Over the last several months we've been somewhat in hibernation - supplying some of our imported wines just to restaurants and other retailers while we planned the next step of our evolution into the wine world. Now armed with a newly issued liquor license we're back online.
At our fundamental core we are still the same - mad wine aficionados focused on bringing high quality and character filled wines to people's tables and cellars around New Zealand. Our focus is more specifically focusing on European wines, thus the change in name.
Our first new import shipment is already on the way. These will include some of our old favourites you were used to seeing on our shelves, but also a collection of new and interesting wines not seen here before. We'll be keeping everyone updated with our progress here, and also by email to our old wineshop customers and friends.
We aim to restart some of the much loved wine tasting events that we became famous for, sharing our enthusiasm for the wines of the world.
E for European, for excitement, entertainment, exclusivity, and so much more.
]]>A short drive for our first visit is to Gibbston Valley. Gibbston is the closest major wine region to Queenstown, straddling the Kawerau Gorge. With the towering hills on both north and south sides of the valley, it is the coolest and wettest of the sub-regions of Central, and the fruit ripens weeks after those in the nearby Bannockburn region. Anika, the winemaker from Coal Pit, drives us up the steep hillside to the winery. She describes the glacially formed schist soils, and points out the coal seams bordering the vineyards that give the property its name. The winery is custom-built – gravity fed and in immaculate form; we taste the full line-up of wines, including back vintage Pinot Noir in the chilly but beautiful barrel room.
A short drop down the hill we arrive at Mt Edward. Duncan gives us a crash course history of the site while his Staffordshire Bull Terriers wrestle playfully in front of the roaring fireplace. His top single vineyard Pinots are some of the best we’ve tried so far in the trip. He is one of the innovators of the region; not content to produce just classic wine varieties, he has experimented with a Vermouth, an Oloroso sherry, orange wine, and this year is leaving a crop of Riesling outside to shrivel. Who knows what it will transform into!
Then we’re back on the road out to Cromwell, next to the picturesque Lake Dunstan, to meet Elbert from Wild Earth wines. It’s lunchtime, and he proudly shows us another creation: ‘Stoakers’ is a restaurant under a giant marquis, serving food cooked in modified Pinot Noir barrels. The name cleverly alludes to the cooking technique, partly smoking, partly steaming, in oak. The result is some of the most succulent pork, beef, chicken, and salmon in recent memory. Accompanying this, of course, is the full line-up of Wild Earth wines, opening with an impressive Pinot Rosé and finishing with their top single vineyard Earth & Sky Pinot Noir.
Our next leg of the journey takes us South, alongside the bottom of the man-made lake created by the Clutha Dam – across the gorge we can see the construction of the new arms of the Central Otago Rail Trail bike path. Sections of the trail cantilever off sheer rockfaces and continue over suspension bridges. Once completed, it will no doubt draw a wave of keen cyclists to the region to sample the local juice.
Past Clutha we arrive in Alexandra. This is the Southern-most wine region in New Zealand – and up until recent new plantings in Chilean Patagonia the southern-most in the world. Perhaps the hottest and coldest and driest parts of NZ – it’s easy to see why the vines struggle in the harsh conditions. Three Miners is our first destination; Paul and Kirsten host a tasting of their wines. They grow grapes on an impressive 16 hectares of vines, with extensive overhead sprinkler systems to keep frost at bay at critical times of the growing season.
Three Miners only keep 11% of the best fruit themselves to make wine from, the rest is sold to other nearby producers. I was surprised to hear that a full half of grapes from Central leave the region, trucked over 700km north to large commercial wineries in Marlborough – often blended with portions of Marlborough juice to make lighter, fruitier and cheaper wines bearing the ‘Central Otago’ label. The previous evening there was a vigorous discussion around the dinner table as to whether these wines really represent the region. Several of the local growers are seeking some way to differentiate the wines made from 100% Central grapes, pressed, fermented, and bottled locally.
Our last winery visit of the trip is Judge Rock, a small 4-hectare hill site on the outskirts of Alexandra. They grow exclusively Pinot Noir and an Austrian grape called St Laurent. In addition to their excellent Pinot they have made a ‘Blanc de Noir’ – essentially a white wine made from Pinot Noir (or a colourless Rosé) which has a lovely spicy finish. Their most recent unique creation is fortified Port-wine made from St Laurent, a decadent sweet chocolatey goodness that rounds the journey nicely. It’s back to Arrowtown, and a flight back to Wellington the next morning.
It has been an illuminating trip, several years since my last visit and my first in mid-winter. The evolution of the region is clear – the recognition of the wines here are due to a combination of their quality, their connection to the unique terroirs, and of course the sheer natural beauty of Central Otago. The future in the near term is something of a question mark, with the total absence of international visitors and the global restaurant market coming to something of a standstill there are many uncomfortable questions facing growers and winemakers alike. One thing that won’t change is the high quality of the wines produced here, along with the pride and passion of those that make them. I’ll be back again, but in the meantime we’ll do our part to support our Kiwi growers with our appreciation and appetites.
]]>Akarua is one of the major producers of Central Otago, with an impressive 130 hectares of vineyards, and another 26 hectares coming on stream this year. This is serious volume, when you consider the entire region encompasses just 2,000 hectares of vines in total. On arrival we quickly don a different kind of PPE than the rest of the world – hi-viz vests and gloves – as we try our hand at vine pruning. This is a critical task over winter, while the vines sleep to prepare for the next season’s spring growth.
Next, we’re into the winery to taste barrel-samples. An educational experience for the taste buds, we got the chance to taste wine grown from the same vineyard site, but with differing portions of whole-bunch in the ferment.
This is perhaps a good time to take a breath and talk about winemaking of Pinot Noir – one of the world’s greatest wines that expresses the essence of Terroir. That is, the wine aromas, flavours, textures, and total experience of the wine will transform based on the grapes, the soils they grow in, the climate of the region, the micro-climate of the individual site, how the vines are grown, and how the fruit is treated in the winery. A key decision for winemakers is whether to “de-stem” the grape bunches as they arrive in the winery – removing the individual grapes from bunches – or leaving them in whole bunches. If left as a whole bunch, the stems are included in the maceration and winemaking, bringing extra tannin, savoury grip, and structure. It is almost never used with Cabernet as it would bring an unwieldy astringency to the wine; for Pinot Noir, however, if the stems are ripe it can add more depth, richness, and longevity to the wine.
So back to our tasting – we try three samples of wine from the same vineyard, and from the same 2019 vintage, but with 0%, 50%, and 100% whole bunch. They are all taken from old oak barrels, and as expected, the fully destemmed juice is bright and aromatic, with loads of fruit, light body, and low tannins. The whole bunch examples are completely different wines, deeper crimson in colour, herbaceous, and darker fruits. The final wine will become a crafted blend of these and other barrels, other vineyard sites, and all tasted and their portions in the end wine determined by the head winemaker as to what the desired character of the wine is. We taste a selection of Akarua’s wines, from the sparking Brut, Chardonnay, and multiple Pinot Noirs, accompanied by a hearty lunch, before we are back in the van and on to our next visit.
On the road, James has given us a quick history of the region, from the first plantings in the 1860s through to present. As we approach his hillside cellar-door he points out the different geology – ranging from 350 million year old schist to far younger gravel soils mere thousands of years old. He has a new block of young vines where his crew are installing a new kind of irrigation. The slender pipes will run between the rows, under the ground and beneath the roots of thirsty weeds – the plan is to encourage the vines to dig deeper for water, and at the same time reduce evaporation and reduce the need to remove the weeds. In the tasting room, he walks us through the full range of wines made by his brother Matt. The Riesling is superb, as is his top Pinot Noir from a single ‘Black Rabbit’ vineyard aptly named for nearby local fauna.
We are back down the slopes of Bannockburn, past Cromwell and next to the bottom of Lake Dunstan to the cellar door of Aurum wines. Here we are greeted by three talented winemakers - Rudi from Quartz Reef, Steve from Doctor’s Flat, and Lucie from Aurum. We’re in for a treat– there are 13 wines to taste across the three wineries covering the full spectrum of what Central has to offer – Sparkling Rosé bubbles, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, a unique Rosé made from skin-contact Pinot Gris, and of course several Pinot Noir … and all organic, too. Native Burgundian Lucie declines to compare her wines to the original French versions – “these are Central Otago wines, not Burgundy.” And right she is, there is a fruit purity to New Zealand wines that sets them apart from Old World examples.
Within Central we are discovering the variations of the sub-regions, Aurum is in Lowburn, Doctor’s Flat in Bannockburn, and Quartz Reef in Bendigo. For a wine-nerd like me, it is a superb experience to try miniature vertical tastings – tasting the same wines from the same sites but from different vintages, but also with wines that express the different regional characters. Bendigo often presents bolder and firmer wines, with chalky austere tannins, compared to Bannockburn wines that are often still full, but with a nuance of the ever-present wild thyme, and the Lowburn wines that seem more aromatic and perfumed. There is an energy to all these wines, and big contrasts in flavours and textures. Perhaps they also show the preferences of the individual winemakers too, and as we finish with Rudi’s top Quarz Reef ‘single ferment’ Pinot Noir 2018 he turns part-winemaker, part-philosopher and poet – he feels this wine, at just two years old, has yet to find its true expression. We are an impatient lot in NZ, and this is a 10-years wine rather than one to bust off the rack for a casual quaffer.
We have time to reflect on the day while headed back to our accommodation in Arrowtown, before meeting with a wider group of winemakers and enthusiasts for a private dinner at ‘The Blue Door’, where we are treated to a magnificent meal of Italian cuisine but one that champions local produce, all washed down with ample quantities of high quality local wine.
]]>What is the holiday season without a good glass of bubbles? We've got some new bubbles specials instore to tempt every taste and budget. A selection of our favourites are below, with more specials in shop.
Global Bubbles PackSix bottles of quality sparkling wines from France, New Zealand, Spain, and Italy. Save over $127 and includes two top French Champagnes! |
Edmond Thery BrutOur top deal for value bubbles this year comes from France - from $24 down to $16 per bottle, or a case of six at just $13.99 each. |
Quartz Reef Method TraditionelleQuartz Reef in Central Otago produces an iconic bubbles, made in the Champagne style- dominated by Pinot Noir for a rich yet creamy bubble. $29.90 on special or $28.90 per bottle by the case of six. |
Serge Gallois ChampagneSerge Gallois is one of our own imports, prestigious Premier Cru - 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blanc, elegant, creamy and affordable. $95 per bottle down to just $65 per bottle by the case! |
We make our way to the centre of Bordeaux at last, drop off our reliable rental car and board the TGV to Paris. In NZ taking the train is more often a slow and noisy journey to take, not so on the ‘Train a Grande Vitesse’, the high speed inter-city train network that transports over 100 million passengers per year. In 2007 the TGV set the world record for a wheeled train at 574kph, while our trip scything through the countryside at the comparitively pedestrian speeds only barely exceeding 370kph. Still, the Johnsonville train line it ain’t.
Being our third time in Paris, we have already seen many of the major sites. The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, Musée d’Orsay, and an unburnt Notre Dame have graced our attentions before. This time we are staying in the Oberkampf area in 11th Arrondissement, a short distance from The Marais. It is a trendy area with lots of specialty shops, bistros, and fine restaurants and like most of inner Paris it is very well serviced by the underground Metro. By coincidence we are staying immediately next to one of the best Boulangeries in Paris, that has a queue out the door from open to close, it is worth the wait.
We are only here for a couple of days so we make our way around some of the city that we haven’t seen before. The Saint-Martin Canal was built in the mid 1800s to connect the Ourcq River some 100km Northeast of Paris to the Seine. It supplied building materials, grain, and other goods, along with fresh water, to feed the fountains of Paris and enable the streets to be cleaned. A significant part of the canal was covered, leaving open boulevards above it, and also allowing subtle transport of troops into the middle of the city to quell unrest. It is still used by barges today, through a system of locks transporting heavy goods through the city.
Speaking of unrest, during our visit two protests take the attention of law enforcement- a climate change focus, and another spearheaded by the ‘yellow jackets.’ “For our security” a large part of the subway is shut down just incase protest becomes riot. Apparently some 100 people were arrested, however outside of helping us choose what area of the city to avoid it doesn’t trouble us at all.
A leisurely treasure hunt through ‘Les Puces’ the famous flea market, local parks, and the bohemian Montmartre area past Sacre Coeur give us another view of the vibrant city, as well as a meander down La Coulée Verte- a disused raised railway viaduct that has been converted into a long garden to give respite from the traffic to walkers and joggers. This really is a very liveable city, so long as you also enjoy the compact lifestyle of small apartments!
Our last evening in Paris gives us the chance to meet up with friends we met in Wellington through Wineseeker, over another scrumptious gourmet French dinner. This time in Paris we can also add Moroccan wine to our experience (though it doesn’t measure up to the French stuff).
Soon it is time for us to leave once more, To Paris and France we say “A bientôt”. I have gained an extra 2kg this trip, though that is surely solid muscle from lugging bags around and nothing at all to do with amount of sublime pastries, cheese, bread, wine, foie gras, butter, and other local delicacies consumed. We have new connections with wineries and armed with piles of tasting notes and price lists we will be planning new additions to our French imports to share with our friends and customers alike.
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We have arrived in Figeac in the Lot Department, a town of some 10,000 residents. The centre was mostly built in the 12th-16th Centuries next to the Lot River that slowly meanders through the area. The river is almost coffee coloured, leaching sediment from the brown and orange stone and soils of the region. We are staying on the outskirts in an old farmhouse restored to modern comfort levels, enjoying a sweeping vista of the surrounding countryside. The farmlands and woods seem like they are entirely unchanged in hundreds of years, combining with the almost complete absence of vehicle traffic on our road makes it extremely tranquil. We are also glad to have the use of a small swimming pool, it is very hot by Wellington standards, 32C or more in the afternoon.
While the Middle Ages and Roman history in the South of France is extensive, this area is also famous for its pre-history. Many tourists flock to the cave drawings at Lascaux further North, however some years ago the original caves were closed off to the public due to the risk of damage, with only replicas available to see now. Instead we visit a smaller but older cave system at Pech Merle. The cave art here is at least 29,000 years old, in an area known to have been inhabited for some 300,000 years by mans ancestors. The drawings were created by Cro Magnan man, a hunter gatherer culture. According to our guide the people did not live in caves, rather they were nomadic- following the herds of reindeer that made up the mainstay of their diet. The drawings themselves are amazing, featuring depictions of Bison, Mammoths, Auruchs, hand prints, and large breasted women. Mysteriously the women are often depicted with the mammoths. While the drawings are undeniably impressive, the technique is interesting too. The black markings are Manganese, the red being Iron Oxide (rust), that were chewed up together with animal fat and blown/spat onto the wall, the prehistoric artist using his hands and finger gaps as a stencil.
This part of France is also famous for its gastronomic delights, which we make full use of (only in the interests of education of course you understand). We feel obliged to sample the local delicacies including roasted duck breast, saucisson, local cheese, super fresh organic vegetables, Vin de Noix (an aperitif made from green walnuts macerated in wine), the best foie gras we can find, and of course the local wines.
The nearest major wine region is Cahors, famous for wines made from Malbec. After visiting multiple producers it is apparent that there is a much wider variety of styles on offer, from the cheap and cheerful juice bombs, rustic savoury examples, plus at the upper end there are impressively sleek and complex wines with bold yet ripe tannins that will easily last for 10-20 years. Then there is the cheap plonk, yes you are reading the label on that ‘hose’ correctly, its 1.45€ Per litre.
Figeac is also famous for being the home of Jean-François Champollion, a scholar and Philologist credited with deciphering the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs using the famous Rosetta Stone. His achievement in 1822 opened up a much wider understanding of the Egyptian civilisation, in fields of art, language, literature, and many aspects of the previous mysterious culture. The centre of the town boasts an excellent museum themed on the history of writing, named in honour of Champollion. There is an identical reproduction of the Rosetta Stone, while the original was discovered by a French soldier during the Napoleonic campaign in 1799, the stele was captured by the British in the capitulation of Alexandria in 1801, and has been the most visited item in the British Museum ever since.
Next we head west, briefly via the Bergerac wine region to catch a train back to Paris where we conclude our French adventure.
]]>We have some time up our sleeves even after allowing for traffic jams on the outskirts of Lyon, and detour to Ampuis, one of the villages squeezed between the Rhone River and the steep hills adjacent. The river has carved a channel through the granite over millennia - those steep hillsides are home to thousands of grape vines, tenuously grasping the rock to ripen small bunches of Syrah grapes. This is home turf for the grape, and the coveted vineyards produce the wines of Cote Rotie (literally the Roasted Slope). We drop in on a small wine shop for an animated conversation about the region and recent years vintages.
After a quick lunch perched high on the hills amongst the vines we are on our way again to Tain-l’Hermitage- home to one of our long-standing suppliers. David at Cave de Tain is still with the company, 5 years after our first meeting with him and still extremely enthusiastic about the wines and the cutting edge facilities. A quick tour of the winery and cellars includes a wander through the barrel room. The scale of operations is impressive, even with many of their wines being completely unoaked, there are around 1800 barrels maturing here, and they are mostly the larger 500l versions rather than the classic Burgundian 225l. A tasting of the new vintages sends us back on the road into the South.
Well is it the Rhone, or is it Provence? Viticulturally this area is considered the Southern Rhone, but culturally it is Provence. The vineyards here are different to the Northern Rhone too. Up North the steep hills grow Syrah vertically up narrow poles, whereas the South is dominated by stumpy gnarled Grenache vines on gently undulating plains. Granite soils are replaced with Limestone, sometimes topped with large round riverstones, especially in the famous appellation of Chateauneuf du Pape.
We are staying in the town of Segueret, another of the ‘Plus Beau Villages’. Perched against an almost sheer hillside, the elevation offers the entire town stunning vistas over the surrounding countryside - seas of grapevines separated by narrow country roads and quiet medieval towns. This village is one of a precious few than can produce Cotes du Rhone wines with the name of the village on the front of the bottle- a sign of superior quality, just one step below the famous Crus wines. Our host has helpfully left for us a lineup of several wines from nearby wineries for evaluation.
We have settled into something of a morning routine on our journey, with breakfast usually involving a visit to a local boulangerie. Katie and I have become amateur pastry critics, a croissant should be not too bready, nor too flaky, and certainly not over under or overcooked! Of course for comparison we also have to try the Pain au chocolat, or maybe Pain au Raisen, maybe a fruit tartlet or a cheeky apple donut. It certainly helps to line the stomach when there is a full day of wine tasting ahead - we are visiting our old favourite producers, along with searching out new wines from the region.
Domaine la Garrigue welcomes us back, generous with their time considering that harvest started two days ago, though it will continue for almost a month given everything is painstakingly picked by hand. The wines are looking excellent, especially their bold and spicy Gigondas, and the complex & beguiling Vacqueyras. Sadly there will be little wine from the 2017 vintage due to coulure (or ‘shatter’ in our lingo) where the fruit fails to pollenate properly. Grenache is particularly prone to this, and it is said that the size of the vintage is determined in the spring, the quality in the autumn. This year looks to be another year of great quality, though again of smaller size. Our visit with Garrigue finishes with an exchange, we have brought a wine from Ata Rangi with us, which is to be tasted with interest by some four generations of the Bernard family.
Nearby Vaison-la-Romaine is the nearest town with full services, and boasts the largest Gallo-Roman archaeology site in France that is open to the public. Initially settled some 600 years BC the Roman influence came later through trade routes. As the regional capital in 200AD the town was home to some palatial residences, as the ruins in the middle of the town attest. A museum onsite holds an impressive collection of artifacts from the town.
By the middle ages most of the town migrated to the protection of a small steep hillside, the ‘haut ville’, until security settled in the region. The central fortress was slowly abandoned and the town stated spreading again to build over the top of the old Roman ruins.
Market day is an important time for villages across France, in many cases the entirety of the town centre is closed off. Sometimes these were markets officially sanctioned by a bishop of antiquity, and continued on the same day every week ever since. Vaison has one of the largest and most important markets in the region, with some 200+ stands hawking local specialty produce, fresh cheeses, fresh and cured meats, seafood, antiques, along with artists, clothing, and Chinese mass produced nicknacks.
Segueret has an evening market, and this week is the last for the year with the tourist season winding down. Why exactly we are not sure, it is still over 30C in the afternoon as foodtrucks and local artisans converge on the town to lure locals and visitors alike. The atmosphere is almost that of a party, young couples mingle with small family reunions, with a local family dog looking for generous or careless children willing to share their dinner. Local wine is served cheaply in unmarked bottles, the fishmonger also cooks up your choice on the spot ready to eat. We gorge on local sheeps cheese, woodfired pizza, and artisan fruit tart.
As the sun sets the cream stone walls of the town turn a golden apricot colour. Soon we are on to the last leg of our journey.
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As we navigate the narrow roads between vineyards and towns we happen across our first pickers of the season. When the sugars and acids are at just the right balance along with maturity in the grapes it is time to harvest. In Marlborough this is largely mechanised, with custom equipment resembling the lovechild of a tractor and mining equipment rolling between the vines collecting bunches of fruit. Here in Burgundy small armies of manual pickers are dispatched, today a small group has descended onto a plot in Meursault, one of the oldest sites in the region and despite being on almost flat land rather than the coveted slopes this particular block in ‘Les Charmes’ is rated a Premier Cru. The rocky, thin, calcareous soils offering up an ideal terroir for Chardonnay grapes.
The pickers are swift in their work, filling large plastic containers on their backs with the precious cargo. About 15kg worth of grapes is a full load, which they cart back to a waiting wagon beside the road. The workers seem to welcome the interruption to talk with us, and several in jest offer up their secateurs and packs for me to take their place. I feel they are only half joking as it is awfully hard work stooping to collect small bunches barely 30cm off the ground. By the end of the day their hands, knees, and backs will be groaning from the effort... only to roll out the next day to another block coming to peak maturity.
One of the pickers beckons us closer to inspect the fruit, by NZ standards we might consider these grapes slightly under ripe, they are a bright luminous green, rather than the slightly golden colour that Gisborne might prefer. The key here is retaining the freshness of acidity, and retaining a lean minerality in the finished wine. A rare treat he offers up a whole bunch for us to taste. We feel especially privileged seeing as this harvest will be smaller than usual, and the wines from this Cru will sell for anything between $100-1000 per bottle. As we munch away he is surprised to hear we come from New Zealand, he was visiting his friend at a Waiheke winery over Christmas and has fond memories of both NZ and our wines. The world really is one big village sometimes. We leave them to their work, timing is of the essence as rain is forecast in a couple of days, and the concentration of the wine will be higher if they are picked while still under stress from a lack of water.
The next day we go further afield to the town of Autun, less than an hour’s drive from Beaune. We arrive just in time for the beginning of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the town’s liberation in WW2. A noisy parade of restored military vehicles wind through the city streets including a half-track, jeeps, an ambulance and more, all lead by a military marching band.
The town square hosts numerous dignitaries, and the locals listen to an eloquent speech by the mayor describing the sacrifices made by soldiers and villagers alike, a solemn wreath laying ceremony is accompanied by a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise. There is a large military school in the town so the crowd is bolstered by significant numbers of young cadets, all very dapper in their uniforms as the flag of Free France flies nearby.
Afterwards we walk beside the ancient Roman ramparts of the town, past a makeshift tournament of ‘Boules’ where the normal round balls have been replaced with square wood blocks. When tossed on the old cobbled streets they bounce in random directions and unexpected speeds, levelling any advantage of skill to that of pure chance. It is all in good fun, accompanied by glasses of cheap red wine and loud popular music. We visit one of the town’s museums, with a surprisingly extensive collection of art from the 12th to the 17th century, and fragments of mosaics from Roman times discovered in the town centre.
Tomorrow we must reluctantly move on from Burgundy, though more treasures await us in the Rhone.
]]>To take a break from wine we drive out to Guédelon, a castle under construction. The guides clearly establish that this is not a renovation or restoration, it is a completely new build - using only ancient techniques and materials available in the early 13th century. With master masons and carpenters supplemented by volunteers, combined with fees paid by visitors mean the site is fully self sufficient. Onsite they smelt iron ore into tools, fell oaks from the surrounding forest, dig clay to bake into tiles, mine rock for the walls and lime for the mortar to bind them. Goods are carted by pack horses and mules. A fascinating concept to see how it was really done in a bygone age. It has been under construction now for 20 years, and due for completion in another 5-10-15 years depending upon the extend of planned extensions.
From the Yonne we head into Burgundy proper, where we are staying on the outskirts of the Cote d’Or. The ‘slope of gold’ is the home of some of France’s most prestigious wines, carefully cultivated by monks over the centuries, who experimented with different grapes on different soils and slopes, evolving the science of viticulture towards our modern understanding of ‘Terroir’. This is the home of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay- and in a way Burgundy is simultaneously one of the easiest to understand while also being maddening in its complexity. There are some 400 different soil types in the region, and 100 official appellations for wine, with many macro and microclimates creating a unique web of quality and prestige. A small stone wall may separate a tiny highly sought after vineyard from a more lowly neighbour- the difference being its superior aspect to the sun and higher quality subsoils, the resulting wines being a world apart in value.
In the heart of Burgundy is Beaune, a compact town that houses an array of long established wineries, wine merchants, restaurants, and well heeled visitors who all cherish the stunning wines of the region.
In the centre of Beaune is the Basilica of Notre Dame, and right next door is our next visit - a respected Negociant now occupying the ancient 12th century cellars of the church. Jaffelin is a winery we hope to work with in the near future, represented by the smallest of the negociant houses. Jaffelin was established one year after Napoleon’s defeat of Waterloo, the resulting creation of the French Republic carving up most of the assets of the church and sold into private hands.
Maximilien takes us on a tour of the facilities followed by an extensive tasting including relatively inexpensive regional appellations, more acclaimed but lesser known village wines, and some of the best known appellations in Burgundy. We finish with a round of Beaujolais wines, and even some examples from the Rhone represented by the same house. While this particular winery makes an extensive lineup of 45 different wines, they act on behalf of a wide number of small producers in Burgundy - a staggering 2500 different wines. Our tasting of 27 wines seems an excellent cross section, while at the same time just scratching the surface.
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On our way we pass through many small villages. They are simultaneously chic yet ancient, all made from the same pale yellow stone, topped with red/grey tiles. The buildings are tightly packed, almost as if huddled together for protection from harsh weather.
As we depart glitzy Epernay the prosperity of the towns change, with some appearing shuttered and abandoned, their small businesses closed. Sometimes this is an illusion, as the French provincial lifestyle includes a sizeable shut down for 2 hours for the midday meal... including the very facilities that would seem natural to be doing a busy trade - if you haven’t already picked up your bread and cheese you could be out of luck if hungry between 12-3!
In other cases, it is no illusion at all, these tiny villages losing their youth to jobs in the cities, with population dwindling leaving houses empty and ramshackle. The central church with a roof in obvious disrepair, perhaps hurriedly patched with rusty steel sheets.
Our next stay is in one such village, though somewhat incongruously this sleepy village is home to a stunning Chateau tucked discretely behind a modest stone wall. Built in the mid 1800s, it boasts 24 sumptuous bedrooms, with large claw baths and antiques, two large outdoor swimming pools, manicured gardens, and its own Michelin starred restaurant.
It would be foolish of us not to partake in the region’s delicacies, so we indulge in a multi-course meal whose cost exceeds that of our accomodation by a factor of 3. The highlight of this being langoustine crumbled in local organic quinoa, sitting in an indescribable “cappuccino” broth with beans and cep mushrooms. A perfect balance of melt-in your mouth tenderness, texture and exquisite flavour. No wonder the French have such a reputation for decadence.
The following day we have lots of ground to cover, we are headed first to the Cote des Bar, the southernmost Champagne region closer to Burgundy than Epernay or Rheims. The small town of Noe Les Mallets is home to another of our Champagne producers, Veuve Doussot. This region produces excellent wines, yet less prestigious than those further North. This is Pinot Noir territory, so unlike the 100% Chardonnay wines of Serge Gallois in the Cotes de Blanc the wines here are fruitier, rounder, and fuller. Owner and winemaker Stefane Joly takes us on a quick tour of the vineyards, many of his 20 hectares are on steep slopes with old vines with an ideal aspect to the sun.
As a treat he opens up a full range of their wines, including several that we had not tried before- an Extra Brut, Rosé, and some of their premium Vintage champers. We are grateful of the time he afforded us as that same day was starting the first picking of the season, albeit most of the harvest to commence later in the week.
From there we leave immediately towards Chablis where we have another appointment awaiting us. Daniel-Etienne Defaix is one of the oldest and best producers of the region, owning much of the original site planted by monks on the slopes overlooking the town. Harvest is still two weeks away in Chablis, somewhat later than one might think. Like Champagne this year has been one of extremes, with sharp frosts kicking off the season, followed by high winds during flowering, and then multiple heatwaves. The only calamities not on the cards this year is hail and rain, there has been no rain here for over two months. As a result the harvest will be yet another small one, suffering losses of 25-50%. Daniel laments this is the sad new future of Chablis, with more extreme weather conditions threatening both the financial viability and the ‘typicité’ of the wines.
Defaix is old-school though, and with Paul Defaix being the 16th generation why wouldn’t they be. They are however the last producer in the region making wines in the same way as they were 60 years ago. Chablis is 100% Chardonnay, without exception. The modern Chablis style is typically lean and fresh, and unoaked, spending perhaps 3 months on lees. Defaix is stubborn though, he ages his wines considerably longer. Even his ‘entry’ old vine Chablis spends 2 years on lees, with the premier cru enjoying 3-5+ years with batonnage. A small portion matures in old oak, plus all wines undergo full malolactic fermentation, and longer aging in bottle before release. The result are broader and more expressive wines, with a richness yet unbelievably without losing the minerality in the wines that defines the region.
We finish the day with a trip up the hillsides to some of the best vines and views of the region. We can see the fate of the fruit on vines and see the unique kimmeridge soils that are so cherished. Alas we must drive on. Next stop, Noyers.
]]>We arrive in Paris shortly before dawn, after two very long but uneventful flights. Thankfully the protesters in Hong Kong have avoided closing down the airport and enable our itinerary to start unaltered. At Charles de Gaulle we collect our rental car and hit the road right away to beat the morning traffic. A thin wisp of mist clings to the fields nearby, but the combination of narrow roads, little sleep, and being on the wrong side of the road means concentration in a more linear direction is appropriate.
With surprising ease we escape the nearby hustle and bustle and onto the almost empty roads through Meaux (where the famous Brie comes from) and on to land of one of France’s other famous exports - Champagne. We pass through a number of idyllic villages before we reach the home of many famous Champagne houses.
Epernay presents immediately as charming, it has more character than Rheims where we travelled to in our prior journey - perhaps as a result of the town not being levelled by German artillery in WWI, there are many exquisite buildings from the 1800s and earlier including several grand Chateaux that dominate the Avenue de Champagne. This is where a number of the Grand Marques are based, some grander than others. Moet seems to own half the town, with huge buildings housing administrative blocks and production facilities.
Not far up the road is Champagne de Venoge, a distinguished house founded in 1837, where we stop for a glass of their Blanc de Noir, made from a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Crisp yet rich offering up green plums, black berries, brioche, and yellow apple. Perfect for the warm afternoon sun but in danger of putting us into an early slumber.
Jet lag means an early start the next morning, and fortified with weak French coffee it seems nowhere in France can make a decent latte up to Wellington standard. They can however make a mean pastry or two.
Our first official appointment of the trip takes us south to the Cotes de Blanc, a prestigious sub region of Champagne that produces rich yet elegant wines made from Chardonnay. Serge Gallois is one of our existing partners, producing stunning Blanc de Blanc wines from a modest plot of 5 hectares. In addition they control several sites close to Epernay, however these produce grapes that are blended with that of 9 other families in a co-operative arrangement. We import two wines from owner Frederic - his Premier Cru Blanc de Blanc all from the acclaimed village of Vertus, and his excellent Vintage Blanc de Blanc, made in tiny volumes in particularly good years, in some cases only 1000 bottles are produced like in the outstanding 2008 vintage, an increasing portion of which now arrive in New Zealand.
Frederic generously gave us a full tour of the winery including the cellars and the specialised equipment for riddling and disgorging the wines. He thoughtfully describes the full process from beginning to end, including some technical detail that we were missing.
After that comes a trip to the vineyards - they are just over one week away from picking so the vines are full of fruit, albeit a significantly lower volume due to early frost damage, combined with extreme heat that has shriveled many of the bunches on the vines. Despite that, assuming that there is not high rain in the next few days it should be an excellent quality vintage for 2019, and almost certain to produce a small amount of top shelf vintage Champagne... however given the current release is 2008 we will to be patient to try this years crop!
We finish with a taste of the two wines among the vines, a perfect end to a wonderful visit.
]]>If you are connected to the wine industry in any shape or form, you will know Raymond’s professional reputation as a professional wine reviewer and wine judge. He has hosted a plethora of wine tasting events over the years and scrutinised countless bottles from New Zealand and beyond. His name is synonymous with integrity, his wine reviews being ground-breaking in our industry for a meticulous attention to detail, both in technical winemaking and the detail of the tastings notes themselves. He always was interested in the people behind the wines and told their stories and histories. His archive of tasting notes on his website is of tremendous use to winemakers and wine drinkers alike.
In October 2017 he was awarded the Sir George Fistonich Medal, perhaps the highest wine honour in the land - awarded once a year to one individual for outstanding contribution to the New Zealand wine industry.
Personally, he will be remembered by his family and beyond for his generosity, compassion, hardworking-ethic, quirky sense of humour, his gift for ‘Asian Dad Jokes’ and puns, along with his questionable taste of Sci Fi (especially classic Star Trek). We too will remember Raymond as a true treasure of the wine world, both here in Wellington and across New Zealand. His relentless positivity, generosity, and quirky wit will stretch far beyond his short years with us.
Back at Ata Rangi it was very touching to hear Raymond’s own words spoken by his brother Norman, and heart felt tributes by his life partner Sue Davies, his son Olly, and others close to him. Oak Trees around the winery were adorned with personal anecdotes from across the country, alongside dozens of photographs of Raymond and friends. Hundreds of bottles of fine wine were opened and shared through the afternoon with many a toast in his honour.
Raymond, we will be among many that will miss you greatly. Taste in Peace.
]]>This week is the inaugural 'Organic Wine' week and to celebrate we are featuring the wines of Churton - one of the best producers in Marlborough.
We have the wines open to taste in store, and explore what makes an Organic wine, plus a look at Sustainability and Biodynamics and some of the secrets behind the unique concentration of the Churton wines.
The full range is on special too, so drop to taste - prices are better than cellar door for this week only!
Two Sauvignon Blancs - Viognier - Pinot Noir - unique Petit Manseng sweet wine.
So what exactly is "Organic" ?
Roughly 90% of vineyards in NZ are 'Sustainable' - that is they have plans to manage erosion risks, soil quality, weed and pest control and more.
Organic is a strict certification that goes many steps further- no synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, with a major focus on healthy vines through healthy soils. Around 6% of vineyards by area in New Zealand are Certified Organic.
Churton & The Weavers
Sam and Mandy Weaver discovered and fell in love with the Marlborough region in 1988 on a working holiday from the UK. They bought what was to become the vineyard in 1992, planting vines five years later.
While the vineyard has always pursued Organic principles, they became formally certified in 2011.
The single 22 hectare vineyard is divided into 17 individual blocks, each with distinct character. With names like 'Brisket, Flank, Topside, and Rump' it's clear that the Weavers have a sense of humour too.
Sauvignon Blanc - Tasting Today
Today we've opened up the most famous of the Churton wines - Sauvignon Blanc. This is not exactly the stereotype of Marlborough Sav- fully hand picked, hand sorted, gently whole-bunch pressed, with 15% fermented in larger 500 litre French oak barrels.
Alluring aromas of white peach, green papaya, and passionfruit. Impressively weighty and concentrated for a Sauvignon, on the palate with flavours of grapefruit, preserved lemon, savoury herbs and a mouth filling minerality driving a long finish. Outstanding example.
The definition of the word Vista is "A pleasing view; A long, narrow view as between trees or buildings". This sets the scene for the origin of Vista wines.Greg is a senior horticulture consultant and back at University set the goal to eventually live somewhere he could sit back and enjoy a breathtaking view. His wife Bridget shared this dream, to raise a family in a unique location. They searched for three years for land which encapsulated this and saw potential in the pine covered plot of land which would become Vista vineyard. With care they restored and nurtured the land and established 4,500 vines.
"After years of consulting to fruit growers it was time to walk the talk. We knew what type of sunlight, topography and soil we wanted as our canvas. We knew we had the passion and drive to produce premium grapes." Greg Dryden
Patrick Stowe of Rimu Grove is the winemaker. He was born in California's Napa Valley and completed his degree in biochemistry and microbiology in America in the 1980's producing his first wine at 19 years old. he moved to Nelson in 1995 and founded Rimu Grove.
A pale yellow appearance in the glass with a subtle green tinge.Aromas of stone fruit, peach, and quince. On the palate crystallized ginger, pear, quince and honeysuckle. Rich and smooth with a dry finish and lingering mineral spice notes.
A bright ruby appearance in the glass.Aromas of cherries and plums with hints of mushroom. On the palate wholesome sweet blackberry and plum with hints of liquorice and vanilla. A well rounded and densely structured finish.
The collection includes old vintages of NZ wine royalty such as Dry River Pinot Noir, Te Mata Coleraine, Felton Road Pinot Noir, Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir, Esk Valley Reserve, In some cases just a single bottle is available, in others a dozen or more.
Prices advertised include preferential wineclub pricing. We will collate all orders together and confirm when your wines are ready for collection. If you prefer delivery we can courier to you for $2.50 per dozen or part-thereof in the Greater Wellington area. First In First Served!
Disclaimer - While we have been assured of good storage conditions, with old vintage wine there is always a degree of uncertainty on how they have survived - even two bottles of the same wine in the same conditions can evolve differently. Some may be in their prime, others past their best. Prices offered reflect the rarity of the wines, but mitigated by the 'no guarantee' condition.
The Offer Price List is here: [excel document sheet 16kb]
]]>The collection includes old vintages of NZ wine royalty such as Dry River Pinot Noir, Te Mata Coleraine, Felton Road Pinot Noir, Gibbston Valley Pinot Noir, Esk Valley Reserve, In some cases just a single bottle is available, in others a dozen or more.
Prices advertised include preferential wineclub pricing. We will collate all orders together and confirm when your wines are ready for collection. If you prefer delivery we can courier to you for $2.50 per dozen or part-thereof in the Greater Wellington area. First In First Served!
Disclaimer - While we have been assured of good storage conditions, with old vintage wine there is always a degree of uncertainty on how they have survived - even two bottles of the same wine in the same conditions can evolve differently. Some may be in their prime, others past their best. Prices offered reflect the rarity of the wines, but mitigated by the 'no guarantee' condition.
The Offer Price List is here: [excel document sheet 16kb]
]]>
That said - Spain stil produces enormous volumes of wine, and much of it very reasonably priced. Our recent tasting in store brought to the table an array of 9 different wines from Spain demonstrating the value, variety and quality of their wines from all around the country. Tapas on the tables, and festooned with glasses, we dive in.
We started off with a Sparkling Cava - made in the method of a French Champagne but using grapes native to Northern Spain. Crisp and dry, elegant, citrus and hints of toasted nuts complementing a delicate floral touch and minerality.
We tasted both white and black versions of Grenache - or Garnacha as the Spanish call it. This is a grape that thrives in the hot and dry climates of Northern Spain. The white version being fresh and lively, sporting honeydew melon, lemongrass, white pepper and nuances of beeswax candles. Not dissimilar to a menage of Chenin and Gruner. The red version is produced in massively higher volumes, producing a plump and round easy drinking wine with plums, prunes, raspberry and spice.
No tasting of Spanish wines would be complete without Tempranillo - the king grape of the regions of Rioja, Toro and Ribera del Duero. We tasted all three - starting with the cheap & cheerful version with a light and fruity Rioja, brimming with red cherries and berries, smooth and easy sipping. Compare this to a more concentrated Ribera - brooding and deep with black fruits and a sumptuous mouth filling roundness. Ultimately a stunning and leathery Toro showed what old vines and harsh climates can produce - like eating a fine suede leather jacket.
Adding to the mix we tasted reds from both the Navarra region, in the shadow of the Pyranees mountains - perhaps more famous in our travel diaries for the running bulls of Pamplona. Our tasting includes a somewhat rustic blend of French grapes Merlot and Syrah, rounded out with a good dash of Tempranillo.
Next we travel to Southern Spain to taste the fruits of the Alicante region - made from 100% Monastrell (Mouvedre as the French call it). Made with a fair dash of carbonic maceration to tame the bold spicy tannins into a lush and smooth wine oozing with blackberries, raspberries, balsamic with hints of aniseed and plum chutney.
We polished things off with a beautifully sweet sherry - Pedro Ximinez is about as far from the salty olivey dry sherries as you can get. Imagine the fattest raisins you can find, soaked in brandy, chocolate and olive oil for a few years and you can start to get the idea as what PX is about.
We finish up by voting for our favourite wines - it's the Ribera del Duero by a landslide. While we might fill our boots with Spanish wines, its the good stuff that keeps us coming back for more.
]]>
That said - Spain stil produces enormous volumes of wine, and much of it very reasonably priced. Our recent tasting in store brought to the table an array of 9 different wines from Spain demonstrating the value, variety and quality of their wines from all around the country. Tapas on the tables, and festooned with glasses, we dive in.
We started off with a Sparkling Cava - made in the method of a French Champagne but using grapes native to Northern Spain. Crisp and dry, elegant, citrus and hints of toasted nuts complementing a delicate floral touch and minerality.
We tasted both white and black versions of Grenache - or Garnacha as the Spanish call it. This is a grape that thrives in the hot and dry climates of Northern Spain. The white version being fresh and lively, sporting honeydew melon, lemongrass, white pepper and nuances of beeswax candles. Not dissimilar to a menage of Chenin and Gruner. The red version is produced in massively higher volumes, producing a plump and round easy drinking wine with plums, prunes, raspberry and spice.
No tasting of Spanish wines would be complete without Tempranillo - the king grape of the regions of Rioja, Toro and Ribera del Duero. We tasted all three - starting with the cheap & cheerful version with a light and fruity Rioja, brimming with red cherries and berries, smooth and easy sipping. Compare this to a more concentrated Ribera - brooding and deep with black fruits and a sumptuous mouth filling roundness. Ultimately a stunning and leathery Toro showed what old vines and harsh climates can produce - like eating a fine suede leather jacket.
Adding to the mix we tasted reds from both the Navarra region, in the shadow of the Pyranees mountains - perhaps more famous in our travel diaries for the running bulls of Pamplona. Our tasting includes a somewhat rustic blend of French grapes Merlot and Syrah, rounded out with a good dash of Tempranillo.
Next we travel to Southern Spain to taste the fruits of the Alicante region - made from 100% Monastrell (Mouvedre as the French call it). Made with a fair dash of carbonic maceration to tame the bold spicy tannins into a lush and smooth wine oozing with blackberries, raspberries, balsamic with hints of aniseed and plum chutney.
We polished things off with a beautifully sweet sherry - Pedro Ximinez is about as far from the salty olivey dry sherries as you can get. Imagine the fattest raisins you can find, soaked in brandy, chocolate and olive oil for a few years and you can start to get the idea as what PX is about.
We finish up by voting for our favourite wines - it's the Ribera del Duero by a landslide. While we might fill our boots with Spanish wines, its the good stuff that keeps us coming back for more.
]]>
Dry River is a true icon of the New Zealand wine world - one of the very first to plant vines in Martinborough in 1979 by Dr Neil McCullum, Dry River has always held a fanatical level of detail in both the vineyard and the winery. The wines are made in tiny volumes, a total production of around 2,500 cases spread across a wide range of grape varieties. While undoubtedly most famous for their Pinot Noir, over the years Dry River has planted Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Syrah, and even a tiny amount of Tempranillo.
Wilco Lam is the Chief Winemaker at Dry River - having originally come from Holland and studies in viticulture, he completed additional winemaking studies at Lincoln in New Zealand in 2003, and joined the Dry River team in 2009. The consumate professional, Wilco was a wealth of information around the Dry River philosophy, grape growing techniques such as eschewing irrigation, hand picking with multiple passes through the winery over a period of weeks, and deliberate canopy management to maximise tannin influence in the fruit. He was able to speak in detail about the vintage conditions of each year, and how that impacted on the resulting wines.
We tasted the wines in three flights- tasting three different vintages of each of three Dry River wines: Riesling, Pinot Noir and Syrah. It was staggering to see how well these wines have aged, with even the oldest vintages showing a freshness and vibrancy that lesser wines would have long lost. I've summarised my tasting notes of each of the wines below.
Dry River Riesling - 2016 (current vintage). Delicate florals, lemon blossom & orange peel on the nose. Soft acidity but still mouth watering. Dry, good palate weight a clean finish with a hint of steel and spice. Very enjoyable but felt young and tight in the company of the other wines.
Dry River Riesling 2009 - Tangy lime, flint, and burnt citrus aromas, suggesting a touch of botrytis influence. Surprisingly savoury in the mid palate, with hints of kerosene and smoke with a long chalky finish.
Dry River Riesling 2004 - Deeper golden colour, aromas of almond paste and pastry with dandelion and yellow florals. Mouth filling texture from front to mid palate, Fruits giving way to a stony and textural wine with a lingering finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2015 - Sweet floral nose, cherry, strawberry, red liquorice and baking spice. Soft and opulent in the mouth with bright berries, initially bursting with fruit but closing down through the mid palate to woody savoury notes, some earth lurking close by with a leafy chalky finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2011 - Sweet earth, black cherry, and hints of old leather on the nose. Juicy and lucious fruit in the mouth, with a generous long & supple finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2008 - Initially shy on the nose with jasmine, rose petals, and chocolate truffle. Freshness on the front palate surprising for a wine of this age, shimmering on the palate with great vibrancy. Milk chocolate and warm brown spice on the finish.
Dry River Syrah 2013 - Barnyard aromas dominate the nose, black leather and old wood, subdued on the palate with a woody finish. Although four years old and from a warm vintage this wine will be showing much more character in future years.
Dry River Syrah 2008 - Gamey nose, almost akin to peated whisky, accompanied by sweet black fruits. Building in texture through the mid palate to a bold finish. Blackberry, hints of jam, with plenty of leather and pleasing tannins pairing with just a hint of black pepper.
Dry River Syrah 2004 - Complex aromas of sea salt, brine, venison. tapenade and vanilla. Charmling initially on the palate building in weight to reveal silky dark fruit, truffle and black pepper. A sumptuous wine in its prime.
At the end of the evening, we voted for our favourite wines of each flight - the oldest wines making an emphatic clean sweet for our enthustiastic tasters. More than anything, a tasting lineup like this is a poster for patience - top tier wines can still be enjoyable in their youth but have spectacular potential to improve with time in the cellar. Many thanks again to Wilco for his expertise and willingness to speak in great detail and care about the wines... and of course for sharing rare treasures direct from the Dry River cellars.
]]>
Dry River is a true icon of the New Zealand wine world - one of the very first to plant vines in Martinborough in 1979 by Dr Neil McCullum, Dry River has always held a fanatical level of detail in both the vineyard and the winery. The wines are made in tiny volumes, a total production of around 2,500 cases spread across a wide range of grape varieties. While undoubtedly most famous for their Pinot Noir, over the years Dry River has planted Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, Syrah, and even a tiny amount of Tempranillo.
Wilco Lam is the Chief Winemaker at Dry River - having originally come from Holland and studies in viticulture, he completed additional winemaking studies at Lincoln in New Zealand in 2003, and joined the Dry River team in 2009. The consumate professional, Wilco was a wealth of information around the Dry River philosophy, grape growing techniques such as eschewing irrigation, hand picking with multiple passes through the winery over a period of weeks, and deliberate canopy management to maximise tannin influence in the fruit. He was able to speak in detail about the vintage conditions of each year, and how that impacted on the resulting wines.
We tasted the wines in three flights- tasting three different vintages of each of three Dry River wines: Riesling, Pinot Noir and Syrah. It was staggering to see how well these wines have aged, with even the oldest vintages showing a freshness and vibrancy that lesser wines would have long lost. I've summarised my tasting notes of each of the wines below.
Dry River Riesling - 2016 (current vintage). Delicate florals, lemon blossom & orange peel on the nose. Soft acidity but still mouth watering. Dry, good palate weight a clean finish with a hint of steel and spice. Very enjoyable but felt young and tight in the company of the other wines.
Dry River Riesling 2009 - Tangy lime, flint, and burnt citrus aromas, suggesting a touch of botrytis influence. Surprisingly savoury in the mid palate, with hints of kerosene and smoke with a long chalky finish.
Dry River Riesling 2004 - Deeper golden colour, aromas of almond paste and pastry with dandelion and yellow florals. Mouth filling texture from front to mid palate, Fruits giving way to a stony and textural wine with a lingering finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2015 - Sweet floral nose, cherry, strawberry, red liquorice and baking spice. Soft and opulent in the mouth with bright berries, initially bursting with fruit but closing down through the mid palate to woody savoury notes, some earth lurking close by with a leafy chalky finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2011 - Sweet earth, black cherry, and hints of old leather on the nose. Juicy and lucious fruit in the mouth, with a generous long & supple finish.
Dry River Pinot Noir 2008 - Initially shy on the nose with jasmine, rose petals, and chocolate truffle. Freshness on the front palate surprising for a wine of this age, shimmering on the palate with great vibrancy. Milk chocolate and warm brown spice on the finish.
Dry River Syrah 2013 - Barnyard aromas dominate the nose, black leather and old wood, subdued on the palate with a woody finish. Although four years old and from a warm vintage this wine will be showing much more character in future years.
Dry River Syrah 2008 - Gamey nose, almost akin to peated whisky, accompanied by sweet black fruits. Building in texture through the mid palate to a bold finish. Blackberry, hints of jam, with plenty of leather and pleasing tannins pairing with just a hint of black pepper.
Dry River Syrah 2004 - Complex aromas of sea salt, brine, venison. tapenade and vanilla. Charmling initially on the palate building in weight to reveal silky dark fruit, truffle and black pepper. A sumptuous wine in its prime.
At the end of the evening, we voted for our favourite wines of each flight - the oldest wines making an emphatic clean sweet for our enthustiastic tasters. More than anything, a tasting lineup like this is a poster for patience - top tier wines can still be enjoyable in their youth but have spectacular potential to improve with time in the cellar. Many thanks again to Wilco for his expertise and willingness to speak in great detail and care about the wines... and of course for sharing rare treasures direct from the Dry River cellars.
]]>
According to NASA, the earth's climate has changed dramatically through history, in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. The end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marks the beginning of the modern era and human civilisation... including perhaps the most obvious important form of civilised society - growing grapes and making wine! The climate is definitely changing, that part of the science is well settled - the causes for us on an individual basis are somewhat academic (even though some 97% of scientists in the field agree that humans are a major cause of it) and I won't address that here.
So lets have a look at what the main differences are - this is going to impact some areas more than others. One of the major concerns on a global scale will be sea level changes - this is expected to increase by possibly a meter over the next 80 years. This isn't directly going to affect most wineries around the world as vineyards tend to exist at altitudes of 100-300 meters above sea level. Some very low lying areas may have issues, perhaps not just with the actual sea levels but also potentially the salinity of ground water. Vines don't like salt water. Clearview Estate in Hawkes Bay sits across the road from the sea, and while the waves may crash on the steep stony beach but will have a very limited affect further inland as the ground rises. [photo- aerial of Clearview Estate next to the Te Awanga coast].
More important is the shift in temperatures, and this is going to be both positive and negative. The growing season for most crops will lengthen... that is, the periods of the year where the temperatures are consistently above 10 degrees celcius. The amount of the growing season expected to be frost free will lengthen as well. Many wine regions will actually benefit from this- especially those in fringe or cool climates. As an example at the moment the Waitaki Region (roughly the boundary between North Otago and South Canterbury) is a bit iffy to grow grapes reliably, especially in a cool year. In fact for cool regions the likelihood of having good vintages improves, as the harvest date shifts earlier and thus reducing the risk of bad weather around the key harvest period. It potentially opens up other new areas that don't grow grapes at all for making wine, so surely that is a good thing. [photo- Ostler Vineyards in Waitaki].
In warmer areas this is more problematic. Growers in the Bordeaux region are concerned that higher average temperature will mean that the dominant grape variety Merlot will ripen too quickly, sugar levels will increase too quickly and acid levels will drop - fundamentally changing the style of the wines. For traditionalists this isn't a good thing, and there are a lot of vines (and a lot of money) at stake here. Bordeaux hosts an area of vines roughly 3.5 times that of all of NZ's vineyards put together! [photo- St Emilion in Bordeaux].
That shift in climate potentially means that the best grape varieties to produce in each region changes- different grapes have strong preferences for certain climates as well as certain soils. The expectation is that the temperatures in Bordeaux will increase to be roughly similar to what the climate of the Douro region in Portugal - where Port wines are made (along with hearty dry reds). In the short term it means taking different strategies in the vineyard- managing the leaf canopy to protect the fruit from too much sun, planting with root stock that is more tolerant to higher temperatures and lower water. In the longer term it means a possible shift in grape varieties. Already there are a handful of growers in Bordeaux (including Vignobles Ducourt, whose wines we import into NZ) are requesting permission from the relevant agencies to plant trials of new grape varities that will better suit the hotter conditions. Tinta Cao, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz come to mind... all important in the production of both Port and red wines in the Douro. But if your average Bordeaux has a fair dash of Tempranillo in it... is it really still "Bordeaux"? [photo- vineyards in the Douro of Portugal]
Hot climates are going to feel the most pressure, some areas are already getting too hot and dry for growing grapes. Barossa in South Australia positively bakes in comparison to our local climates, and while harvest here generally runs March to April (and even later for late ripening fruit), the business is largely done and dusted by middle of February in Barossa. Issues with water are particularly important for younger vines that haven't had sufficient years to burrow deeper to make themselves more resilient to long dry spells, and if the conditions get drier still it means difficulties in accessing water for irrigation. It also means higher fire risk, something that growers in Northern California need no education on. [photo- new vine plantings in the Barossa]
What about the core of the NZ wine industry? Sauvignon Blanc as a grape dominates our wines by volume, and especially our export market that makes up close to 85% of what we send to other countries. What makes our Savs so distinctive is at risk of being lost, in warmer conditions Savs tend to produce more tropical fruit flavours and are more mellow on the acid rather than our sassy 'Cats Pee on a Gooseberry Bush'. Some of our treasured cool climate Pinot areas might get a bit too warm too. On the flip side we might see more Cabernet and Syrah coming to prominance. [photo- heat map of growing degree days across the Marlborough region].
The other side of climate change is not just the higher temperatures, warmer ocean temperatures tend to also mean more changable weather - more extreme weather which means more big storms, and more droughts. The unpredictability means potentially more drastic differences between vintages. In an industry where one significant adverse weather event can mean a whole year's work is wiped out, it has the possibility of making life very difficult for the average family wine grower. This year has seen severe frosts in both France and Italy, producing one of the smallest harvests in 50 years. [photo- frost damaged fruit in Bordeaux 2017]
For now we'll see little change in the NZ wine growing world, but it won't be a case of the frog in the pot of water slowly brought up to the boil - plenty of clever folks are already planning making sure we don't go thirsty in the future.
]]>According to NASA, the earth's climate has changed dramatically through history, in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat. The end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marks the beginning of the modern era and human civilisation... including perhaps the most obvious important form of civilised society - growing grapes and making wine! The climate is definitely changing, that part of the science is well settled - the causes for us on an individual basis are somewhat academic (even though some 97% of scientists in the field agree that humans are a major cause of it) and I won't address that here.
So lets have a look at what the main differences are - this is going to impact some areas more than others. One of the major concerns on a global scale will be sea level changes - this is expected to increase by possibly a meter over the next 80 years. This isn't directly going to affect most wineries around the world as vineyards tend to exist at altitudes of 100-300 meters above sea level. Some very low lying areas may have issues, perhaps not just with the actual sea levels but also potentially the salinity of ground water. Vines don't like salt water. Clearview Estate in Hawkes Bay sits across the road from the sea, and while the waves may crash on the steep stony beach but will have a very limited affect further inland as the ground rises. [photo- aerial of Clearview Estate next to the Te Awanga coast].
More important is the shift in temperatures, and this is going to be both positive and negative. The growing season for most crops will lengthen... that is, the periods of the year where the temperatures are consistently above 10 degrees celcius. The amount of the growing season expected to be frost free will lengthen as well. Many wine regions will actually benefit from this- especially those in fringe or cool climates. As an example at the moment the Waitaki Region (roughly the boundary between North Otago and South Canterbury) is a bit iffy to grow grapes reliably, especially in a cool year. In fact for cool regions the likelihood of having good vintages improves, as the harvest date shifts earlier and thus reducing the risk of bad weather around the key harvest period. It potentially opens up other new areas that don't grow grapes at all for making wine, so surely that is a good thing. [photo- Ostler Vineyards in Waitaki].
In warmer areas this is more problematic. Growers in the Bordeaux region are concerned that higher average temperature will mean that the dominant grape variety Merlot will ripen too quickly, sugar levels will increase too quickly and acid levels will drop - fundamentally changing the style of the wines. For traditionalists this isn't a good thing, and there are a lot of vines (and a lot of money) at stake here. Bordeaux hosts an area of vines roughly 3.5 times that of all of NZ's vineyards put together! [photo- St Emilion in Bordeaux].
That shift in climate potentially means that the best grape varieties to produce in each region changes- different grapes have strong preferences for certain climates as well as certain soils. The expectation is that the temperatures in Bordeaux will increase to be roughly similar to what the climate of the Douro region in Portugal - where Port wines are made (along with hearty dry reds). In the short term it means taking different strategies in the vineyard- managing the leaf canopy to protect the fruit from too much sun, planting with root stock that is more tolerant to higher temperatures and lower water. In the longer term it means a possible shift in grape varieties. Already there are a handful of growers in Bordeaux (including Vignobles Ducourt, whose wines we import into NZ) are requesting permission from the relevant agencies to plant trials of new grape varities that will better suit the hotter conditions. Tinta Cao, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz come to mind... all important in the production of both Port and red wines in the Douro. But if your average Bordeaux has a fair dash of Tempranillo in it... is it really still "Bordeaux"? [photo- vineyards in the Douro of Portugal]
Hot climates are going to feel the most pressure, some areas are already getting too hot and dry for growing grapes. Barossa in South Australia positively bakes in comparison to our local climates, and while harvest here generally runs March to April (and even later for late ripening fruit), the business is largely done and dusted by middle of February in Barossa. Issues with water are particularly important for younger vines that haven't had sufficient years to burrow deeper to make themselves more resilient to long dry spells, and if the conditions get drier still it means difficulties in accessing water for irrigation. It also means higher fire risk, something that growers in Northern California need no education on. [photo- new vine plantings in the Barossa]
What about the core of the NZ wine industry? Sauvignon Blanc as a grape dominates our wines by volume, and especially our export market that makes up close to 85% of what we send to other countries. What makes our Savs so distinctive is at risk of being lost, in warmer conditions Savs tend to produce more tropical fruit flavours and are more mellow on the acid rather than our sassy 'Cats Pee on a Gooseberry Bush'. Some of our treasured cool climate Pinot areas might get a bit too warm too. On the flip side we might see more Cabernet and Syrah coming to prominance. [photo- heat map of growing degree days across the Marlborough region].
The other side of climate change is not just the higher temperatures, warmer ocean temperatures tend to also mean more changable weather - more extreme weather which means more big storms, and more droughts. The unpredictability means potentially more drastic differences between vintages. In an industry where one significant adverse weather event can mean a whole year's work is wiped out, it has the possibility of making life very difficult for the average family wine grower. This year has seen severe frosts in both France and Italy, producing one of the smallest harvests in 50 years. [photo- frost damaged fruit in Bordeaux 2017]
For now we'll see little change in the NZ wine growing world, but it won't be a case of the frog in the pot of water slowly brought up to the boil - plenty of clever folks are already planning making sure we don't go thirsty in the future.
]]>As far as climates go, one wouldn't normally consider England ideally placed for making wine. A bit cold, a bit wet and a bit windy. Wait, did we just describe England or Champagne or Chablis? The other consideration is that the ridge of limestone soils that reach from Northern Burgundy across Northern France finishes in Southern England (the other big white wall outside of Game of Thrones, and perhaps even more famous... Dover?). Sunshine hours and 'growing degree days' are key measures to determine suitability for agriculture including grape vines. In this department Kent still lags behind the cool Champagne region by about 10%, so the wines are never going to be especially opulent, high in sugar/alcohol. The Guinevere clocks in at just 11.5% alcohol, so I'm expecting a leaner style of wine.
The vineyard and winery are young, established in just 2004. The vines are pruned high above the ground to allow plenty of airflow and minimise potential frost damage and making the most of every ounce of sunshine on offer. Both Gusbourne and English wines in general are perhaps best known for sparkling wines rather than stlil table wines, in fact it was an Englishman that first discovered / created the formula for the Methode Traditionelle way of making Champagne sparkling wines, a good 100 years before Dom Perignon set foot in his abbey.
So back to the wine at hand. It's 100% Chardonnay, pale gold in the glass, on the nose the wine is driven by fresh lime and a hint of salty brine. Plenty of freshness upfront on the palate with lean tart grapefruit and lime, a hint of roasted nuts coming from time maturing in old French oak barrels. It's in balance and pleasant to sip on. As it spends time breathing & warms up towards room temperature the aromas become a little more generous- some cashews and lemon peel, tiny hints of tropical fruit and a little creaminess on the palate... however it sacrifices some of its structure and length in the process.
At 28 quid on the shelf in the UK its not super-great value, at that kind of price one can buy some seriously good White Burgundy (not to mention outstanding grower Champagne) but might be aiming for a well heeled and patriotic English banker. With global warming it may slowly become more feasible to grow grapes and make some good wines here for fewer dollars.
Thanks to Jarrett for sacrificing precious luggage weight allowance to bring it back to NZ & we'll continue to keep an open mind about Olde Britania.
]]>
As far as climates go, one wouldn't normally consider England ideally placed for making wine. A bit cold, a bit wet and a bit windy. Wait, did we just describe England or Champagne or Chablis? The other consideration is that the ridge of limestone soils that reach from Northern Burgundy across Northern France finishes in Southern England (the other big white wall outside of Game of Thrones, and perhaps even more famous... Dover?). Sunshine hours and 'growing degree days' are key measures to determine suitability for agriculture including grape vines. In this department Kent still lags behind the cool Champagne region by about 10%, so the wines are never going to be especially opulent, high in sugar/alcohol. The Guinevere clocks in at just 11.5% alcohol, so I'm expecting a leaner style of wine.
The vineyard and winery are young, established in just 2004. The vines are pruned high above the ground to allow plenty of airflow and minimise potential frost damage and making the most of every ounce of sunshine on offer. Both Gusbourne and English wines in general are perhaps best known for sparkling wines rather than stlil table wines, in fact it was an Englishman that first discovered / created the formula for the Methode Traditionelle way of making Champagne sparkling wines, a good 100 years before Dom Perignon set foot in his abbey.
So back to the wine at hand. It's 100% Chardonnay, pale gold in the glass, on the nose the wine is driven by fresh lime and a hint of salty brine. Plenty of freshness upfront on the palate with lean tart grapefruit and lime, a hint of roasted nuts coming from time maturing in old French oak barrels. It's in balance and pleasant to sip on. As it spends time breathing & warms up towards room temperature the aromas become a little more generous- some cashews and lemon peel, tiny hints of tropical fruit and a little creaminess on the palate... however it sacrifices some of its structure and length in the process.
At 28 quid on the shelf in the UK its not super-great value, at that kind of price one can buy some seriously good White Burgundy (not to mention outstanding grower Champagne) but might be aiming for a well heeled and patriotic English banker. With global warming it may slowly become more feasible to grow grapes and make some good wines here for fewer dollars.
Thanks to Jarrett for sacrificing precious luggage weight allowance to bring it back to NZ & we'll continue to keep an open mind about Olde Britania.
]]>
This week sees Raymond taking the 2017 Sir George Fistonich Medal - awarded once a year honouring just one individual for outstanding contribution to the NZ wine industry. Incidentally, if the name Fistonich doesn't ring a bell, he founded NZ wine giant Villa Maria in 1961. This is a very prestigious award, boasting previous winners like Kevin Judd, Michael Cooper and Bob Campbell. A huge congratulations - we're stoked for you Raymond!
While you're at it, check out his website where he provides some of the most technical and accurate wine reviews in the country. We often refer to his expertise & it would be rare that we don't bump into him at any industry event: www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz
]]>This week sees Raymond taking the 2017 Sir George Fistonich Medal - awarded once a year honouring just one individual for outstanding contribution to the NZ wine industry. Incidentally, if the name Fistonich doesn't ring a bell, he founded NZ wine giant Villa Maria in 1961. This is a very prestigious award, boasting previous winners like Kevin Judd, Michael Cooper and Bob Campbell. A huge congratulations - we're stoked for you Raymond!
While you're at it, check out his website where he provides some of the most technical and accurate wine reviews in the country. We often refer to his expertise & it would be rare that we don't bump into him at any industry event: www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz
]]>Our most recent tasting event features the wines of Burgundy – a famous French wine region that lays claim to the spiritual home of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is also synonymous with the concept of “Terroir” … the idea that a wine is the product of the environment that it comes from – especially the macro-climate, micro-climate and the soils that the grapes are grown in. With 100 different appellations and 400 different recognised the Burgundians have the individuality of specific influences on a wine down to a fine art. It’s frustrating to find the duality of Burgundy – on one hand the simplicity… after all there are just two grapes to worry about for fine wine in Burgundy – but on the other hand maddening in its complexity.
European wines need to be paired with food, so alongside our line-up of wines tasting platters included three imported French cheeses including a Brie stuffed with a truffle paste, chicken sautéed in a lemon-cream sauce, traditional (and homemade) French puff pastry gougeres, truffled Portobello mushrooms, medium-rare lamb rump, and of course the Burgundian delicacy Escargot.
We started our tasting with the “other white grape” of Burgundy – Aligote. A pale green grape grown in the Southern parts of Burgundy. Sometimes described as “the poor mans Chardonnay” – you would be hard pressed to find an example that meets the heady expectation and price point of ‘proper’ white Burgundy. Perhaps a bit of a mean assessment in the wider world of wine, but in the context of some superb wines in this lineup it rings true. Lighter and fresher, aromas of apple, citrus and stone fruit with a crisp finish. After a quick initial taste we doctor the glasses with a splash of another Burgundian product- Crème de Cassis.
The “Kir” is a now famous cocktail named for Felix Kir, a Catholic priest, underground resistance fighter, hotelier and long-time mayor of the city of Dijon. It’s alleged that the occupying German troops in WWII had cleaned out most of the red Burgundy worth drinking, and Kir came up with the idea of creating a cocktail to serve his guests in the absence of Pinot Noir combining two other local products. Our own patrons seemed to agree that the Kir was very palatable with the sweet twist of black currant.
Then we shifted on to the first of our white Burgundies. The first thing to learn about Burgundy is that the wines are labelled based on their origin rather than explicitly mentioning the grape variety. Montagny is a village in the Cote Chalonnaise – a sub-region of Burgundy just south of the Cote d’Or. The climate here is slightly warmer, encouraging a slightly riper style of wine. The example we taste is paired with robust oak, bringing a nice smoky twist paired with a lick of cream and a fine minerality but all the while driven by tart stone fruit.
Then on to one of the favourite wines of the evening – Meursault. This is one of the more acclaimed villages of the Cotes de Beaune, and rightly holds a reputation for some of the rounder and creamier of the Burgs. Make no mistake, this is never going to be the butter bomb of a classic Gisborne or California style of Chardonnay. It is elegant, aromatic, smooth with a slight oiliness in texture, again underpinned by the classic minerality of Burgundy.
Up another big step in price point to the most expensive wine of the evening- the famous Corton-Charlemagne. This hill was once owned by King Charlemagne himself. Apparently his wife was displeased with the red wine stains on the king’s beard, and insisted that the hill be replanted in white grapes! The wine is expectedly spectacular – but so it aught to be for over $300 per bottle. More of a ‘reductive’ style of winemaking compared to the Meursault, more powerful, with roasted nuts, fresh hay, citrus, honey, hints of truffle and more. At 5 years old it’s starting to open a little, and in another 5 years will be at its peak.
Onto the grape derided by Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy who thoroughly derided Gammay as disloyal, and harmful to humans, even alleging it to infect people with serious diseases! While his medical analysis of Gammay proved to be far from the mark, he highlights an obsession with Burgundy wines- that over-cropping (allowing the vines to produce a large amount of fruit) tends to produce inferior wines. The Beaujolais region is famous for the Gammay grape, with the ‘Cru’ versions like the Cote de Brouilly a sporting a profusion of bright berry and plum flavours and soft tannins, far more drinkable than ‘Beaujolais Nouveau’ which is consumed in vast quantities each November – and then not again for the rest of the year.
Next in the lineup we compared to ‘Village’ level wines- Cotes de Beaune Villages and Cote de Nuits Villages. Coming from different geographical areas but at the same quality tier and same price point, the ‘Beaune’ showing more austere and earth, while the ‘Nuits’ showing more aromatic fruit and finer tannins. Curiously this was the opposite of what one would expect from these sub-regions, with the Cote de Nuits having a reputation for more full bodied and savoury wines compared to its southern neighbour.
Our last two wines we compared wines from the same village but different quality tiers. Givrey-Chambertin is one of the larger villages in the Cote de Nuits, and sporting a number of different ‘Lieu Dits’ and Grand Cru vineyards. We compared a wine from ‘La Justice’ on the eastern wide of the village from Domaine Antonin Guyon with the final wine of the evening – Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Latricieres Chambertin Grand Cru. The Grand cru being twice the price and with some extra bottle age was the clear preference of the two – but then again at $200 per bottle it better be good! Curious to see the Grand Cru coming into its own at 9 years old, though with 80% new oak that’s not unexpected, and will round out further with another few years to reach its peak.
So how did the wines show for our tasters? Kudos went to the top two White Burgundies over the reds, the Meursault and Corton-Charlemagne taking honours with the two Givrey-Chambertin reds tied for third place.
]]>
Our most recent tasting event features the wines of Burgundy – a famous French wine region that lays claim to the spiritual home of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is also synonymous with the concept of “Terroir” … the idea that a wine is the product of the environment that it comes from – especially the macro-climate, micro-climate and the soils that the grapes are grown in. With 100 different appellations and 400 different recognised the Burgundians have the individuality of specific influences on a wine down to a fine art. It’s frustrating to find the duality of Burgundy – on one hand the simplicity… after all there are just two grapes to worry about for fine wine in Burgundy – but on the other hand maddening in its complexity.
European wines need to be paired with food, so alongside our line-up of wines tasting platters included three imported French cheeses including a Brie stuffed with a truffle paste, chicken sautéed in a lemon-cream sauce, traditional (and homemade) French puff pastry gougeres, truffled Portobello mushrooms, medium-rare lamb rump, and of course the Burgundian delicacy Escargot.
We started our tasting with the “other white grape” of Burgundy – Aligote. A pale green grape grown in the Southern parts of Burgundy. Sometimes described as “the poor mans Chardonnay” – you would be hard pressed to find an example that meets the heady expectation and price point of ‘proper’ white Burgundy. Perhaps a bit of a mean assessment in the wider world of wine, but in the context of some superb wines in this lineup it rings true. Lighter and fresher, aromas of apple, citrus and stone fruit with a crisp finish. After a quick initial taste we doctor the glasses with a splash of another Burgundian product- Crème de Cassis.
The “Kir” is a now famous cocktail named for Felix Kir, a Catholic priest, underground resistance fighter, hotelier and long-time mayor of the city of Dijon. It’s alleged that the occupying German troops in WWII had cleaned out most of the red Burgundy worth drinking, and Kir came up with the idea of creating a cocktail to serve his guests in the absence of Pinot Noir combining two other local products. Our own patrons seemed to agree that the Kir was very palatable with the sweet twist of black currant.
Then we shifted on to the first of our white Burgundies. The first thing to learn about Burgundy is that the wines are labelled based on their origin rather than explicitly mentioning the grape variety. Montagny is a village in the Cote Chalonnaise – a sub-region of Burgundy just south of the Cote d’Or. The climate here is slightly warmer, encouraging a slightly riper style of wine. The example we taste is paired with robust oak, bringing a nice smoky twist paired with a lick of cream and a fine minerality but all the while driven by tart stone fruit.
Then on to one of the favourite wines of the evening – Meursault. This is one of the more acclaimed villages of the Cotes de Beaune, and rightly holds a reputation for some of the rounder and creamier of the Burgs. Make no mistake, this is never going to be the butter bomb of a classic Gisborne or California style of Chardonnay. It is elegant, aromatic, smooth with a slight oiliness in texture, again underpinned by the classic minerality of Burgundy.
Up another big step in price point to the most expensive wine of the evening- the famous Corton-Charlemagne. This hill was once owned by King Charlemagne himself. Apparently his wife was displeased with the red wine stains on the king’s beard, and insisted that the hill be replanted in white grapes! The wine is expectedly spectacular – but so it aught to be for over $300 per bottle. More of a ‘reductive’ style of winemaking compared to the Meursault, more powerful, with roasted nuts, fresh hay, citrus, honey, hints of truffle and more. At 5 years old it’s starting to open a little, and in another 5 years will be at its peak.
Onto the grape derided by Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy who thoroughly derided Gammay as disloyal, and harmful to humans, even alleging it to infect people with serious diseases! While his medical analysis of Gammay proved to be far from the mark, he highlights an obsession with Burgundy wines- that over-cropping (allowing the vines to produce a large amount of fruit) tends to produce inferior wines. The Beaujolais region is famous for the Gammay grape, with the ‘Cru’ versions like the Cote de Brouilly a sporting a profusion of bright berry and plum flavours and soft tannins, far more drinkable than ‘Beaujolais Nouveau’ which is consumed in vast quantities each November – and then not again for the rest of the year.
Next in the lineup we compared to ‘Village’ level wines- Cotes de Beaune Villages and Cote de Nuits Villages. Coming from different geographical areas but at the same quality tier and same price point, the ‘Beaune’ showing more austere and earth, while the ‘Nuits’ showing more aromatic fruit and finer tannins. Curiously this was the opposite of what one would expect from these sub-regions, with the Cote de Nuits having a reputation for more full bodied and savoury wines compared to its southern neighbour.
Our last two wines we compared wines from the same village but different quality tiers. Givrey-Chambertin is one of the larger villages in the Cote de Nuits, and sporting a number of different ‘Lieu Dits’ and Grand Cru vineyards. We compared a wine from ‘La Justice’ on the eastern wide of the village from Domaine Antonin Guyon with the final wine of the evening – Domaine Drouhin-Laroze Latricieres Chambertin Grand Cru. The Grand cru being twice the price and with some extra bottle age was the clear preference of the two – but then again at $200 per bottle it better be good! Curious to see the Grand Cru coming into its own at 9 years old, though with 80% new oak that’s not unexpected, and will round out further with another few years to reach its peak.
So how did the wines show for our tasters? Kudos went to the top two White Burgundies over the reds, the Meursault and Corton-Charlemagne taking honours with the two Givrey-Chambertin reds tied for third place.
]]>
One of the joys and heartaches of the wine world is the difference between each year. The conditions over the growing season will determine the character of the wine. Was there frost early on? Was it overly windy during the flowering season, was it warm or cool over summer? Was it dry or wet, in particular in the last few weeks before harvest? Were there disease pressures and rot? A freak hail storm at the tail end of the season? Perhaps a long 'Indian Summer' that allowed fruit to stay out on the vine longer than usual. Perhaps there were bad storms forecast that forced growers to pick earlier than ideal.
So perhaps we start on home turf. 2017 vintage in New Zealand by in large will go down as one of the most "challenging" seasons for growers. This is a code word used in the industry to denote bad weather conditions, and when you hear growers talk about a 'very challenging' season we have reason to worry about what standard the wine is going to be. As the proverb goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and with poor quality fruit there is only so much that a winemaker can do to rescue the vintage.
Those of us in Wellington will remember this last summer as one of the cooler and definitely one of the wettest in recent memory. It wasn't just us either, most of New Zealand will decry 2017 as one of the most "challenging" years (aka- utter crap for many). Hawkes Bay was looking good up until 2 weeks before harvest when the rains came & didn't stop. Marlborough was beset with mildew and rot. When the picking happens it needs to be done in a hurry, which is particularly hard if picking selected fruit carefully by hand. One trained picker can bring in about a ton of fruit. One picking machine by comparison can deliver 200 tons in the same time. (photo- a grape picker in France this year).
In cold wet years the fruit doesn't reach a decent sugar level to get a decent ferment and reasonable alcohol levels, and one of the running jokes this year is that it would be a bumper profit year for the Chelsea Sugar factory, with 'chapitalisation' rife among growers needing to add sugar to the must in order to make decent wine. With high rain means plumper berries too, meaning potentially diluted concentration. Don McConachy from Devotus wines in Martinborough says the bad vintages reward the diligent growers, those who did the hard work over the year in the vineyard will get much better results in the bottle. Particularly those who hand tend their plots vine by vine. Don 'dry farms' his established ex-Dry River vines, meaning no irrigation. It's all organic too, with great care going into the long term health of the vines. Healthier vines perform better in 'challenging conditions', and the top producers generally still make good wines in bad years.
So how about in the Northern Hemisphere? Early days of picking are underway in Europe, and it will be a vintage to remember for the best and worst reasons. They say the size of a vintage is determined in Spring, and the quality in Autumn. Spring 2017 in much of France and Italy were met with a succession of savage frosts - destroying delicate fruit buds and even killing some exposed vines entirely. With climate change the weather extremes seem to happen more frequently. Bordeaux was hit particularly badly this year, with yields this year expected to be down by 50%. This isn't evenly spread across the region, some growers were almost completely unscathed especially in the South and West, and others especially on the Right Bank like Entre Deux Mers and St Emilion losing virtually their entire crop. Jonathan Ducourt in Bordeaux is somewhat sanguine about it, you take what nature gives you, the good and the bad. Ducourt has suffered losses of 95% this year. They still have wine to sell, but it might be a different story in a year or two when the 2017's would normally be released. (photo from frost damaged Ducourt vineyards in Bordeaux)
Frost in Chablis (again), parts of Burgundy and Languedoc mean low yields, Alsace down by 30% with Gewurztraminer particularly badly hit. The Loire is down 10-40%, though Champagne lovers can breath easier, with a higher yield on last year's low crop, but still 9% down on the 5-year average. As a whole, French wine production will be down by some 17% - thats the equivalent of a staggering 900 million bottles of wine lost. Similar numbers are hitting the Italians. (photo of frost damaged grape berries)
The good news is that an unseasonably hot summer broke temperature records again this year, meaning an early harvest and excellent quality fruit. That will put pressure on prices- less wine but of good quality puts asture wine lovers into a buying frenzy... particularly for the top wines. We'll watch with great interest what happens here, though we've already seen a 20% price hike this month from our Burgundy producers Olivier Leflaive, after another price hike just 6 months earlier!
The first 2017 season wines from New Zealand are starting to release now- starting with the Sauvignon Blancs and Rose wines. It's a bit early to make definitive conclusions just yet, but we're expecting the wines on average in NZ to be below average in quality. A bit thin, short on texture and flavour. The reds will be the most telling, especially those grape varieties that ripen late like Cabernet Sauvignon. The last time we experienced a dreadful year was 2012, and top producers like Te Mata didn't even make their flagship wine like Coleraine in that vintage. They will carefully analyse the contents of their barrels as they mature, and we'll find out in a couple of years the final result.
The vines go to sleep over winter, and after pruning the viticulturalist has a well earned break - awaiting spring for the cycle to begin again. And as the the European growing season draws to a close, ours starts up again. This last week Don at Devotus saw the first buds burst in Martinborough, the easily damaged first growth on the battle hardened vines. What will the 'vintage' of 2018 deliver?? (photo- bud burst at Devotus)
]]>One of the joys and heartaches of the wine world is the difference between each year. The conditions over the growing season will determine the character of the wine. Was there frost early on? Was it overly windy during the flowering season, was it warm or cool over summer? Was it dry or wet, in particular in the last few weeks before harvest? Were there disease pressures and rot? A freak hail storm at the tail end of the season? Perhaps a long 'Indian Summer' that allowed fruit to stay out on the vine longer than usual. Perhaps there were bad storms forecast that forced growers to pick earlier than ideal.
So perhaps we start on home turf. 2017 vintage in New Zealand by in large will go down as one of the most "challenging" seasons for growers. This is a code word used in the industry to denote bad weather conditions, and when you hear growers talk about a 'very challenging' season we have reason to worry about what standard the wine is going to be. As the proverb goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and with poor quality fruit there is only so much that a winemaker can do to rescue the vintage.
Those of us in Wellington will remember this last summer as one of the cooler and definitely one of the wettest in recent memory. It wasn't just us either, most of New Zealand will decry 2017 as one of the most "challenging" years (aka- utter crap for many). Hawkes Bay was looking good up until 2 weeks before harvest when the rains came & didn't stop. Marlborough was beset with mildew and rot. When the picking happens it needs to be done in a hurry, which is particularly hard if picking selected fruit carefully by hand. One trained picker can bring in about a ton of fruit. One picking machine by comparison can deliver 200 tons in the same time. (photo- a grape picker in France this year).
In cold wet years the fruit doesn't reach a decent sugar level to get a decent ferment and reasonable alcohol levels, and one of the running jokes this year is that it would be a bumper profit year for the Chelsea Sugar factory, with 'chapitalisation' rife among growers needing to add sugar to the must in order to make decent wine. With high rain means plumper berries too, meaning potentially diluted concentration. Don McConachy from Devotus wines in Martinborough says the bad vintages reward the diligent growers, those who did the hard work over the year in the vineyard will get much better results in the bottle. Particularly those who hand tend their plots vine by vine. Don 'dry farms' his established ex-Dry River vines, meaning no irrigation. It's all organic too, with great care going into the long term health of the vines. Healthier vines perform better in 'challenging conditions', and the top producers generally still make good wines in bad years.
So how about in the Northern Hemisphere? Early days of picking are underway in Europe, and it will be a vintage to remember for the best and worst reasons. They say the size of a vintage is determined in Spring, and the quality in Autumn. Spring 2017 in much of France and Italy were met with a succession of savage frosts - destroying delicate fruit buds and even killing some exposed vines entirely. With climate change the weather extremes seem to happen more frequently. Bordeaux was hit particularly badly this year, with yields this year expected to be down by 50%. This isn't evenly spread across the region, some growers were almost completely unscathed especially in the South and West, and others especially on the Right Bank like Entre Deux Mers and St Emilion losing virtually their entire crop. Jonathan Ducourt in Bordeaux is somewhat sanguine about it, you take what nature gives you, the good and the bad. Ducourt has suffered losses of 95% this year. They still have wine to sell, but it might be a different story in a year or two when the 2017's would normally be released. (photo from frost damaged Ducourt vineyards in Bordeaux)
Frost in Chablis (again), parts of Burgundy and Languedoc mean low yields, Alsace down by 30% with Gewurztraminer particularly badly hit. The Loire is down 10-40%, though Champagne lovers can breath easier, with a higher yield on last year's low crop, but still 9% down on the 5-year average. As a whole, French wine production will be down by some 17% - thats the equivalent of a staggering 900 million bottles of wine lost. Similar numbers are hitting the Italians. (photo of frost damaged grape berries)
The good news is that an unseasonably hot summer broke temperature records again this year, meaning an early harvest and excellent quality fruit. That will put pressure on prices- less wine but of good quality puts asture wine lovers into a buying frenzy... particularly for the top wines. We'll watch with great interest what happens here, though we've already seen a 20% price hike this month from our Burgundy producers Olivier Leflaive, after another price hike just 6 months earlier!
The first 2017 season wines from New Zealand are starting to release now- starting with the Sauvignon Blancs and Rose wines. It's a bit early to make definitive conclusions just yet, but we're expecting the wines on average in NZ to be below average in quality. A bit thin, short on texture and flavour. The reds will be the most telling, especially those grape varieties that ripen late like Cabernet Sauvignon. The last time we experienced a dreadful year was 2012, and top producers like Te Mata didn't even make their flagship wine like Coleraine in that vintage. They will carefully analyse the contents of their barrels as they mature, and we'll find out in a couple of years the final result.
The vines go to sleep over winter, and after pruning the viticulturalist has a well earned break - awaiting spring for the cycle to begin again. And as the the European growing season draws to a close, ours starts up again. This last week Don at Devotus saw the first buds burst in Martinborough, the easily damaged first growth on the battle hardened vines. What will the 'vintage' of 2018 deliver?? (photo- bud burst at Devotus)
]]>The towns here are like most of France - small, charming, oozing with character and history, and also seemingly largely empty. Especially in the mid-day heat, windows are shuttered and entire towns virtually close until the afternoon. We are staying in the hills surrounding the town of Barjols, some 1.5 hours East of Aix-en-Provence, and 1.5 hours Northwest of Saint-Tropez.
We are here of course for wine - Rumour has it that Rosé wine consumption continues to outpace other wine styles, and that it may already have eclipsed white wine volumes in France. In no other region is it more prominent than Provence where it makes up over 80% of production. Unlike most Kiwi Rosé though, it is pale in colour, dry, and crisp. Not just for enjoying in summer sunshine but all year round and pairs nicely with a wide range of seafood, salads, cheeses, and other kinds of foods. To us falls the onerous task of tasting dozens of them, assessing typicity, quality, and value for money.
Of particular interest to us are the wines of Bandol - a small but cherished appellation on the hills close to the Med, rocky dry soils that suit the king grape of this micro-region: Mourvedre. This late ripening and tricky grape variety grows with short sturdy trunks that can withstand the Mistral winds, the low rainfall and heat helping to produce small amounts of very intensely flavoured and tannic grapes. The vines share landscape with old olive trees to create a beautiful but rugged landscape.
The rosé in these parts has a unique length and concentration while coupled with a delicate floral aromatic elegance and a long minerality. The reds are made in smaller volume, but form bold, spicy, full bodied wines with excellent longevity. (Cédric Gravier from Domaine Suffrene showing us his outstanding wines including old vintages of his flagship red).
A visit to Chateau Escarelle is an interesting contrast, where 100 hectares of vines are nestled amongst 1,000 hectares of forest and regenerating nature. The estate was bought a few years ago by a wealthy technology businessman who set about building a brand new gravity fed high-tech winery, replanting woodlands, and converting the viticulture to organic practices. We enjoy a personal Jurassic-park style tour through the grounds in a hybrid-Prius (eco friendly of course), past their new butterfly garden and livestock areas designed to restore natural bio-diversity back to the vineyards.
No trip to Provence is complete without a trip to the beach, where the sea breeze moderates the heat slightly. Festooned with overpriced seaside bistros, artificial sandy beaches, with equal numbers of youngsters in skimpy bikinis and older sunworshippers bronzed by the long summer days.
We next depart for Paris on the famous high-speed TGV train that will take just 3 hours to whisk us from Marseille to the centre of Paris where our journey concludes. To read my previous blog about the Vinexpo wine fair click here.
]]>The towns here are like most of France - small, charming, oozing with character and history, and also seemingly largely empty. Especially in the mid-day heat, windows are shuttered and entire towns virtually close until the afternoon. We are staying in the hills surrounding the town of Barjols, some 1.5 hours East of Aix-en-Provence, and 1.5 hours Northwest of Saint-Tropez.
We are here of course for wine - Rumour has it that Rosé wine consumption continues to outpace other wine styles, and that it may already have eclipsed white wine volumes in France. In no other region is it more prominent than Provence where it makes up over 80% of production. Unlike most Kiwi Rosé though, it is pale in colour, dry, and crisp. Not just for enjoying in summer sunshine but all year round and pairs nicely with a wide range of seafood, salads, cheeses, and other kinds of foods. To us falls the onerous task of tasting dozens of them, assessing typicity, quality, and value for money.
Of particular interest to us are the wines of Bandol - a small but cherished appellation on the hills close to the Med, rocky dry soils that suit the king grape of this micro-region: Mourvedre. This late ripening and tricky grape variety grows with short sturdy trunks that can withstand the Mistral winds, the low rainfall and heat helping to produce small amounts of very intensely flavoured and tannic grapes. The vines share landscape with old olive trees to create a beautiful but rugged landscape.
The rosé in these parts has a unique length and concentration while coupled with a delicate floral aromatic elegance and a long minerality. The reds are made in smaller volume, but form bold, spicy, full bodied wines with excellent longevity. (Cédric Gravier from Domaine Suffrene showing us his outstanding wines including old vintages of his flagship red).
A visit to Chateau Escarelle is an interesting contrast, where 100 hectares of vines are nestled amongst 1,000 hectares of forest and regenerating nature. The estate was bought a few years ago by a wealthy technology businessman who set about building a brand new gravity fed high-tech winery, replanting woodlands, and converting the viticulture to organic practices. We enjoy a personal Jurassic-park style tour through the grounds in a hybrid-Prius (eco friendly of course), past their new butterfly garden and livestock areas designed to restore natural bio-diversity back to the vineyards.
No trip to Provence is complete without a trip to the beach, where the sea breeze moderates the heat slightly. Festooned with overpriced seaside bistros, artificial sandy beaches, with equal numbers of youngsters in skimpy bikinis and older sunworshippers bronzed by the long summer days.
We next depart for Paris on the famous high-speed TGV train that will take just 3 hours to whisk us from Marseille to the centre of Paris where our journey concludes. To read my previous blog about the Vinexpo wine fair click here.
]]>The 'Parc des Expositions' has rolled out the red carpet, literally in this case. Alot of it too, as the floor area amounts to 80,000 square meters, stuffed to the gills with trade stands designed to woo both potential and existing clients. In addition there are dozens of masterclasses to showcase wine styles, new regions, and highlight issues facing the wine world like climate change.
The wines represented here come from all around the world, with wines from all the usual suspects like Italy, Spain and France, but also from less common destinations like China, Croatia, Uruguay and the Republic of Georgia. With literally thousands of producers on show it is a matter of where to spend time exploring in order to meet specific goals rather than be distracted by everything on offer.
In some cases many producers from a single region combine together to allow customers to speed taste a wide range of wines from the area, in the case below dozens of Provence Roses.
Most times though, individual stands are manned by attentive agents to guide you through the wares of a particular winery. A good opportunity to reconnect with wineries that we already deal with, like Cave de Tain from the Rhone Valley.
Some of these are particularly lavish, especially for the large multinational companies which makes one wonder at times how much of the bottle price pays for the marketing side of the business rather than the contents of the bottle.
I did permit myself a detour to the 'Grand Vins de Bordeaux' area with a wide range of Cru Classé wines open to taste. Ironically considering the pomp and circumstance of many of the stands, these top end wines were poured across simple trestle tables, albeit with white table cloths. These wines are barrel samples of the 2016 wines, designed for those buying 'En Primeur' to make an early judge of the vintage quality, as the wines are a good 1-2 years away from release. I have confirmed my bias for the bold cedary wines from Pauillac, the wines from Chateau Clerc Milon, Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse, and Chateau Lynch Bages all looking particularly fine.
Armed with piles of tasting notes and price lists, we retire to consider our next potential investments. From here we will drive South through Toulouse and onto Provence. For my next blog about Provence click here. ... or the previous blog about Bordeaux go here.
]]>
The 'Parc des Expositions' has rolled out the red carpet, literally in this case. Alot of it too, as the floor area amounts to 80,000 square meters, stuffed to the gills with trade stands designed to woo both potential and existing clients. In addition there are dozens of masterclasses to showcase wine styles, new regions, and highlight issues facing the wine world like climate change.
The wines represented here come from all around the world, with wines from all the usual suspects like Italy, Spain and France, but also from less common destinations like China, Croatia, Uruguay and the Republic of Georgia. With literally thousands of producers on show it is a matter of where to spend time exploring in order to meet specific goals rather than be distracted by everything on offer.
In some cases many producers from a single region combine together to allow customers to speed taste a wide range of wines from the area, in the case below dozens of Provence Roses.
Most times though, individual stands are manned by attentive agents to guide you through the wares of a particular winery. A good opportunity to reconnect with wineries that we already deal with, like Cave de Tain from the Rhone Valley.
Some of these are particularly lavish, especially for the large multinational companies which makes one wonder at times how much of the bottle price pays for the marketing side of the business rather than the contents of the bottle.
I did permit myself a detour to the 'Grand Vins de Bordeaux' area with a wide range of Cru Classé wines open to taste. Ironically considering the pomp and circumstance of many of the stands, these top end wines were poured across simple trestle tables, albeit with white table cloths. These wines are barrel samples of the 2016 wines, designed for those buying 'En Primeur' to make an early judge of the vintage quality, as the wines are a good 1-2 years away from release. I have confirmed my bias for the bold cedary wines from Pauillac, the wines from Chateau Clerc Milon, Chateau Grand-Puy Ducasse, and Chateau Lynch Bages all looking particularly fine.
Armed with piles of tasting notes and price lists, we retire to consider our next potential investments. From here we will drive South through Toulouse and onto Provence. For my next blog about Provence click here. ... or the previous blog about Bordeaux go here.
]]>
Margaux means a visit to Chateau Angludet, an old established family estate surrounded by gently rolling fields of vines, with deep stony soils that make the region famous. These are the types of wine that inspire Kiwi greats like Te Mata Coleraine. We are treated to a vertical tasting of 5 vintages of the flagship wine, each exhibiting their own unique style based on the year. Luxurious dark and ripe cabernet, blended with portions of Merlot and a significant percentage of Petit Verdot. We finish with a barrel sample of the 2016 vintage, looking to be an excellent year even before it is done with barrel aging.
Sadly the beginnng of the 2017 year has not been kind here, the severe frosts that largely spared the Graves region hit hard here, with more than 80% of the crop wiped out before it really had a chance to begin... and that assumes everything else goes well between now and harvest! The few vines that we found with any sign of fruit on them were few and far between. For all the glamour of the fine wine business, when mother nature deals a bad hand there is nothing to do about it... and although crying over spilt milk is frowned upon mourning a lost vintage is perfectly acceptable. Angludet is somewhat sanguine, there is still wine to be sold, and the 2015 and 2016 years both look to be excellent when they are released... though possibly at higher prices to help bridge stem the losses. (Photo, notice the tiny remaining buds on the vine compared to the ample fruit in Trebiac on the previous blog)
Off to St Emilion on the opposite side of the region, this beautiful Romanesque town from the middle ages is a magnet to wine tourists. So much so that it is alleged that few locals remain living in the town, with the likes of Airbnb doing a brisk trade in accomodation. The typical small town Boulangeries and Charcuteries are largely gone too, instead replaced with throngs of wine shops and restaurants. There are treasures here, with many of the shops holding old vintages going back decades. It is possible to buy wine here from your birth year, though no guarantees that they have lasted the distance.
Our last winery visit in the region before the wine expo we are here to attend is in the small village of Ladaux, where Vignoble Ducourt calls home. Jonathan Ducourt greets us, complete with an NZ flag flying on the grounds to welcome us. This is a serious operation, where the Ducourt family has built an impressive and end-to-end business. As well as growing the grapes and making the wines, they have their own automated bottling line, storage warehouse, and distribution onsite. This way they control and test the quality of every step of the journey.
Over multiple generations the Ducourts have acquired plots of land from struggling neighbours, no more so than in the 1950s when the region suffered four terrible vintages in a row. Jonathan's Grandfather was an astute business man too, one of the selling growers posting a sign at the vineyard of a crocodile, half as a joke, warning others that Ducourt would eat all of the neighbours up. Ducourt was delighted by this, and the croc forms a key part of the family logo to this day as a result!
Next stop Vinexpo, the drawcard for our trip and the liquid gold that lies within. For the next blog entry click here. or my previous blog about the Loire Valley go this way.
]]>Margaux means a visit to Chateau Angludet, an old established family estate surrounded by gently rolling fields of vines, with deep stony soils that make the region famous. These are the types of wine that inspire Kiwi greats like Te Mata Coleraine. We are treated to a vertical tasting of 5 vintages of the flagship wine, each exhibiting their own unique style based on the year. Luxurious dark and ripe cabernet, blended with portions of Merlot and a significant percentage of Petit Verdot. We finish with a barrel sample of the 2016 vintage, looking to be an excellent year even before it is done with barrel aging.
Sadly the beginnng of the 2017 year has not been kind here, the severe frosts that largely spared the Graves region hit hard here, with more than 80% of the crop wiped out before it really had a chance to begin... and that assumes everything else goes well between now and harvest! The few vines that we found with any sign of fruit on them were few and far between. For all the glamour of the fine wine business, when mother nature deals a bad hand there is nothing to do about it... and although crying over spilt milk is frowned upon mourning a lost vintage is perfectly acceptable. Angludet is somewhat sanguine, there is still wine to be sold, and the 2015 and 2016 years both look to be excellent when they are released... though possibly at higher prices to help bridge stem the losses. (Photo, notice the tiny remaining buds on the vine compared to the ample fruit in Trebiac on the previous blog)
Off to St Emilion on the opposite side of the region, this beautiful Romanesque town from the middle ages is a magnet to wine tourists. So much so that it is alleged that few locals remain living in the town, with the likes of Airbnb doing a brisk trade in accomodation. The typical small town Boulangeries and Charcuteries are largely gone too, instead replaced with throngs of wine shops and restaurants. There are treasures here, with many of the shops holding old vintages going back decades. It is possible to buy wine here from your birth year, though no guarantees that they have lasted the distance.
Our last winery visit in the region before the wine expo we are here to attend is in the small village of Ladaux, where Vignoble Ducourt calls home. Jonathan Ducourt greets us, complete with an NZ flag flying on the grounds to welcome us. This is a serious operation, where the Ducourt family has built an impressive and end-to-end business. As well as growing the grapes and making the wines, they have their own automated bottling line, storage warehouse, and distribution onsite. This way they control and test the quality of every step of the journey.
Over multiple generations the Ducourts have acquired plots of land from struggling neighbours, no more so than in the 1950s when the region suffered four terrible vintages in a row. Jonathan's Grandfather was an astute business man too, one of the selling growers posting a sign at the vineyard of a crocodile, half as a joke, warning others that Ducourt would eat all of the neighbours up. Ducourt was delighted by this, and the croc forms a key part of the family logo to this day as a result!
Next stop Vinexpo, the drawcard for our trip and the liquid gold that lies within. For the next blog entry click here. or my previous blog about the Loire Valley go this way.
]]>The counterpoint to these quaint towns are the enormous and palatial chateaux. We conclude our visit to the Loire with a visit to Chambord, the most famous of the bunch, essentially a summer hunting lodge built by King Francis I in the 1500s. That he only visited it a handful of times, and for only 3 days at a time speaks of the immense wealth and extravagance of the royalty and elite. The Chateau is of course a combination of stunning beauty and ingenious design, with the famous double-helix staircase rumoured to be designed by Leonardo Davinci.
With a speedy 4 hour drive on the Autoroute, we zoom through the countryside of gently rolling hillsides, with fields of wheat, wild flowers, woods and grassy plains. Notably absent are the herds of cows and sheep that adorn the NZ highways.
And then we arrive in the heart of Bordeaux. Immediately one realises the pace of the city is different, an efficient tramway system alleviating a portion of the terrible traffic in a city clearly not built for cars. Bordeaux is growing fast, and spreading outwards as it does. The city boasts the second highest number of historic buildings in France (behind Paris) and the sense of history and commercial success is impressive.
We quickly make our way to the countryside to visit Chateau Crabitey and Chateau Trebiac in the Graves region. This is a wine 'appellation' to the south of the Bordeaux city, and we are greeted by Arnaud de Butler the proprietor of the estate. His family has owned the property for a relatively short time by French standards, having been a orphanage run by nuns for some 150 years beforehand. Arnaud completed a thorough renovation of the vineyards and recently built a brand new winery. He proudly treats us to a tasting of several vintages of his wines, including the bold 2015 vintage just bottled, and a velvety 2001 vintage over lunch as a dramatic counterpoint.
The vines are a very advanced state of growth compared to the Loire, the heat has brought on a swift maturity. It is hot this year, and getting hotter. 30 degrees today with a scorching 37 degrees forecast for Monday and the vineyard at Trebiac is already 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Not all of Bordeaux has enjoyed the season so far, and I will explain why in the next blog. This is some of the best soils in Graves, note the stony soils that go some 35 meters deep and the healthy looking berries tucked behind the protective canopy of summer growth.
Next we travel to Margaux, with a different tale to tell of the vintage so far.
]]>The counterpoint to these quaint towns are the enormous and palatial chateaux. We conclude our visit to the Loire with a visit to Chambord, the most famous of the bunch, essentially a summer hunting lodge built by King Francis I in the 1500s. That he only visited it a handful of times, and for only 3 days at a time speaks of the immense wealth and extravagance of the royalty and elite. The Chateau is of course a combination of stunning beauty and ingenious design, with the famous double-helix staircase rumoured to be designed by Leonardo Davinci.
With a speedy 4 hour drive on the Autoroute, we zoom through the countryside of gently rolling hillsides, with fields of wheat, wild flowers, woods and grassy plains. Notably absent are the herds of cows and sheep that adorn the NZ highways.
And then we arrive in the heart of Bordeaux. Immediately one realises the pace of the city is different, an efficient tramway system alleviating a portion of the terrible traffic in a city clearly not built for cars. Bordeaux is growing fast, and spreading outwards as it does. The city boasts the second highest number of historic buildings in France (behind Paris) and the sense of history and commercial success is impressive.
We quickly make our way to the countryside to visit Chateau Crabitey and Chateau Trebiac in the Graves region. This is a wine 'appellation' to the south of the Bordeaux city, and we are greeted by Arnaud de Butler the proprietor of the estate. His family has owned the property for a relatively short time by French standards, having been a orphanage run by nuns for some 150 years beforehand. Arnaud completed a thorough renovation of the vineyards and recently built a brand new winery. He proudly treats us to a tasting of several vintages of his wines, including the bold 2015 vintage just bottled, and a velvety 2001 vintage over lunch as a dramatic counterpoint.
The vines are a very advanced state of growth compared to the Loire, the heat has brought on a swift maturity. It is hot this year, and getting hotter. 30 degrees today with a scorching 37 degrees forecast for Monday and the vineyard at Trebiac is already 2 weeks ahead of schedule. Not all of Bordeaux has enjoyed the season so far, and I will explain why in the next blog. This is some of the best soils in Graves, note the stony soils that go some 35 meters deep and the healthy looking berries tucked behind the protective canopy of summer growth.
Next we travel to Margaux, with a different tale to tell of the vintage so far.
]]>Our destination in this region is the town of Amboise, perched above the Loire River. The Loire is the longest river in France, being some 1,100km in length, wide and swift flowing. Beautiful in these parts too, explaining why French kings and Royal courts built so many extravagent properties here. (Photo of the Loire, and the town of Amboise).
Todays journey took us to the cellars of Clos de Nouys in Vouvray. We initially chose to import wines from this family winery into New Zealand after meeting and tasting with Philippe Chainier, and today was our first chance to travel to the winery and vineyards, this time meeting with charming brother François. Vouvray is one of the oldest official appellations in France, and while there is only one grape permitted here (the great Chenin Blanc) it can come in wildly different forms including bone dry, super-sweet, and event excellent sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne. (Photo of Katie and Francois outside the 'troglodyte' cellars).
We had a rare treat in tasting in the dark cellar - an old vintage from the personal family stash - the tremendous 1988 vintage Vouvray. It had been 10 years since François himself had tasted this year, and we felt very honoured to share in the experience. The wine was Deep golden in colour, it showed great depth and complexity, musky citrus, burnt honey, hints of marzipan and orange peel. Still very much alive after almost 30 years of age. We also got to taste the unctuous 2005 Cuvée Grains Dorées, fat and full bodied, dripping with honey and marmalade, sweet flowers, exotic fruits and spice. (Photo 1988 vintage, from a very mouldy unlabelled bottle).
We also managed a trip to Leonardo Davinci's last home, where for the last 3 years of his life he spent painting, talking at length with King Francis, and designing more incredible inventions from his small study surrounded by beautiful gardens. (Photo of Clos de Lucé).
Lastly we visit one of the smaller but most beautiful of the famous Chateaux at Azay-le-Rideau, built in the 16th century and currently undergoing painstaking restoration. Only in France would they delay the construction for 5 months every year to accomodate the bats living in the rafters of the chateau! (Photo of Michael & Katie infront of the chateau).
]]>Our journey starts with a brief stay in Roissy- a small village minutes away from Charles de Gaulle airport with only 2,000 residents but 16,000+ hotel rooms - obviously an ideal stop off point for weary travelers. According to our hosts, Air France wanted to demolish the entire town to make way for the airport development - inspiring the wrath of the locals. The French have protest down to a fine art, and needless to say the beautiful town still stands. (Photo of Roissy town centre)
After a good nights rest we drove into the heart of the Loire Valley, stopping at several picturesque towns on the way. The Loire is famous for many things, among them some of the most beautiful chateaux, stunning goats cheeses, and a wide variety of fresh produce. No wonder it is nicknamed 'Le Jardin de France'. French cuisine can be fancy and fussy, but some of the best meals are simple things done well with top quality ingredients. Few lunches in my life would exceed freshly baked bread, accompanied by exceptional French cheese, a glass of crisp dry Rose, preferably situated next to a beautiful vista like the postcard perfect town of Moret-sur-Loing at an ideal 27 degrees Celcius. (Photo from said lunch spot)
Our destination in this region is the town of Amboise, perched above the Loire River. The Loire is the longest river in France, being some 1,100km in length, wide and swift flowing. Beautiful in these parts too, explaining why French kings and Royal courts built so many extravagent properties here. (Photo of the Loire, and the town of Amboise).
Todays journey took us to the cellars of Clos de Nouys in Vouvray. We initially chose to import wines from this family winery into New Zealand after meeting and tasting with Philippe Chainier, and today was our first chance to travel to the winery and vineyards, this time meeting with charming brother François. Vouvray is one of the oldest official appellations in France, and while there is only one grape permitted here (the great Chenin Blanc) it can come in wildly different forms including bone dry, super-sweet, and event excellent sparkling wines made in the style of Champagne. (Photo of Katie and Francois outside the 'troglodyte' cellars).
We had a rare treat in tasting in the dark cellar - an old vintage from the personal family stash - the tremendous 1988 vintage Vouvray. It had been 10 years since François himself had tasted this year, and we felt very honoured to share in the experience. The wine was Deep golden in colour, it showed great depth and complexity, musky citrus, burnt honey, hints of marzipan and orange peel. Still very much alive after almost 30 years of age. We also got to taste the unctuous 2005 Cuvée Grains Dorées, fat and full bodied, dripping with honey and marmalade, sweet flowers, exotic fruits and spice. (Photo 1988 vintage, from a very mouldy unlabelled bottle).
We also managed a trip to Leonardo Davinci's last home, where for the last 3 years of his life he spent painting, talking at length with King Francis, and designing more incredible inventions from his small study surrounded by beautiful gardens. (Photo of Clos de Lucé).
Lastly we visit one of the smaller but most beautiful of the famous Chateaux at Azay-le-Rideau, built in the 16th century and currently undergoing painstaking restoration. Only in France would they delay the construction for 5 months every year to accomodate the bats living in the rafters of the chateau! (Photo of Michael & Katie infront of the chateau).
Tomorrow we plan to visit the most famous Chateau of the region, along with a multitude of wine tasting. Hard work this business! The next blog features the Bordeaux region, follow the next step here.
]]>So last night we took a tour of Chablis, tasting eight wines of ascending quality- Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru Chablis. This is a special part of Burgundy that produces only Chardonnay, an area often suffering the heartache of killer frosts, scorching heat waves, hailstones the size of golf balls, and sometimes all three in one season. More typically, the cool climate leans towards a particular style of wine shaped by the soils that it is grown on- a particular Kimmerigean Clay soil stuffed full of fossilised oyster shells and limestone.
We start with a "Petit Chablis" - grown on the Portlandian soils but still offering up the freshness and minerality that we expect from it.
Stepping it up a notch to 'proper' Chablis, brings more depth and texture, particularly from the wines that have more lees aging and bottle age. We don't need oak barrels to make a complex wine, in fact I feel that for these wines that oak would be an interference and detract from the minerality that underlies the wines.
Then comes the heart of the Chablis region the Premier Cru wines that have such individuality based on the particular sites that they come from. For such a small region it is a wonder that there are 40-odd Premier Crus here. With excellent examples from Montmains, Cote de Lechet, Vaillon and Les Lys we get a cornicopia of different flavours. The Montmains from Daniel Race is perhaps the most "chablis-like" with the lean and taut minerality with layers of citrus and melon on top. Les Lys at the other end of the spectrum is the favourite of the night- baked apple, pastry, truffle and spice with a fatness that envelops the palate & stands up to surprisingly rich dishes.
What Chablis tasting would be complete without Grand Cru, we sample from the smallest of the 7 Grand Crus 'Les Grenouilles' (The Frogs), with a bold citrus nose & a scent like a fine Champagne but a length, minerality and complexity that only comes from old vines on a tremendous terroir.
Paired with the wines I prepared fresh oysters, home made Gougeres (cheesy puff pastries), imported French cheeses, Escargot in garlic butter, tender chicken in a chablisien-cream sauce, and home made duck parfait to stand up to the boldest wines.
All in all a great lineup of wines, but some far more favoured than others. Our tasting group voted the Daniel Etienne Defaix Chablis Premier Cru Les Lys the top wine of the night, no surprise given that it comes from one of the oldest and best houses of the region. Following up in second was the Daniel Race Premier Cru Montmains, and the Defaix Premier Cru Cotes de Lechets in third.
]]>
So last night we took a tour of Chablis, tasting eight wines of ascending quality- Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru Chablis. This is a special part of Burgundy that produces only Chardonnay, an area often suffering the heartache of killer frosts, scorching heat waves, hailstones the size of golf balls, and sometimes all three in one season. More typically, the cool climate leans towards a particular style of wine shaped by the soils that it is grown on- a particular Kimmerigean Clay soil stuffed full of fossilised oyster shells and limestone.
We start with a "Petit Chablis" - grown on the Portlandian soils but still offering up the freshness and minerality that we expect from it.
Stepping it up a notch to 'proper' Chablis, brings more depth and texture, particularly from the wines that have more lees aging and bottle age. We don't need oak barrels to make a complex wine, in fact I feel that for these wines that oak would be an interference and detract from the minerality that underlies the wines.
Then comes the heart of the Chablis region the Premier Cru wines that have such individuality based on the particular sites that they come from. For such a small region it is a wonder that there are 40-odd Premier Crus here. With excellent examples from Montmains, Cote de Lechet, Vaillon and Les Lys we get a cornicopia of different flavours. The Montmains from Daniel Race is perhaps the most "chablis-like" with the lean and taut minerality with layers of citrus and melon on top. Les Lys at the other end of the spectrum is the favourite of the night- baked apple, pastry, truffle and spice with a fatness that envelops the palate & stands up to surprisingly rich dishes.
What Chablis tasting would be complete without Grand Cru, we sample from the smallest of the 7 Grand Crus 'Les Grenouilles' (The Frogs), with a bold citrus nose & a scent like a fine Champagne but a length, minerality and complexity that only comes from old vines on a tremendous terroir.
Paired with the wines I prepared fresh oysters, home made Gougeres (cheesy puff pastries), imported French cheeses, Escargot in garlic butter, tender chicken in a chablisien-cream sauce, and home made duck parfait to stand up to the boldest wines.
All in all a great lineup of wines, but some far more favoured than others. Our tasting group voted the Daniel Etienne Defaix Chablis Premier Cru Les Lys the top wine of the night, no surprise given that it comes from one of the oldest and best houses of the region. Following up in second was the Daniel Race Premier Cru Montmains, and the Defaix Premier Cru Cotes de Lechets in third.
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The first "rule" of wine-food pairing is to try & match the weight of the wine & the dish. You don't want to swamp a delicate wine with a massive dish (and visa versa). Acidity & Tannins need to be considered- acidic wines tend to pair well with dishes with a fair bit of fat including butter and cream while big tannins need some protein to chew on. Does the colour matter so much? After a successful pairing of Lamb and Chardonnay recently, I wanted to challenge myself with another "White Meets Red."
Beef tenderloin (eye fillet) is arguably the most delicate and tender cut of beef, less suited to a stonking great Shiraz compared to a lighter wine. In this case I was attempting a balsamic-pomegranate reduction. What to pair with something with sweetness, texture and tanginess... how about Gewurztraminer? Crazy right?
The beef was well aged, seasoned very basically with salt & pepper, seared then oven roasted to medium-rare. The reduction starts with finely chopped shallots & butter, a cup of balsamic vinegar and two (ok three) tablespoons of brown sugar, with a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds... slowly bubbled down to resemble a thick jus. Served together with charred brussel sprouts & garlic.
The wine - my favourite Gewurz comes from Alsace - on France's eastern border with Germany. One of our own imports, the Dopff & Irion 'Les Sorcieres' (the Witches), is off dry in sweetness, but has a rich fat texture, and a balance of fresh aromatics, exotic spices and luscious tropical fruits. Did it work? Absolutely! I wouldn't say that I knocked it out of the park on this one but I'd give it a solid 7.5/10. The palate weight was paired well, the sweetness of the wine worked well with the piquant pomegranate, in hindsight some crisp buttered beans might have worked better than the bitterness from the charred sprouts but very enjoable as a pair.
Have any favourite white meets red crossovers? Drop me a line or comment below.
(ok my photography skills are not as good as my kitchen talents... but rest assured it looked prettier on the plate than this).
]]>The first "rule" of wine-food pairing is to try & match the weight of the wine & the dish. You don't want to swamp a delicate wine with a massive dish (and visa versa). Acidity & Tannins need to be considered- acidic wines tend to pair well with dishes with a fair bit of fat including butter and cream while big tannins need some protein to chew on. Does the colour matter so much? After a successful pairing of Lamb and Chardonnay recently, I wanted to challenge myself with another "White Meets Red."
Beef tenderloin (eye fillet) is arguably the most delicate and tender cut of beef, less suited to a stonking great Shiraz compared to a lighter wine. In this case I was attempting a balsamic-pomegranate reduction. What to pair with something with sweetness, texture and tanginess... how about Gewurztraminer? Crazy right?
The beef was well aged, seasoned very basically with salt & pepper, seared then oven roasted to medium-rare. The reduction starts with finely chopped shallots & butter, a cup of balsamic vinegar and two (ok three) tablespoons of brown sugar, with a handful of fresh pomegranate seeds... slowly bubbled down to resemble a thick jus. Served together with charred brussel sprouts & garlic.
The wine - my favourite Gewurz comes from Alsace - on France's eastern border with Germany. One of our own imports, the Dopff & Irion 'Les Sorcieres' (the Witches), is off dry in sweetness, but has a rich fat texture, and a balance of fresh aromatics, exotic spices and luscious tropical fruits. Did it work? Absolutely! I wouldn't say that I knocked it out of the park on this one but I'd give it a solid 7.5/10. The palate weight was paired well, the sweetness of the wine worked well with the piquant pomegranate, in hindsight some crisp buttered beans might have worked better than the bitterness from the charred sprouts but very enjoable as a pair.
Have any favourite white meets red crossovers? Drop me a line or comment below.
(ok my photography skills are not as good as my kitchen talents... but rest assured it looked prettier on the plate than this).
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