high quality wine is to be produced, only the best bunches will be
selected, de-stemmed then crushed to release the juice. If it’s a white wine, the
juice is removed from the skins and pips immediately before fermentation begins.
If a red wine, the skins and pips are left with the juice during fermentation. This
allows the colour and tannins to be extracted from the skins.
Fermentation: Wild yeasts form naturally on the
skins of grapes and when crushed, the yeasts have access to the sugar in the juice
and begin converting it to alcohol – in other words, fermentation. The more sugar
in the grapes, the greater the alcohol content. Fermentation continues until all
the sugar is eaten and the yeast cells give up. Winemakers may use the wild yeasts
or may add different varieties of yeasts to start the fermentation. Fermentation
can be stopped before all the sugar becomes alcohol by cooling the juice so the yeasts
stop working. The yeast is then filtered out and the sugar left will add a certain
sweetness and body and the wine which will have a lower alcohol content.
Malolactic Fermentation: This is a secondary fermentation
which can occur naturally after fermentation. The harsher malic acid of the juice
is converted to a softer lactic acid. Winemakers may kick off this process by injecting
lactic bacteria. Most reds have this secondary fermentation and it is a useful technique
in a wine such as chardonnay to fatten it out and give an almost butterscotch-like
flavour. In crisper more acidic wines such as riesling, malolactic fermentation is
a no no and wine makers must master the art of stopping this happening or risk the
embarrassment of it taking place at a later date in the bottle (it will be fizzy).
Aging: The wine may then be aged on its
lees – the dead yeasts, for varying periods of time before it is racked (drained
away from the dead yeasts). Quality red wines are then more likely to spend further
time (a year or more) aging in expensive oak barrels while a white wine may just
rest in a stainless steel tank unless some oak contact is required.
Fined and Filtered: Consumers of wines in general do
not like cloudy wines or particles – especially in white wines. Either before, during
or after aging, wines are filtered and then fined – that is a
substance such as egg whites are added to grab any tiny particles left over and clear
up the wine. The danger with filtering is that too much can take away some of the
natural character and charm of the wine. This is where the skill and judgement
of the winemaker come to the fore. Some wines may even have further bottle age before
they are released for you and I to drink – and that’s the best bit.
WEBSITES:
www.winepros.org/wine101/enology.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winemaking
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IT'S ALL IN THE TEA
LEAVES
Albany Buzz December 2007
 In
a past life I lived in a provincial city. The thing that sticks in my memory most
was the stir that a self proclaimed clairvoyant caused when she shifted into town.
Over a period of time, all the women in the office would traipse over to her house
to have their futures read. Mrs X would look deeply into their tea cups, and using
her amazing ability to ‘read’ the leaves, she would astound them all with her accurate
predictions. She could predict travel in the future, the purchase of, or at least
contemplation of purchasing or changing cars, a family crisis or a success in the
future. There was no end to her amazing foresight, and as word of her success spread,
most of the women of the city had contributed handsomely to her pension fund. Mrs
X however made one fatal mistake. She clearly had not had a cup of tea that morning
for she failed to predict that the small plane she was on would crash later in the
day. A sad end to a glittering career.
As well as enjoying wine, I also enjoy tea and
recently, to my astonishment, I was able to read the leaves and predict that later
that day I was going to open a bottle of wine. The leaves spoke so clearly that I
was even able to predict the actual wine — an American Sonoma Valley Ferrari-Carano
Cabernet Sauvignon. Even the year was right — 1997 to be exact. What the leaves
didn’t tell me was that apart from the first impressive sip, the wine opened up into
a huge jammy, over-the-top experience. But hey, I was only learning. Now armed with
a much more refined technique, I am able to share with you some wine predictions
for the coming year. The leaves tell me that in 2008:
- Helen Clark, flushed with success from banning
fireworks and offering tax cuts, will strike a blow for sustainability. In a stunning
move to save the forests of France she will ban all French oak treatment of our wines.
The French will retailiate of course and no more Citroen, Renault or Peugeot
cars will be seen on our roads. The scheme will start with Chardonnay and be phased
in over six weeks.
- Al Gore will make an award-winning film predicting
all New Zealand wine areas (except Northland) will become frost-free and
why helicopter companies should get their comeuppance.
- Allan Limmer of Stonecroft will seal all of his
wines with stelvin closures.
- Muller Thurgau will become the new Pinot Gris.
- Stephen Bennett M.W. — wine writer for North and
South, will find a Hawkes Bay Syrah he really likes — probably Unison.
- Robert Parker Jnr will startle the wine world
by adopting a new 200 point system for judging wine.
- Trevor Mallard, fresh from an anger management
course, and now in touch with his feminine side, will discover and promote the
drinking of Rose wines exclusively — probably Esk Valley Rose — although the
leaves were not too clear on this point.
- The Martinborough Wine Festival Tickets will be
slow sellers and Trade Me will list hundreds of them at below cost.
- In a brilliant move to stifle any further controversy,
the Hawkes Bay Wine Awards will appoint Britney Spears as chief judge.
- Blackmarket.co.nz will suffer a terrorist attack
and disappear from the world wide web.
- Wither Hills will bottle all their sauvignon blanc
from one batch.
- Lizzie and I will make our first vintage of Schist
Face Pinot Noir.
- Michael Cooper will write a book called ‘Buyers
Guide to New Zealand Wines — 2008’ and it will sell very well.
Just remember, it’s all in the tea leaves and if
any of this just happens to come true, remember you read it first in the Buzz! Have
a fun Christmas and New Year and do treat yourself to some special wines.
Cheers — until 2008.
THE PARKERIZATION
OF THE WORLD
Albany Buzz November 2007
 In a previous column
I mentioned Robert M. Parker, Jr the man wine drinkers, wine writers, wine makers,
viticulturalists et al love to love and love to loath in equal amounts. Robert Parker
is a university graduate with a major in History and a minor in Art History who served
for over 10 years as an attorney. He gave this all away in 1984 and devoted all his
time to writing about wine and developing his wine publications started in 1975.
His publication The Wine Advocate has now over 40,000 subscribers in the USA and
is widely read in 37 countries world-wide.
He is regarded as the most influential
wine critic in the world and invented the 100 point wine rating system. So why is
he loved and loathed in equal amounts? The 100 point system is where it all starts.
This system implies absolute precision. Other world renowned wine writers such as
England's Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson say that ranking the quality of a wine
is just too subjective and they, along with many Australian and New Zealand writers,
have adopted a 20 point system to accommodate this. Repected New Zealand wine writer
Michael Cooper uses a 5 star system while Peter Saunders — a writer held in very
high regard in our industry, simply descibes the wine as he sees it, no stars or
points at all. Under the Parker system, 90-95 points is regarded as outstanding,
80-89 points is very good, 75-79 points is above average. So what happens when the
ratings go out? The price of the 90+ wines shoots up alarmingly, putting it out of
the reach of your average buyer. The wines rated under 90 become harder to sell and
the average wines in the 75-79 bracket are nearly impossible to shift.
My favourite Parker story (and I can't
swear to its authenticity) concerns a French chateau owner offering him sexual favours
from his two daughters when he rated his wine 95 points. The reaction to Parker's
score of a meager 85 points by another owner simply resulted in death threats. Another
consequence of his influence is that a wine he rates highly becomes the benchmark
style for that wine. Human nature and economics being what it is, if you could sell
your vintage for several million dollars or euros more because of a high rating,
then you would be very silly to not make it in a 'Parker approved' style. This is
now known as the Parkerization of the industry. I have commented on his style before
but in summary, it seems to be anything highly alcoholic and over the top. Parker
is often seen to be out-of-step with others in the industry. A 2003 Bordeaux vintage
was described by Jancis Robinson as having 'completely unappestising overripe aromas'.
Some of the wine trade were not worried as they knew Parker had a soft spot for the
chateau and sent out a statement that said; 'It is widely anticipated that Robert
Parker will love it and we predict a massive score'. So do I read Robert Parker?
No, but I'm deeply fascinated with the commercialism of the man who styles himself
as a consumer advocate for wine. You can even rent monthly a Robert Parker java applet
which runs on your cell phone and gives you access to the Robert Parker 'Wine of
the Day' and 'special buying opportunities'. This boy is good but I still go back
to the old maxim — you be the judge and if you like it, drink it.
To gain some understanding about the genius
of Robert M. Parker Jr, I highly recommend you visit his website. Some of you may
find it just a little crass but you may want to avail yourself of an approved Robert
Parker wine accessory such as a $30 US Cargo Single Cinnabar decribed as: 'a perfect
wine bag for the wine lover who likes to carry their favorite selection with them.
The 'Cargo' wine bag, made of 100% quality cotton canvas, helps to maintain the temperature
of your wine. It is designed to hold either a 750 ml or 1.5 litre bottle and has
a corkscrew pocket in front. There are leather closures with a comfortable web handle
that is adjustable in length. The inside has elastics to hold the bottle in place'.
Just how perfect is that!
Websites:
www.erobertparker.com (the e is not a mistake)
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EASY TO DRINK – HARD
TO PRONOUNCE
Albany Buzz — October 2007
 When I first started to enjoy wines, I
discovered several bottles of a wine with a totally unpronounceable name in our local
specialist wine store (today a threatened species) called Gewurztraminer. Even my
curiosity would not overcome my acute embarrassment when attempting to pronounce
the name of the wine, and so, this stunning varietal was to remain a mystery to me
for several years. Suspecting that it was a German word, I finally plucked up courage
to ask a German tourist I met in a local pub. ‘Guh-VERTZ-truh-mean-er’, he said and
so my love affair with this wine began, and is still as strong as ever.
It may be hard to pronounce and even harder to spell but Gewurtztraminer is the easiest
of all white wines to recognise in a blind tasting. The heady, almost over-the-top
perfume is always more than enough to give it away. It is often said of Gewurtztraminer
that its only fault is that it has got too much of everything. The distinctive flavour
of lychees, hints of peaches and mangoes, a little spiciness, and the aroma of heavily-scented
roses, and an almost oil-like ability to cling to the glass, is what it is all about.
At its best it should be delicate and yet mouthfilling and lingering.
The history of this pinkish-brown spotted berried grape is quite fascinating in itself.
It was (in the Middle Ages) a pale green grape called Traminer with none of the spicy
flavours we know today and was planted quite extensively all over Europe. One characteristic
of Traminer was that it commonly mutated and one such mutation was seized upon by
the French of Alsace because of its spice and beautiful perfume. The word Gewurtz
(synonym for spice and/or perfumed) was simply added to Traminer to identify this
special spicy and heavily perfumed mutation of Traminer.
Alsace still does it best of all but we also do it very well in many districts in
New Zealand including Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough and Central Otago. During
the late 80s and 90s the plantings of Gewurtz. declined quite markedly in New Zealand.
The main reason for this was its ability to really react badly to any adverse weather
at fruit set, making it uneconomic to plant in comparison with other grape varieties.
But thankfully this has now been reversed as better clones have been developed and
our wine makers have embraced the charms of this wine giving it an increasingly higher
profile amongst wine drinkers.
Gewurtztraminer is not an every-day drinking wine as its over-the-topness means you
can tire of it if you drink too much of it on a regular basis. Use it for special
occasions and to re-educate your palate about what a great wine should taste like.
The Villa Maria Cellar selection and Private Bin range and Saints (Montana) are good
introductory level well priced wines. If you are looking for a sensory explosion
of the Gewurtztraminer kind, then you can’t go past any of the following:
- Stonecroft Old Vine Gewurtztraminer (Hawkes Bay)
Vinoptima Gewurtztraminer (Gisborne)
Villa Maria Single Vineyard Ihumatao (Auckland)
Te Whare Ra Gewurtztraminer (Nelson)
and our very best Gewurtztraminer of all:
Dry River Estate Gewurtztraminer (Martinborough) Believe me, this wine is so good
that if you drink it, you will be immediately be awarded a Carbon Credit.
Previous Wine Columns on the Web:
www.travelblognz.com > Click on Buzzwine.
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WHEN WINE OPTIONS GET RIDICULOUS
Albany Buzz — September 2007
 In the ‘70s Liz and I were part of a small
group of wine enthusiasts who met once a month to listen to guest speakers – wine
makers such as the Spence brothers from Matua Valley and John Hancock of Morton Estate
(now Trinity Hill). We would taste their wines and they would regale us with wonderful
tales of the then fledgling New Zealand wine industry. One story really tickled our
fancy. The vineyard owner was sitting down to have an early evening wine when he
heard a shotgun blast. It was probably the wine maker scaring off the birds he thought.
Several minutes later there was an insistent knocking on the door and there stood
the agitated – and slightly tipsy wine maker asking if he could stay the night as
his wife was none too pleased, and was making serious bodily threats. He explained
that she had been shopping in town and purchased a large pink ceramic flamingo which
she had placed in a tree outside their house. Said wine maker, after a solid day
blending and sipping, came home and spotted the flamingo in the tree. Seized with
an attack of good taste, he did what any right thinking male would do – blasted it
to bits with his shotgun.
The serious part of the evenings was however the wine options game. One or more wines
were concealed in brown paper bags and small glasses would be poured for all of us.
We would then look, swirl, sip and taste as a series of questions were asked about
the wine.
- Is it from the northern or southern hemisphere?
- What country is it from?
- What region of that country is it from?
- What is the grape or the blend?
Sometimes we were even asked to name the vineyard and the vintage year – but thankfully,
not often. Because the wine type is only revealed after the last question has been
asked, things can go terribly wrong if you make a mistake with the first question.
Once we went off into a northern hemisphere tack from which there was no return,
and decided that it was a Grenache from Rhone in France when in fact it was a humble
Merlot from Hawkes Bay – at least we had the colour right.
Recently we have revived this fun game with our neighbours who have a small vineyard
– Omori Estate – in Southern Lake Taupo. As we pretty well know what each other has
in their cellar, we tend to ‘play the man’ and often with good results. Recently,
things have taken a turn for the worse. I scored a coup by finding a bottle of Clay
Cliffs, Central Otago Muscat. How obscure is that! They didn’t even get close. Next
week, Peter replied with a Merlot, blended with God knows what, home-made in old
oak barrels in Turangi. We didn’t even get close. Further obscure examples have since
followed including a South African Pinot Noir, a Queensland Chardonnay and a Cabernet
Sauvignon from Tasmania. We called a temporary truce. The truce was broken by Carol
and even Peter was not allowed inside knowledge of the wine’s origin. Lizzie headed
off to the Northern Hemisphere and insisted it was a Gewurstraminer from Alsace.
Peter knew it was a Riesling from Gisborne. I thought I recognised the wine and said
nothing until asked the region of New Zealand it came from – Southern Lake Taupo
to be precise. Yes, indeed the wine was a fine Pinot Gris from Omori Estate. Peter
hadn’t recognised his own wine. This is not at all uncommon amongst wine makers who
often don’t recognise their own creations in a blind tasting.
So why not have some fun on winter evenings playing the wine options game with friends
at home. You will learn a lot about wine but be warned – it can bring out the competitive
streak in the male so insist that it’s simple – say just New Zealand wines.
It’s time to visit Carol and Peter. Now where did
I put that bottle of Ehrenfelser from the Okanagan in British Columbia?
Obscure Wine Online
www.foodandwine.com/articles/tongue-tied-about-the-worlds-best-wine-values
www.caros.co.nz/
www.barossa-region.org/wine/Obscure-wine-recommendations.html
www.obscuritycellars.com/wines.htm
www.vinography.com/archives/2006/12/jack_the_obscure_tasting_wines.html
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Let’s Go Wine Tasting
Albany Buzz — August 2007
 NO SHERRY • NO BUBBLES • NO BUSES. This
appears on a sign outside a prestigious Hawkes Bay winery. While possibly a little
direct, the message is clear – we only want people here who are serious about tasting
wine – and I agree with this sentiment. I was once caught between a bus load of tourists
and the free sweet sherry tasting table at a vineyard. I have never seen such animation
from the over 70s as they trampled over me to get to the pre-poured glasses with
not even so much as an excuse me. Be warned – oldies can be vicious, and I still
bear the scars! However, don’t let this, put you off one of life’s most pleasurable
experiences – a leisurely tasting of wines in a particular district – commonly known
as following a wine trail. By following some elementary and unwritten rules, you
will get the most out of your half or full day of tasting. And Rule Number One is
obvious – avoid wineries with large tourist buses parked outside.
A popular way of visiting a series of wineries
is to find a local tourist operator who takes small groups around selected wineries.
This has two advantages – you are not drinking and driving and the operator is nearly
always well informed and has good relationships with the behind-the-counter
staff. Lizzie and I are rugged individualists and prefer to strike out on our
own. Recently we were in Marlborough with good friends Jan and Vaughan. He seemed
non-plussed when we suggested that we would be going to six wineries before lunch.
‘We’ll shouldn’t drink that much’, he said. ‘We won’t be’, I replied. The secret
is to share one tasting glass per couple and to only taste the wines you want to
taste. One little sip is all you need to assess the wine and we tend to stick to
wines that are the speciality of the district or the vineyard – such as Sauvignon
Blanc and Pinot Gris from Marlborough, Chardonnay and Cabernet blends from Hawkes
Bay etc. Vaughan was impressed with our discipline and after six visits, he suggested
that there was still time to fit in another two or three before lunch and still remain
well below the limit.
If you do want to taste a flight of whites, start
with the lighter and aromatic wines first and move on to the more acidic and ‘bigger’
wines. If the behind-the-counter staff know their stuff (and they mostly really do),
they will probably pour wines in the following order – Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris,
Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and finish off with an oaked Chardonnay. If tasting reds,
start with the Pinot Noir, followed by the Merlot, Syrah, and finish with the Cabernet
blends.
No winery will want to give another a bad wrap
so take a positive approach. We always say, ‘If you were taking some friends around,
where would you take them to taste some interesting wines’? An emerging trend is
for wineries to charge a small fee (refunded if you purchase) for tasting a flight
of about 5 wines ( eg 3 whites and two reds). This is good for two reasons
– it takes away any obligation to buy that you may feel, and by paying a little more,
it often allows you to taste their top-of-the-range wines – not normally offered
for tasting.
Winery staff in New Zealand in general, are well
trained, and in many cases you can be lucky enough to be talking to the winemaker
or vineyard manager. By showing a keen interest, asking intelligent questions and
offering praise, they will open up and you will be rewarded in kind – often with
a special tasting of a special wine. It’s really just a case of human nature. They
are passionate about the wines they make and they enjoy you being passionate about
them too.
Unlike much of Europe and California, New Zealand
and Australia are blessed with vineyard restaurants of a very high standard. So what
better way to finish your wine trail than to sit down with a full glass of wine previously
tasted and enjoy that romantic lunch at the home of the grape. It really does taste
best in its natural setting.
Wineries with Restaurants We Like:
www.ascensionvineyard.co.nz (Matakana)
www.sileni.co.nz (Hawkes Bay)
www.clearviewestate.co.nz (Hawkes Bay)
www.saintclair.co.nz (Marlborough)
www.amisfield.co.nz (Queenstown)
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Terroir – A Sense
of Place
Albany Buzz — July 2007
 Toni Paterson,
an Australian wine-maker and Master of Wine, stated the following when referring
to Australian Sauvignon Blanc: “I often find myself thinking, why buy Australian
when I can get more flavour, character and expression from one produced by our Tasman
cousins.” She is naturally talking about our world-famous Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
It is instantly recognisable and has a sense of place.
The French call it ‘terroir’ (tair
wah). In simple terms, a terroir refers to a group of vineyards in a region that
share the same soil type, weather and similar grape types that give the region a
distinct personality. The French take this a whole lot further than the simple geographic
definition and will add almost anything supporting their local terroir concept including
row spacing, root stock, pruning techniques and even local wine-making philosophies
and historic influences imparted on the vineyard by previous generations. Cynics
might say that this is a clever commercial ploy to give a region an edge over others
producing wines of the same type. And it is hotly debated in New Zealand with some
wine-makers believing that modern techniques have made the terroir concept redundant
– their undoubted abilities can produce a wine true to a style or a grape no matter
what the district.
Recently I asked myself the question,
if terroir is fraud, then why do I prefer wines from certain regions in New Zealand
and Australia over others? My answer was simple. After years of imbibing, I believe
that certain wines from certain regions, although individually distinct from each
other, have a definite personality – a terroir – a sense of place. So risking the
wrath of the anti-terroirists, I bravely share with you my NZ/Aussie wine region
preferences.
Semillon: Hunter Valley. No other New World region comes close. Made without any
oak treatment, this crisp and lean when young wine, gets better and better with age.
At about 10 years it becomes a deep gold and complex wine, quite nutty, and even
oily with an almost kerosene-type flavour. An acquired taste, and not for the faint
hearted.
Sauvignon Blanc: Marlborough. This
goes without saying. I enjoy the pungent nose and the over-the-top flavour. Please
don’t dumb-it-down with oak and malolactic fermentation. Stick to stainless steel.
Chardonnay: Hawkes Bay. Big, bold and complex and some subtle oak is what it’s all
about. I hope this un-oaked nonsense goes away soon.
Riesling Clare Valley/Eden Valley. Clare Valley (1 hour north west of the Barossa)
and Eden Valley (bordering the Barossa) are cooler climate areas that produce robust,
minerally and long lasting wines that knock the socks off most New Zealand offerings.
If choosing a NZ variety I go with Martinborough and Central Otago.
Gewurtztraminer: Gisborne. This region produces elegant and soft Gewurtzaminer right
through to rich and complex mouth-filling examples – all with distinctive and pungent
aromatics.
Bordeaux Blends (Cab Sav, Merlot, Malbec, Franc etc) Hawkes Bay. Wonderful rich and
complex offerings that are getting better every year. For a straight Cabernet Sauvignon
I can’t go past an aged Australian Coonawara number as it seldom ripens in NZ.
Syrah/Shiraz: Hawkes Bay/McLaren Vale. Gimblett Gravels region is producing some
classy Hawkes Bay stunners. Shiraz from McLaren Vale is the voluptuous and mouth-filling
expression of grunty Aussie shiraz.
Pinot Noir: Central Otago. I prefer the forest floor and barnyard of Central Otago
Pinots. They seem to have more compexity than the more feminine and fruit driven
examples from Martinborough and Marlborough (I’m sticking my neck out here!).
And Finally: Pinot Gris. I just don’t know the answer. There is no discernable New
Zealand style emerging that I can tell. Do we even need a style? If you regard Alsace
as the benchmark for Pinot Gris – oily, complex, lush and with wonderful aromatics
– then there is probably no better example than Nevis Bluff from Central Otago.
The terroir versus the wine-maker debate will only be resolved over time and I suspect
that geography and topography matched to grape variety, will in the end, win out
over the cult of the wine- maker. If I’m wrong, well so be it. I will have had a
wonderful time trying to discover this sense of place.
Websites:
www.wineanorak.com/terroir2.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terroir
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Shall I Wear a Silly Nose?
Albany Buzz — June 2007
 Anyone who keeps an eye on supermarket wine specials will
probably not be surprised to know that they sell between 65%-70% of all wine purchased
in New Zealand. The other interesting fact is that the average price that wine shoppers
are willing to pay is increasing, with most growth in the $10.00 – $15.00 range.
Recently I read a wine column bemoaning the fact that quality wines such as the Church
Road range were being marked down severely by supermarkets and this was devaluing
the Church Road brand in the eyes of the public. Not so I say – this is socialist
rubbish – let the market prevail. Supermarkets have huge purchasing power and if
they can screw down the price from the supplier, then so be it. And it’s really good
for we consumers. In the words of Richard Riddiford of Palliser Estate “The best
bottle of Palliser Estate is the last one sold”.
Supermarkets are masters in the art of temptation. A small number of weekly
specials at below cost are often offered to get us in the doors. Luckily for
me, I am only tempted by the wine specials and my deliberately cultivated ignorance
of all things culinary and household essentials means that I will only go inside
a supermarket to hook into those sometimes fabulous wine deals. Recently I sat
up in bed with a start as an advertisement in the paper stated that the
Saints range was being offered at $9.95 at a local supermarket. Recommended retail
for this range is in the vicinity of $20.00 Saints is part of the vast Pernod-Ricard
empire which, in New Zealand, includes Montana, Stonleigh and Church Road so they
can’t be all bad – and they’re not. The Saints Gisborne Chardonnay is always
good – a smooth lively wine with some good chardonnay grapefruit and buttery
flavours. The Saints Hawkes Bay Cabernet/Merlot is always reliable, quite gutsy
and true to the blend. The quaffing cellar had recently suffered an unfortunate attack
from friends and three dozen wines were needed.
On the way out to the car with my three cases, I did an almost unheard of thing –
I checked my docket. Even though maths was never my strong point, it seemed
clear that the total price paid for three cases at $10.00 each should equate to $360.00.
This was way more – $540.00 to be exact. I had not read the fine print – one dozen
case only at the give-away price and all further cases at $17.50 per bottle. While
I waited to return my two cases and receive a refund, I innocently asked
what was to stop me putting on a silly nose and making two further trips from
the car and purchase them separately. “You wouldn’t even have to do that sir’, was
the reply – “just go to a different checkout each time”. “So can I do this right
now?” I asked. “Not really sir, we would recognise you”. “Even with a silly nose?”
I asked. “Particularly with a silly nose sir, we don’t see this too often”. Needless
to say, the manager relented and I was given all the wine at the $10.00 price. So,
there you have it – supermarkets practise egalitarian socialism too – except when
they don’t.
The real point of all this is that if you keep a close eye on the specials you’ll
find wonderful bargains. The wines have not been devalued – they will taste just
the same as they did when they were at full RRP. Many classy marked-down wines abound
in the $10.00 – $15.00 range. In fact, this week I am off to my local New World to
buy the odd bottle of:
- Delegats Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc at $8.99
- Rawsons Retreat (Penfold) Shiraz/Cabernet at $9.99
- Red Knot (Mclaren Vale) Shiraz/Cabernet at $11.99
- Vidal (Hawkes Bay) Merlot/Cabernet at ($12.99)
and I’ll probably lash out a bit on a couple of Penfolds Bin 28 and Bin 128,
reduced to the silly price of $20.00 – but I’ve saved so much already that I’d be
silly not to!
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SIMPLY SENSATIONAL
SYRAH
Albany Buzz — May 2007
 "Our most affordable Sensational
Syrah".
When winter is approaching, my wine taste changes
drastically. Gone is the Marlborough over-the-top Sauvignon Blanc, gone is the frivolous
Pinot Gris and out comes the serious Chardonnay, out comes the Eden Valley and Clare
Valley Reislings, the Aussie Shiraz, the New Zealand Cabernet Blends and best of
all — the fabulous Hawkes Bay Syrahs. Australians call it Shiraz but it is the noble
Syrah grape we are talking about, and in New Zealand, we mostly call it Syrah.
In France it is the only grape used for the famous Rhone Côte Rotie and Hermitage
wines. These plantings however are dwarfed by the massive plantings in Australia
with which we are so familiar. Syrah/Shiraz is a tricky wine to get right. It needs
heat to get fully ripe. When slightly over ripe and over cropped it loses its charm
completely and can be quite aggressive. When Australian vineyards get it right though,
it becomes a wonderfully dark blackberry and licorice flavoured spicy wine that lingers
on and on. The other extreme is when Syrah/Shiraz it is not quite ripe and it becomes
an unpleasant astringent mouthwash with a smell often described as burnt rubber.
Hawkes Bay (and the Gimblett Gravels area in particular) Syrahs really shocked the
Aussies in 2003 when they won the Tri Nations Wine Challenge with a best in the show
and overall class win and we have continued to do well in all further Challenges.
So what makes our
Syrahs so special — and different? It seems that Hawkes Bay has the climate to be
able to ripen the grape without it getting overripe. We also give our Syrahs the
more elegant French Oak treatment rather than the often more astringent vanilla flavoured
American Oak preferred by the Aussies. Our Hawkes Bay climate seems to bring out
the best in our Syrahs and the best examples are classy, elegant wines with spicy
peppery bouquet and intense blackberry (and at times licorice) flavours, all balanced
out with subtle tannins.
The Royal Easter Show Awarded awarded four Syrah gold medals this year. I am well
aware that shows are not the be-all and end-all of judgement but the award winners
consistently get their Syrah together and three of them happen to be in my top five
or six. These were:
Esk Valley Reserve Syrah 2005 — about $30.00
Unison Syrah 2005 (my all time favourite) — about $37.00
Vidal Solar Syrah 2004 — about $40.00
Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2005 — about $30.00
Add the following to the list as they don’t enter shows:
Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Block 14 Syrah 2004 — about $35.00
Stonecroft Syrah (any year) — about $38.00
Te Mata Bullnose Syrah — about $45.00
Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2004 — about $120.00 (Crikey)
Passage Rock Syrah 2005) (Waiheke Island) — about $50.00
Added up, this comes to $380.00. Good God I hear you say. Isn’t this a bit rich when
I can get a cheap Hardy’s Aussie number (please don’t) for $8.95 on special ? Yes
it is a bit rich, but how about shouting yourself one a month from now on and you’ll
quickly fall in love with our ‘hot’ new wine and be well on the way to financial
ruin. But all is not lost. As mentioned in a previous column, One Tree Syrah (a division
of Craggy Range) makes this wonderful wine for sale exclusively at Pack ’n Save and
New World supermarkets. And the price — about $15.00 — $17.00 This is a wonderful
example of Hawkes Bay Syrah at a give-away price that was recently given the 5 star
treatment by the highly respected Winestate Magazine. So light the fire and make
this winter the best wine time you have ever had by exploring and enjoying our simply
sensational New Zealand Syrah.
Websites:
www.unisonvineyard.co.nz www.villamaria.co.nz
www.eskvalley.co.nz
www.vidal.co.nz
www.craggyrange.com www.passagerockwines.co.nz
www.stonecroft.co.nz www.trinityhill.co.nz
www.temata.co.nz
www.capricornwines.co.nz/one.html
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You be the Judge
Albany Buzz — April 2007
"You don’t walk past the orange tree in bloom and yell out viognier!”
 It always makes you feel good when you see that three of your six favourite
New Zealand Hawkes Bay syrahs are among the 4 syrah gold medals awarded at the recent
Royal Easter Show Wine Awards. You immediately feel vindicated for all your years
of wine imbibing. Why didn’t I pick the other one? It’s quite simple really – my
other favourites come from vineyards that don’t exhibit at shows and I have never
tasted the other winner. How important is a gold medal then? To those who enter shows,
obviously they believe it is important, as it translates into lots of sales by impressing
the hell out of people who buy wine because of gold medals – and there are lots of
people who buy their wine this way. It also ensures that a guest will never criticise
a wine you open if you tell them it has ‘gone gold’. But how good are the judges?
On the whole, our wine judges do a great job but in the end, it is just their opinion
of that bottle of wine, on that particular day. The truth is that they have judged
probably hundreds of wines on that day and in spite of swilling and spitting, they
will have jaded palates. It is even rumoured that some wine makers deliberately make
‘show wines’ that will make a judge’s jaded palate sit up and take notice. Wine judging
is also mainly made by majority decision. Several years ago a Central Otago Sauvignon
Blanc was described by two judges as ‘exceptional’ and ‘the best I have ever tasted’.
The third judge said it was a faulted wine and should never have been allowed in
the show. It won a gold medal! So in the end, it is just a matter of opinion. If
you enjoy it then it’s a good wine.
Another thing that gets to me is the reliance we place on wine books. Our wine scribes
serve us well but by selecting our wines rated by them, using the 5 star system,
we are placing ourselves at the bottom of the tasting tree. Too often we select wine
on the number of stars awarded, go out and buy the wine, taste the wine, and then
read the comments to find out the flavours we are tasting. The descriptors wine scribes
use are often based on plants and animals that most people have never tasted or smelt.
Ben Canaider, a brilliant and witty wine writer recently summed this up in a Sydney
Morning Herald column when he said “ … it’s a one-way analogy, too: you don’t hear
people saying pinot! when they smell a violet. You don’t walk past the orange tree
in bloom and yell out viognier!”
Then there is the ridiculous 100 point wine rating system made popular by American
Robert Parker. How on earth can you judge a wine out of 100 points? How bad does
it have to be to for it to be undrinkable? Where is the cut-off point? I have never
seen a wine get under 80 points so maybe you are dicing with death at about 80. And
if they don’t award anything under 80, why don’t they just admit it is a 20 point
system? Robert Parker is equally loved and loathed within wine circles. But he does
have immense influence – especially with the American wine buying public. Anything
90 or over is going to be keenly sought after. So what does Robert Parker like? He
seems to like huge, big, alcoholic, over-the-top wines – most of which will tear
the insides of your mouth off. They make a statement but are almost impossible to
enjoy. What I am trying to say here is – it’s the wine drinker who is the most important
part of the tasting tree. This doesn’t mean you should not go to guided wine tastings
and read wine books to increase your knowledge of wines but remember it is you –
the wine drinker – who will make the ultimate decision on liking or disliking a particular
wine. Just take all writings, medals and judging systems with a grain of salt and
trust yourself, your sense of smell and your own palate. You may even find you sometimes
agree with wine judges, wine scribes and Robert Parker!
Highly Recommend Reading
The Perfect Glass of Wine by Ben Canaider. A rollicking, witty,
insighful and generally delighful book about Ben Canaider travelling around the world
(including New Zealand) drinking wine.
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‘cellarbrate’ HAWKES BAY WINES
Albany Buzz — March 2007
It’s 7am Saturday 3 February and we have a decision to make. Do we go to the Wellington
Sevens or to Hawkes Bay Cellarbrate? As Lizzie and I don’t feel like getting dressed
up as transvestites or naked chefs on roller skates asking women to show their wares
and win a balloon, there is really no contest. 11am found Lizzie and I, and good
friends Jan and Vaughan, stretched out on a rug at the Waikoko Gardens in the Hastings
Showgrounds, sipping a glass of award-winning Squawking Magpie Sauvignon Blanc and
listening to the laid-back sounds of Canadian singer, Mary Manon Merisier. This was
going to be a great day!
Cellarbrate is an alternative to the Harvest Hawkes Bay Wine Festival. Instead of
travelling around wineries on a bus or with a sober driver, 15 wineries provide tastings,
glasses or bottles at the same venue and what a picturesque venue it is — surrounded
by beautiful trees, a sound stage erected in the front, and sun shade areas provided.
The starring wineries were: Alpha Domus, Bilancia, Brookfields, Church Road, Clearview
Estate, Corbans, Esk Valley, Lime Rock, Longridge, Matariki, Squawking Magpie, Te
Awa, Trinity Hill, Wild Rock (a division of Craggy Range), Wishart Estate and the
Limburg Beer Company thrown in for good measure. Add the delicious gourmet food and
wonderful musicians to the mix and you can easily be convinced you have arrived in
paradise. We certainly thought so.
By about 2pm the venue had filled up to a comfortable 1200 people, all smiling, all
eating, all enjoying the music and sipping on glasses of wine. With 15 wineries offering
tastings of 6-8 wines each, we very quickly realised that it was going to be impossible
to taste them all so we decided to sample wines we were not overly familiar with.
My wine star-of-the-show was Bilancia 2001 Riesling (be-larn-cha, Italian for balance),
beautifully dry, minerally lemon and lime flavours and a fresh acidity to balance
it all out. And the bad news? It was a one-off only and no more is being made — more’s
the pity, it was sensational. Exceptionally talented winemakers, Lorraine Leheny
and Warren Gibson are Bilanca. Their small 6 hectare block is on Roys Hill at the
back of the Trinity Hill Winery. They also buy-in grapes from carefully selected
sites and produce a stunning array of red and white wines.
Lizzie’s star-of-show wine was Bilancia Reserve Pinot Grigio (Italian name for Pinot
Gris) with the 2005 Viognier a close second with its spicy citrus and stone fruit
flavours delighting her palate. For Jan, the crisp and dry Squawking Magpie Marlborough
Sauvignon Blanc was her stand-out wine and Vaughan found the Trinity Hill Viognier
strangely medicinal — and as a doctor, he should know.
Musically, One Million Dollars, an Auckland-based twelve piece band was the highlight.
If you love Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago and jazz-funk music then they will certainly
press your button. All in all, the inaugural Cellarbrate was a huge success. It was
brilliantly organised, the crowd were appreciative of everything and not one spot
of litter was to be seen. Make sure you put it on your February calendar for 2008
— it’s a must if you love wine, fine food and great music.
You will have noted that not one red wine has been mentioned. This was easily remedied
as we concluded our day at the award winning Vidals restaurant in Hastings and we
were delighted to find that the stunningly big and smooth Vidal Soler Syrah from
Gimblett Gravels could be bought by the glass. Treat yourself in 2007 with at least
one bottle of this wonderful New Zealand Syrah. You deserve it.
Websites.
www.cellarbrate.co.nz
www.squawkingmagpie.co.nz
www.bilancia.co.nz
www.trinityhill.co.nz
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Main Menu
Don’t You Just
Love Holidays!
Albany Buzz — February 2007
 Lizzie
and I were planning a wonderful start to our trek south to Cromwell for Christmas
— a fabulous mixed platter lunch and some excellent award-winning wines at Marlborough’s
Saint Clair vineyard restaurant. So what were we doing on the Interislander turning
in large circles in Wellington Harbour? Finally, the Captain of the ferry gleefully
announced that the swells in Cook Strait had stabilised and we were going out. Stabilised
they had — at 9.6 metres. Most of our fellow passengers lost a lot of weight during
the next two shuddering, spray covered hours, and as the bar was closed, we couldn’t
even have what was certain to be our last wine on this earth. But survive we all
did. The sun was shining in the Marlborough Sounds and the sea was strangely calm.
We must have looked a little white around the gills, for the friendly patrons at
Saint Clair all sympathised and encouraged us to try several glasses of the superb,
award winning, lush and tropical fruit driven St Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.
“This will do the trick”, they said. It did.
Feeling ‘reflushed’ we decided on two further tastings before getting a well-deserved
rest in sunny Blenheim. As usual we were very impressed with the Kathy Lynskey Chardonnay
and Castro Reserve Pinot Noir. Both are big wines which will reward you with cellaring.
Most of all we were totally knocked over by the 15 Rows Merlot. This must be the
best Merlot to come out of Marlborough and probably the South Island — a sturdy and
complex wine, beautifully made in true Kathy Lynskey style. Bladen Wines in Conders
Bend Road was our next call. What a wonderful friendly cellar door this is. We were
guided through a wonderful tasting by owner Dave MacDonald — a man with a passion
for his wines and a wonderful sense of fun. Bladen is a small vineyard and you won’t
see Bladen wines in normal wine stores but if you are wanting something unique to
impress your friends, you can order via the website at www.bladen.co.nz We loved
the gewurtztraminer, pinot gris and riesling. The Bladen show-stopper was the 50/50
Merlot/Malbec 2004 blend. 15 months in French oak, and no filtering has ensured a
rich wine that just lingers on and on.
Our wine maker son in Cromwell turned up trumps. Lashings of the finest French rieslings,
gewurtztraminers and pinot gris were consumed on Christmas Day followed by Grand
Cru Burgundy (Pinot Noir). Such was my confusion at the end of the day that I invented
a new wine. A finest Burgundy blended with Robert Parker’s Oregan Belles Soeurs Pinot
Noir was the result. What did it taste like? I haven’t a clue!
On the way back north we stopped at Flax Cafe at Mapua Wharf (near Nelson) for a
wonderful lunch. We tried a stunning pinot gris from Nelson winery Rimu Grove. So
good was this that we visited the vineyard and were delighted to meet Patrick Stowe
— ex Napa Valley, who proves that passion makes great wines. His Pinot Noir 2004
was just simply the best Nelson pinot we have tasted for some time (www.rimugrove.co.nz).
Cook Strait was like a mill pond on the way back — swells of a minuscule 6.5 metres.
We just couldn’t work out why many people looked so green. “Whimps”, said Lizzie.
But all good holidays come to an end. In my case it was running a wine tasting at
Omori Estate vineyard beside Southern Western Lake Taupo (www.omoriestate.co.nz)
Of the sauvignon blancs we tasted, the tasters’ preferences were equally divided
between Wither Hills and Esk Valley. And a final word about the Wither Hills scandal
in a tea cup — I was assured by many South Island wine makers that the making of
separate and different batches of the same wine is NOT standard practice in the industry
in spite of the claims by Wither Hills. Don’t hold it against Wither Hills however.
What ever batch you buy, you’ll be drinking one of New Zealand’s classic sauvignon
blancs.
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Surviving
Christmas Without Breaking the Bank
Albany Buzz — December 2006
 There are so many depressing things about Christmas —the main one being
that it comes around once a year. The other big depressant is that the women of the
household write incredibly long lists about all the things that have to be finished
and completed by Christmas. Why a particular garden must be replanted, the decks
water blasted, and the spare room painted by Christmas always defeats my male logic.
Why can’t this be done on Christmas Day itself? Come to think of it, this would be
the best way of avoiding overeating and escaping the snide remarks of the mother-in-law.
The only thing I like about Christmas is the fact that I can get into a wine at a
sensible hour of the day — about 5am when the children (or in our case, grandchildren)
wake up for their presents. This early start to wine imbibing will get you through
the day — trust me on this! It is obvious however that it is going to cost you heaps
and as Christmas is ridiculously all about goodwill where none exists, you will have
to pour all the family members copious amounts of wine as well. The trick is how
to do this without breaking the bank. I have a simple recipe to share with you.
At 5am, pour a glass of bubbly for the family. There are tons of supermarket bargains
at give-away prices. Montana Lindauer Brut (made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes)
is a particular favourite of mine. At under $10.00, this is a really classy wine
that consistently tops an under $20.00 pre Christmas South Island wine makers bubbly
tasting, year after year. Another little trick too is to put a little shot glass
of peach schnaps into the glass before you pour. This will put that troublesome family
member into a high old state of never-seen-before bonhomie by 7am and almost guarantee
‘she’ will go to bed by 9am. Oh happy day!
It’s now 10am. The bacon and eggs and strong coffee have gone down a treat so it’s
time to bring out the rose or even the first sauvignon blanc of the day. You will
not want to be seen as a cheapskate, but rather as a man of sophistication and vinous
knowledge who has made a special effort to locate unusual wines to share with family
and friends. Only you will know the truth. Your pre Christmas task is locate wines
of substance that no one has seen before, thus making comparison with supermarket
and well-known wines impossible. This is easily done just by sitting in front of
your computer with a credit card at the ready. I use several highly reputable online
wine sellers (there are many others) for this.
www.blackmarket.co.nz has a ton of wonderful wines at bargain prices. For example,
when I last looked at the site, there were chardonnays, sauvignon blancs, merlots,
bubbles, cab sauvignon blends all available in the range of $8.95 — $11.95, many
exclusive to Blackmarket so they won’t be recognised.
www.corporatedirect.co.nz is another bargain wine site. Wishart Hawkes Bay Ranchmans
Red Merlot at $9.95 and Holmes Settlers (Nelson) Pinot Noir at $11.95 are two easy
to drink and true to their grape examples of this.
At www.finewineonline.co.nz you can find the Red Metal Paint the Town Red, Merlot
Cabernet Franc at the crazy price of $13.95. This is a sophisticated red made by
Grant Edwards, the talented winemaker for Sileni in Hawkes Bay.
To take the guesswork out of all this, I highly recommend sending an email to Colin
Rennie at: colin@corpdirectwine.co.nz and you will receive emails of Colin’s latest
selections. We have never had a dud in over 3 years of using this service. This boy
knows his stuff.
It’s now late at night. The children and their broken toys are in bed, and the relatives
have all gone home. This is truly the best part of Christmas. All were impressed
with the wines you chose and the two dozen empty bottles you are clearing away don’t
even depress you because they cost so little. As you contemplate the glorious 364
days ahead until the next Christmas fiasco, get out that special bottle of Unison
Syrah that you have hidden away, and really enjoy it with your household list maker.
That's what I'll be doing.
Happy Christmas and see you next year in the Buzz.
Websites.
www.blackmarket.co.nz
www.corporatedirect.co.nz
www.finewineonline.co.nz
email:
colin@corpdirectwine.co.nz
www.unisonvineyard.co.nz
www.omoriestate.co.nz
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A Cautionary Tale
Albany Buzz — November 2006
 I definitely felt like a wine. My golfing partners were still convulsed
at my 13 attempts to get out of the bunker and I was shouting. This was no burden
as all the wines were from Palliser Estate in Martinborough and Managing Director,
Richard Riddiford, was about to give we tournament golfers a talk while we sampled
his fine wines. Richard is a straight up and down, pragmatic sort of a guy, a good
speaker, and with a belief that the best bottle of Palliser wine is the last one
sold. His message was simple. If you are ever thinking of planting a vineyard — don’t.
He explained the cold hard facts laced with some laconic humour but the message was
plain none the less — only fools and hopeless romantics plant vineyards. And yes,
that was just what Lizzie and I were about to do. We were shocked. Being hopeless
romantics, we have ignored his advice. Although in our defence, when he heard that
we were under the total guidance of our Central Otago wine maker son he did say that
we would, in the end, have no worries — so we went ahead.
So how did it go? I was once told that a definition of jet boat racing is standing
in a shower and ripping up $100 notes as fast as you can. The definition of planting
a vineyard is exactly the same except substitute the word shower with paddock. Large
earth-moving machinery dug lots of huge holes. Soil scientists poured over samples
from these holes. Our son and his friends conducted midnight hocus pocus rituals
of spreading some sort of cow manure by the light of a full moon and waving sticks
(I’ve never asked about this). And the result of all this? Eventually we had about
12,000 pinot noir vines on many different phylloxera resistant rootstock planted
in a little under 2 hectares in Bannockburn, near Cromwell in Central Otago.
But do we have any wine? Of course not. Good things take time says the tyrant who
masquerades as our son, and nothing will be picked for another three years (two have
already passed). Meanwhile both Lizzie and I get older, but we are now gripped by
a fierce determination to stick around to see the first vintage. But there are some
benefits. You get accounts — accounts for posts, accounts for wire, accounts for
the leaky dam, accounts for irrigation systems, accounts for sprays, accounts for
mowing and accounts for other things which always arrive after you thought you had
paid the last account for the year. And then you find that several hundred vines
have not survived the first year and that this frost-free site has just been attacked
by Jack himself which will set about 10% of the vines back another year. As a farming
friend said to us, “welcome to the wonderful world of agriculture”.
But let’s look to the future in an optimistic way. The concentration of vines is
such that a normal tractor can’t be used and a specialist narrow gauge tractor will
be needed eventually. A small price to pay for this wonderful wine to be. And we
have registered a name. This was a ton of fun as another vineyard owner tried to
register the same name but in lower case letters. The upside is he didn’t succeed.
The downside is we panicked and spent heaps registering the name also in the USA
and Australia before we realised that we’d never have sufficient wine to export in
any case.
So there we have it all you little romantics out there. Investing in the share market
is less risky and more profitable and a basic savings account is looking decidedly
sensible. But are we having fun? Of course we are. That inimitable human spirit is
a powerful motivating force and when we are in the Old Folks Home, we will be the
only ones receiving regular boxes of fine Central Otago pinot noir. And the name?
Schist Face®. When we revealed the name to an American friend she said “You know
what that sounds like don’t you”. Really! With this in mind we are now working on
some marketing strategies and offer the following slogan for your consideration:
If you can still pronounce the name of this wine — you need another bottle!
Great Wines to try:
Kemblefield Zinfandell
Greenhough Reisling
Websites:
www.palliser.co.nz
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Wine Price =
Wine Quality — Or Does It
Albany Buzz — October 2006
 How
true is the statement that ‘price equates to quality’? Recently I started to research
this idea — starting with women’s make-up. My unscientific one woman survey asked
the following:
Q: What is the best make-up product on the market?
A: I don’t know?
Things were not going well. I would have to get more searching.
Q: Can you name some expensive brands?
A: Dior; Lancome; Estee Lauder.
Q: Are they any good?
A: I don’t know?
Q: Do you use any of them and why?
A: Some — because I feel a bit posh (And to think I’m married to this woman)!
Q: Are they any better than cheaper brands of make-up?
A: Probably not.
It was time to abandon the survey before I fell into the familiar abyss that is women’s
logic and from which there is no escape. But at least I had established a base-line
to apply to wine.
As a wine drinker, do you think that the most expensive wines are the best? The answer
is yes and no. Some expensive wines are really good but conversely, so are some less
expensive and even some relatively cheap wines. Winestate Magazine — the highly respected
Australia and New Zealand wine buying guide, recently published a Hawkes Bay regional
tasting. As far as price versus quality, the results were very revealing to say the
least. To illustrate this point, consider the following examples.
Syrah (Shiraz)
Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2004 (5 stars)
— a wine with concentrated and bold flavours and tons of finesse. Price: $125.00
One Tree Syrah 2004 (5 stars) (Capricorn Group and sold in New World and Pak ‘n Save)
— concentrated fruit, big and gutsy, ripe flavours and very appealing. Price: $17.00
Both of these wines are drinking well now but will continue to develop for many years.
Chardonnay
CJ Pask Declaration Chardonnay 2004 (5 stars)
— great fruit, beautifully intense, delicious now but worth cellaring. Price: $35.00
Kemblefield Distinction 2004 (5 stars)
— rich, complex and balanced. A mouthfilling hearty and assertive style. Price: $25.00
Sileni E.V. Chardonnay 2005 (4 stars)
- clean, alive, not bossy, well worth cellaring and a wine of class. Price: $70.00
Dessert Wines
Alpha Domus Leonard Late Harvest Semillon 2005 (4 stars)
— a robust botrytis style described as a delightful wine. Price: $17.00
Sileni E.V. Pourriture Noble Semillon 2004 (4 stars)
— a rich, complex, clean and perfectly balanced wine. Price: $32.00
I’ve saved the best for last — two great Aussie Shiraz blockbusters.
Penfolds Grange 2001 (5 stars) Price: $500
Wolf Blass Platinum Label Barossa Shiraz 2003 (5 stars). Price $175
- all I can say is ‘Crikey’.
Obviously there are many factors to be taken into account and the above examples
are not a fair test by any means — but they do make you think. The wonderful thing
for wine drinkers is that because of the huge strides in our viticulture and winemaking,
every year the gap in quality between the cheapest and the most expensive wines,
is getting less and less. Trust yourself. Shop around. You’ll be surprised and delighted
at the money you can save and still enjoy a fine wine. The difference that you pocket
can be used to upgrade the ladies of the house from Maybelline to Estee Lauder —
and won’t they feel posh!
Websites:
www.winestate.co.au
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The Emelda Marcos
Factor Applied to Wine
Albany Buzz — September 2006
 Women love shoes. I have constantly been amazed at their ability to collect
the blighters — dozens and dozens of them. This morphs into hundreds of them. They
never wear out (because they are never worn) and they increase in direct proportion
to the amount of wardrobe space that is allocated to them. It is what I call the
Emelda Marcos Factor — the former president’s wife who squandered the entire GDP
of Indonesia in the pursuit of collecting shoes. Lizzie loves shoes too and is living
proof of the Emelda Factor. I’m not entirely blameless in the collecting business
either — except I collect wines. I call it cellaring — and I believe, a much more
noble profession than collecting shoes. While my cellar is of modest proportions,
it certainly has enough wines to last me through a flu pandemic or any future possible
alcohol tax increases that may be proposed by the Progressive Party — and, it really
gives me great pleasure.
It wasn’t always like this however. My first attempt at a cellar was in the mid 70s
and consisted of about 25 bottles of mainly Aussie reds from the Coonawarra and a
couple of Hawkes Bay Cabernets. A few friends arrived to go to the beach. It started
to rain. We played Trivial Pursuits instead and I never knew that so few could drink
so much. All 25 bottles were consumed. It was heartbreaking and I gave up the idea
of cellaring for many years.
Here are some simple rules about cellaring wines:
1 Only a small percentage of wines will improve with age. If it is an awful young
wine when you buy it then it will be a really awful old wine when you get around
to drinking it.
2 Reds in general will cellar better than whites but many good Hawkes Bay Chardonnays
don’t hit their straps for at least 4yrs.
3 Buy at least 3 bottles of the wines you want to cellar.
4 Choose a dark, dry, reasonably cool and vibration free part of the house where
there is a daily and seasonal temperature stability.
5 Read reviews from the experts about cellaring potential.
6 Store bottles sealed with natural cork on their side.
7 Bottle turning is an urban myth.
8 Aim to put in more than you take out!
Before you cellar a wine, ask yourself what do you want to achieve by cellaring this
wine. Bordeaux blends (cabernet/merlot/syrah/malbec etc) cellared over several years
(the best for over 10 years) will gradually mellow out and become softer and smoother
to drink and loose that often aggressive tannin effect. I always try to cellar at
least 6 of a wine that I believe has potential. This allows you to try one every
9 months or so to check its progress. It will have changed! This is the exciting
thing about having a cellar. You will discover when that the particular wine is at
its peak. This is when you drink it. Or do you? It may even get better — this is
the chance you take. Pinot Noir is a funny old thing and illustrates this point.
Many Central Otago pinots have this really enjoyable ‘party in your mouth’ taste
after about 9 months in the bottle. After that they start to sulk for at least a
year and then they are away again. I couldn’t have found this out without a cellar.
Even really cheap and cheerful wines cellared by mistake have absolutely surprised
and delighted me when they were discovered some years later.
Now back to this shoe thing. As Lizzie’s collection has increased, so has my cellar
— well cellars actually. I now have a quaffers cellar to protect the good cellar
wines from late night sieges by friends. On Lizzie’s advice, my good cellar has been
also moved to make access more difficult after having a few. Who knows where this
Emelda Marcos behaviour will lead. I’ll keep you posted.
Websites on Cellaring:
www.yourlifechoices.com.au/17/072.php
www.microsoft.com/athome/winecellar.mspx
www.winepros.org/consumerism/cellar.htm
www.winesociety.com.au/filearchive/13/settingupcellar.pdf
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Bluffers
Guide to the Office Party
Albany Buzz — August 2006
 Quelle horreur as the French would say. Christmas is fast approaching.
Being male, I naturally hate Christmas. It means that my Virgo has started to write
lists already, and resist as I might, it is impossible not to contemplate the horror
of it all — the being nice to family once a year and the endless Christmas cards
with snowy scenes that arrive from long forgotten friends and acquaintances. The
worst of course are those Word document, clip art potted histories of the year letting
us know that little Sharleen passed her grade one ballet exam and that Jason has
finally given up his habit of chewing the pillowcase.
And it gets worse. The low point of the season is the office party where disparate
groups of people with nothing in common (apart from work) start off with uncomfortable
conversation, consume far too much wine, far too quickly, so the time honoured broom
cupboard can be brought into play. The trick here is to know what to talk about until
the broom cupboard incidents begin. Wine is a great topic — you can talk about it
as you consume it. So here we go — a bluffers guide to what we will probably be tasting.
Sauvignon Blanc: Words to use include zippy acidity, passion fruit, green apple,
tropical fruit, cats pee, capsicum, gooseberry, herbacaceousness, grass and Marlborough
should roll off the tongue. Best in the world should also be mentioned.
Pinot Gris: Very fashionable, peachy aroma, no discernable New Zealand style, stone
fruit, pears and spice flavours, sweet, dry, known as pinot grigio in Italy, delicately
floral, mildly floral, weighty, light, rose petals, mutation of pinot noir. Just
about anything goes!
Gewürztraminer: Pronouncing it correctly is an impressive start: g verts tra
meaner. The most pungent white wine, difficult to grow, spicy, heady aromas, vibrant
lychees, lemon, peach, ginger, weighty yet delicate, lingering finish, honey, perfumed,
Dry River from Martinborough, I always recognise it.
Chardonnay: Always dry, austere when young, crisp, fresh, fruity, stone, citrus and
tropical fruits (take your pick) ripe, buttery, rich ages well, Hawkes Bay, too much
oak, I like the unoaked style is a trendy thing to say, mouth filling, Helen Clark.
Shiraz: Trust the Aussies to call it this, really syrah, blackberry, black current,
black pepper, thyme, licorice, oak, smoky, tar, NZ syrah more, spicy, and peppery,
often blended with cabernet, Gimblett Gravels, Craggy Range, Trinity Hill, Stonecroft,
Unison, Te Mata Bullnose — just about anything in the earthy, peppery will do, use
elegant for New Zealand Syrah, overripe for some Aussies.
Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Franc/Malbec Blends: A tricky one this. Check back of bottle
to find what’s in it and how much — then try to identify: Merlot - blackberry, plum,
green olive, silky, good mouth feel. Cabernet Sauvignon - distinctive black currant
aroma. When aged it develops nuances of cedar, violets, leather, or cigar box and
its typically tannic edge softens. Hard to ripen, Hawkes Bay. Malbec — brings colour,
tannin and complexity.
Pinot Noir: Just about anything goes here it’s so trendy. Cherry, strawberry, raspberry,
mushroom, rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint (a bad thing), black currant all the way
through to barnyard will do. Central Otago is worth a mention, feminine for the cheapies,
I’m thinking of planting some.
Swat this up and you should be able to bore the socks off anyone. If all this fails,
an ‘I really like it’ should suffice.
Websites:
www.winepros.org > select Wine 101 > Wine Varietal Profiles
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I'll Have a Glass
of Groovy
Albany Buzz — July 2006
 One of the most exciting things about writing about wine for
the Albany Buzz is the way the Editor insists that Lizzie and I travel the world
in search of fascinating wine insights for the column (our expense claim is on its
way Sally!). We are currently in Las Vegas and the daytime temperature for the last
few days has been about 43 degrees — and yes that’s hot, not unlike stepping into
a blast furnace. Surprisingly you can get great food in Vegas and also great wine,
but like everything else in this Disneyland for adults, it costs — a lot.
If you are after cheap quaffers, the supermarkets off the strip have plenty of ‘Fighting
Wines’ at low prices including Kendall Jackson (that name again). But if it is something
drinkable you want then you will have to go to one of the ‘recreated’ restaurants
in the large casinos. By recreated, I mean that the restaurant is a cloned in style
and cuisine from an already established and well-known restaurant in another American
city — say Boston or New York. So here we both are at Mandalay Bay Casino, seated
in the stylish bar of the Aureole Restaurant enjoying the air conditioning and looking
at a four storey high laminated glass and steel structure which rises out of the
floor and towers (yes it is a tower) above us. This is the Aureole wine cellar and
contains 10,000 bottles of red wine — well nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty
five bottles to be exact. It is climate controlled to keep the wine in optimum condition.
And this is only the start — they have another unseen back-up cellar which contains
74,000 bottles of red and white wine. You might say that this seems a little over-the-top
— even excessive, but hey, this is Las Vegas.
As Lizzie and I obviously had some serious drinking to do, we asked for the wine
list. The wine list is in fact an easy—to—navigate computer tablet. Select white
or red, select a country, select red or white, select the variety, and hey presto
— some of the best wines in the world are revealed before your eyes. I was feeling
dizzy already and I hadn’t touched a glass. Several years ago I heard about a particularly
interesting Austrian white wine called Gruner Vetliner (grew-nah-vet-lean-er) but
had never been able to locate any. And there it was. A sign! There was only one problem
— if I ordered the Gruner Vetliner, I was not going to see the wine angels at work.
The wine angels receive your order from the computer tablet, and equipped with an
intercom, printer and wine bottle holster, they shimmy up the tower on a pulley system
— retrieve your wine, shimmy down again, and give it to the wine waiter to bring
to your table. This we wanted to see. We were assured that many red wines would be
ordered and so very soon we got to see the wine angels (often blond) at work. This
experience has put a whole new meaning on the word angel. It was indeed a spiritual
experience!
Back to the Gruner Vetliner. My best try at describing it is to imagine a cross between
a Pinot Gris and a Reisling with some Gewertztraminer flavours thrown in for good
measure . You detect white pepper and spice and its lush and mouthfilling texture.
It is a tight wine with a lowish acidity. It is a great food wine when grown in heavier
soils, and changes to more aromatic wine when grown in lighter soils. If you have
never heard of this wine — take careful note because some of our flying winemakers
(NZ winemakers who fly frequently to Europe to do off-season vintages) are getting
more and more fascinated with this wine. It has even been predicted that (in time)
it will become New Zealand’s most famous white wine and a welcome respite from Chardonnay,
Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris— however why you would ever need a respite from these
is totally beyond me. Anyway the meal was great — Lizzie ‘invested’ a massive $5.00
in the casino afterwards and naturally lost (as she has done all week) and I went
to bed dreaming of angels.
And the GROOVY bit! Americans are very pragmatic people, and confronted with the
word Gruner Vetliner, they simply tasted it, looked at the unpronouncable name and
christined it Groovy — and it is!
Websites:
www.aureolelv.com
www.winepros.org/wine101/grape_profiles/gruner.htm
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New Zealand Sauvignon
Blanc
Albany Buzz — June 2006
 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc put New Zealand on the world wine map. How
could you not take notice of it? It is certainly highly distinctive and wine lovers
seem to be evenly divided into two camps — we love it or we won’t go near it. For
me, I have gone through three distinct phases. It probably introduced me to big flavoured
dry white wines which I loved, tired of for a while, and now I’m back fully in love
with the variety all over again.
The first thing you notice about Sauvignon Blanc is its piercing smell — a sort of
grassy herbaceousness - tropical fruits, gooseberries, freshly cut grass, asparagus
and even ‘cats pee’ can all be evident in the aroma. Some of the most famous Sauvignon
Blanc is from France and is called Sancerre — taking its name from the famous northern
Loire Valley town. This big (for France) zesty in-your-face style was the template
for the Marlborough region where the twin blessings of climate and soil really brought
out its unique character. So well did Marlborough do this style, that is is said
that we out-Sancerred Sancerre. In fact since the 1980s, the wine producers of Sancerre
have looked to New Zealand as a model, experimenting with picking grapes at different
levels of ripeness and some oak treatment to give their wines some more character.
Our most famous Sauvignon Blanc is of course Cloudy Bay —found in wine stores throughout
the world (a comforting memory of home when travelling). For me, Australia doesn’t
seem to get Sauvignon Blanc quite right and it can become quite oily if grown in
very warm areas. To be fair however, it must be said that the Adelaide Hills region
— a cooler climate, are producing some stunning examples at present.
One of the best ways of learning about a wine is to invite friends around for a shared
tasting — say three to five tastings poured into glasses for each person to make
their own evaluation. Never be frightened to say what you think, taste and smell
in the wine. It is an intensely personal thing. In the presence of ‘people who know’
their wines, I have often been heard to describe a wine as ‘I like it’.
Marlborough is of course not the only region that does this variety well. Hawkes
Bay, Martinborough, Nelson and even Otago produce some challenging and interesting
examples. Why not try and get bottles from several regions for the tasting? Are there
any obvious differences between the syles of the regions? Remember though that Sauvignon
Blanc is not meant to be subtle — although you may notice a Hawkes Bay Sauvignon
Blanc is quite restrained — elegant even when compared to a big Marlborough mother.
Most Sauvignon Blanc is made to be drunk when young although some oak treatment,
added semillion, wild yeast and even malolatic fermentation is tried by wine makers
to make a more complex and elegant wine. Why bother I say — lets just have the full-on
stainless steel fermented variety.
There is another Sauvignon Blanc secret that is worth sharing. After a delicious
meal with friends, we often open a dessert wine. Lizzie and I have discovered that
a small glass of Sauvignon Blanc, served instead of the ‘sticky’ will really clean
up and freshen the palette.
Some Favourites:
Martinborough: Craggy Range Te Muna Road, Nga Waka,
Alana Estate, Atarangi , Palliser Estate
Hawkes Bay: Te Mata Cape Crest, Awarua Terraces, Clearview
Marlborough: Cloudy Bay, Allan Scott, Wither Hills, Craggy Range Avery, Grove Mill,
Hunters,
Isabel Estate Montana Reserve …
Nelson: Neudorf, Seifried Winemakers Collection
Otago: Peregrine, Rockburn, Kawarau
Website:
Visit: www.winepros.org/tasting-notes/020610nz-sb.htm
for some tasting notes that will let you see how the Americans react to 12 of our
sauvignon blancs. Happy tasting till next month.
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Air New Zealand
Promotes Our Wines With Style
Albany Buzz — May 2006
 Once-upon-a-time
I always tried to be out of the country during 'New Zealand Music Week'. Being a
blues based jazz funk sort of a guy I found a whole week of meaningful and angst
ridden lyrics just too much to take. Imagine my horror when they changed this to
'New Zealand Music Month' so now we have to suffer all of May listening to this dark
and introspective New Zealand thing for three weeks longer.
Thank God for New Zealand wines then. They are not dark. They are not angst ridden.
They are not introspective. They are in fact just bursting with exuberance. These
traits are especially evident in the fruit driven style of most of our wines that
has made the world sit up and take notice. Add to this the skill of our viticulturists
and our wine makers and you have a recipe for happiness.
So how does Air New Zealand fit into this rosy picture? Very well indeed as it turns
out. The very exuberant and fruit driven styles of our wines are the very traits
that are taken into account when selecting wines for the aircraft environment. These
wines ideally must have an appealing fruit driven bouquet and a good acid structure.
These are the wines that appeal on overseas flights. Ask for a wine on Air New Zealand
and you will get a New Zealand wine. Gone are the days when our cultural wine cringe
would mean that mostly Aussie reds or whites would be offered — they're all ours
and we have every right to be proud of them.
In Economy (Pacific Class) you are most likely to get a Montana Merlot or Montana
Chardonnay but there's nothing wrong with this. But it is in Premium Economy and
Business Class that the New Zealand wine star begins to shine brightly. Just run
your eyes over this selection:
Sauvignon Blanc:
Goldwater Estate, Montana Terroir Condors Forest, Whitehave and Wither Hills — all
from Marlborough
Chardonnay:
The Chardonnay selection boasts Lawsons Dry Hills, Matakana Estate, Villa Maria and
Witters Reserve.
Pinot Noir:
The Pinot selection features grove Mill, St Clair Doctors Creek, Villa Maria, and
the delectable Peregrine made from Cromwell and Gibston Valley fruit.
Blended Reds:
These get even better and include two of my favourites — Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels
Merlot and Esk Valley Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec. Add to this Hatton Estate Carsons Cabernet
Franc, two Mission Syrahs and the always-stunning Vidal Estate Syrah and you are
by now beginning to cheer.
If this is not enough, after you finish the meal you can choose between Canterbury
House Nobel Riesling, Church Road Nobel Semillion and Forest Estate Botryised Riesling.
Having John Belsham of Foxes Island Wines and the incomparable John Buck of Te Mata
Estate as wine consultants means that their wines are excluded from the selection.
More's the pity. But hey — I think we are winning with what they have chosen.
Well done Jim Harre (Air New Zealand In-flight Service Director) and the two Johns
for such a stunning collection. And well done Air New Zealand for taking this collection
to the world. Which brings me back to New Zealand Music Month — stay on the plane!
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Main Menu
Wine Glasses
Do Matter
Albany Buzz — April 2006
 Remembering anything at primary school, apart from exciting happenings
behind the bike sheds, is a very tall order. One thing however sticks in my mind
— a science lesson on taste and smell. Our teacher had us all blindfolded and chewing
on raw potato while smelling something else such as a cut up apple. The remarkable
thing about this was that apart from the texture, we really did believe we were eating
apple. It taught us just how important the sense of smell is to how we perceive taste.
So how can we apply this to wine?
Being a cheerful cynic at heart, when I was told
that the shape, size, thickness and even the rim of a glass can make a huge difference
to how we perceive a wine, I was very sceptical indeed but was willing to check out
this preposterous claim. I was poured a half glass of Clearview Chardonnay in two
distinct glasses — the standard ISO tasting glass we are all familiar with and the
Riedel white Burgundy (Chardonnay) glass. To my astonishment, they were as different
as chalk and cheese. In the Riedel glass the wonderful mix of stone-fruit and citrus
flavours fairly leapt out of the glass. In the ISO tasting glass, in comparison,
it became a mean and very ordinary wine — something that Clearview Chardonnay is
certainly not.
Being on a roll at this point we experimented with a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Poured into the ISO tasting glass, the Sauvignon Blanc exhibited all the grapefruit,
lemongrass and capsicum flavours and acidity well known to us all. In the Riedel
Chardonnay glass it made the wine taste — well — just awful. We then poured Chardonnay
into a Riedel Sauvignon Blan
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