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New Zealand wine of the week - www.wineoftheweek.com
edited by Sue Courtney
Wine of the Week newsletter No. 51 - March 2008
30 March 2008
Dear Friends of www.wineoftheweek.com,
In this issue: -
Harvest excitement
New Zealand Gold Medal Wines and Trophy Winners
Wine and Food Matching Challenge
Recent Wines of the Week
Recent Blog Entries
Keep up with new postingsIt's the midst of 2008 New Zealand grape harvest and there are feelings of excitement and jubilation in the air. It's exciting because this is what the winegrowers have spent the last 10 months working towards, from winter pruning to spring budburst to the flush of growth, fruit set, veraison, ripening, netting and now harvest. Trucks and trailers loaded with bins of freshly picked grapes are transporting their precious load to the wineries where the magical process of fermentation begins.
There's jubilation because just about everywhere the quality and quantity is fantastic, thanks largely to a super summer that the weather experts regard as good as 1998. That was when the warm, dry effects of La Nina brought drought and sweltering hot days, like we have been seeing right throughout the month of March 2008.
1998 was the hottest summer that most winegrowers had ever experienced, perhaps except for 1989. But while 1998 was a phenomenal vintage for later ripening reds, it was too ripe for most Marlborough sauvignon blanc with acids dropping ripe out of the grapes. Now ten years later, most growers have ten more years of experience behind them.
Murray Patterson, a viticulturist in Marlborough who is in the throes of his 31st harvest, says 2008 is as close to a perfect vintage that he can remember. He says that what is remarkable, or perhaps strange, this year is that some of the more moderate crops of Sauvignon Blanc have come off before low cropping Pinot Noir when the latter is usually 10 days ahead. He says it is a triumph for picking on taste and while the acids in the Sauvignon Blanc grapes are holding up well, the wineries who remember what happened in 1989 and 1998 are taking fruit early rather than waiting. However the bulk of the Sauvignon Blanc will come off after the Pinot Noir, which is the main crop being picked in Marlborough right now.
Warren Gibson at Trinity Hill in Hawkes Bay says vintage is going well with excellent fruit picked so far. He says it will end up being a better vintage than 2007 - if it stays dry. They are a third through harvest already although there was some distraction last week when the Black Caps (our cricket team) visited the Trinity Hill winery.
Here in Auckland it hasn't been so cruisy with summer storms the last 2 weeks of February but there hasn't been any significant rain since the 2nd March. Paul Brajkovich of Kumeu River Wines says last year was a dream vintage but this year that have been very selective about what goes into the winery. They've been progressively picking their Chardonnay the last three weeks.
Central Otago winegrowers are on a high with a record harvest, a predicted 10,000 tonnes, being picked the next four or five weeks. It's a busy time for seasonal workers too, with temporary employees numbering about 2000 .
Everyone is hoping the favourable weather will continue - at least until the grapes are in.
New Zealand Gold Medal Wines and Trophy Winners
There has been lots of feedback to my listing of New Zealand Gold Medal winning wines from the 2007-2008 show circuit and thanks to those who pointed out a couple of vintage corrections.
I've now added Trophy or 'Best in Class' successes to the listing, however Trophies are only indicated where they won a varietal category, eg Champion Sauvignon Blanc, Champion Syrah etc. If a wine won a 'special' trophy, eg Best Commercial Wine, Best Export Wine, Best Sustainable Wine, etc. it is not included.
If a Trophy indication on my list has an asterisk beside it, it means that wine also won the overall Champion Wine for that Show - it was voted Best of the Best.Only four wines have multiple varietal category trophy wins. They are
Forest Estate Botrytised Marlborough Riesling 2006 - Sweet Wine Trophy winner at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, Liquorland Top 100 and the New Zealand International Wine Show
Blackenbrook Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - Sauvignon Blanc Trophy winner at the Bragato Wine Awards and The New Zealand International Wine Show
Esk Valley Black Label Hawkes Bay Rose 2007 - Rose or Blush Trophy winner at the Liquorland Top 100 and the New Zealand International Wine Show
Stoneleigh Rapaura Series Pinot Gris 2007 - Pinot Gris Trophy winner at the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards and the Royal Aromatic Wine Show.One of the corrections to the gold medal listing was to the Forrest Estate Botrytised Marlborough Riesling. I had the 2006 vintage with four gold medals, but it actually only has three from this season. The fourth gold medal was awarded to the 2007 vintage at the Royal Aromatic Wine Show. It also won overall Best Riesling at that competition.
I've also found out that WineNZ Magazine has a wine show results compilation too. It's called 'Winetrack' or perhaps 'Winetrak' and includes results from five New Zealand shows, the Sydney International, two UK shows and Michael Cooper's star ratings. There appears to be gold and silver medal results and 4, 4.5 and 5 star ratings. With shows over several seasons, there is a lot of information there, currently 56 web pages worth. Check it out. Tell me which format you like best.
BTW - WineNZ Magazine seems to have all its text content (but not pictures) on their website now.
Wine and Food Matching Challenge
What is the ultimate New Zealand wine match for a classic Apple Strudel?It's a question that Waipara winemaker Daniel Schuster has pondered for a long time, trying many many wines but never succeeding in finding the x-factor zing. Now he has set a challenge for you to find a New Zealand wine that is a perfect match for his apple strudel.
It your wine match is selected as a finalist, you will be asked to send a bottle for judging alongside an apple strudel baked by an Austrian chef.The winner will receive a signed magnum of the Daniel Schuster Omihi Pinot Noir 2006 - see my review linked in Lunch with Danny Schuster in my Recent Blog Entries. The rare bottle is valued at $225.
Send your wine match suggestion to Daniel Schuster's distributor, Alecia Donald at Preferred Wines. Also contact Alecia for a copy of the recipe that will be used in the judging. I will post the recipe on my blog, when I receive it.
Entries close on May 31st 2008.
Wine of the Week - Seresin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Week ending 30 Mar 2008: It is not often there is an opportunity to compare wine from ten vintages apart. But a little parcel that arrived from Seresin Estate in Marlborough afforded the opportunity. There was the .... 1997 and the 2007 [...]Wine of the Week - Dog Point Marlborough Chardonnay 2006
Week ending 23 Mar 2008: Last week we opened the Dog Point Marlborough Chardonnay 2006 that had been sent for review, to taste and to match with food. Talk about mealy funk and leesy wild yeasts - this wine just reeks of it [...]Wine of the Week - Dry River Marlborough Pinot Noir 2006
Week ending 16 Mar 2008: Two wines from the Martinborough region arrived for tasting and possible review. One was Julicher Estate 99 Rows Pinot Noir 2006, a gold medal winner in the 2007 Air New Zealand Wine awards. The other was Dry River Pinot Noir 2006. I also had two Central Otago wines in the tasting box that had been there for some time. One was the highly lauded Pisa Range Estate Black Poplar Pinot Noir 2006 and the other the Wooing Tree Pinot Noir 2006 [...]Wine of the Week - Mystery Creek Gisborne Chardonnay 2006
Week ending 9 Mar 2008: There was a discussion on Wine Lover's Page last month about Chardonnay and oak. The question, which went out in Robin Garr's 30 Second Wine Advisor, was, "Does Chardonnay Need Oak?" My response was that Chardonnay doesn't need oak, although some of my wine drinking friends would vehemently disagree [...]Lunch with Danny Schuster at One Tree Grill
28 Mar 2008: When it comes to the production of Pinot Noir in New Zealand, it would be hard to argue that anyone other that Danny Schuster is the elder statesman of the variety. The history can be traced back to the early 1970's when Danny first visited Lincoln Agricultural College just out of Christchurch in New Zealand's Canterbury region [...]Cork or Screwcap - who decides?
27 Mar 2008: While there is still much debate about the pros and cons of screwcaps versus corks, in some quarters it seems the decision on the closure has been made. But not by the producer who, in theory, should have the absolute last word on how their wine is packaged and their closure of choice, but by the bottle suppliers and in some case, the retailers [...]Wine Soaked Pears and Blue Cheese Salad
26 Mar 2008: Inspired by lunch at Heron's Flight on Easter Saturday, where I ate a wine soaked fresh pear and blue cheese salad, I came home full of enthusiasm to try and replicate it. After all, at this time of year, with half a dozen pear trees in the back yard - and most of those trees in full fruit - which means they are the focal attraction for a large community of birds, the source product is abundant. [...]Lunch at Heron's Flight
25 Mar 2008: Travelling north from Auckland on State Highway One in the weekends is becoming more and more fraught with major roadworks north of Orewa and the traffic lights at Warkworth slowing traffic down at peak times [...]Late Summer Sauvignon Supper
23 Mar 2008: It's been a gorgeous early Easter weekend with summer-like weather - the type of weather that makes you want to sit out side and enjoy a glass of delicious Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. With vine tomatoes and capsicums still in abundance, I decided to make a couple of dishes using the fresh produce to match to sauvignon blanc [...]A-maz-ing Aromatics
21 Mar 2008: The theme of the last Wednesday night's tasting at First Glass was Top Aromatics from Cuisine Magazine (Issue 127, March 2008). Cuisine combines the results of the Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris tasting in this issue, so effectively there are three Number 1 wines [...]A classic food pairing with Dog Point wines
18 Mar 2008: It was a wine tasting at home with a difference - a difference for me, that is, in that the wines were not tasted blind. The wines were from Dog Point Vineyard in Marlborough and I had chosen them to match to a classic food pairing of roasted beetroot and goats cheese [...]Celebrating St Patrick's Day
17 Mar 2008: "What do you eat on St Pat's Day," I asked my friend Joyce Austin who speaks with the most perfect Dublin accent. "Do you eat corned beef and cabbage?" [...]Te Mata Showcase Tasting
14 Mar 2008: The Te Mata Showcase tasting arrived in Takapuna on Wednesday night for one of the last tastings on their 'new releases' tour that started at the Hawkes Bay winery on Leap Year day and then took in venues in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin over the next few days. [...]Sauvignon Blanc - Lost in Translation
13 Mar 2008: Had to laugh on reading Sideswipe in this morning's NZ Herald. It went something like this. A foreign language couple from Europe, only in the country for three weeks, asked the host what to bring to a party they had been invited to. "Oh, sauvignon blanc would be nice," [...]Iconic Dry River Pinot Noir is Wine of the Week
11 Mar 2008: There are many reasons why Dry River Pinot Noir from Martinborough is one of New Zealand's icon wines. But the most important reason is because it is simply superb wine [...]Two gold medal Rieslings from West Brook
10 Mar 2008: After spending the morning at beautiful Muriwai Beach on Auckland's northern west coast, it was only a minor detour to pop into West Brook Winery, inland from Kumeu, on the way home [...]Syrah on top - 3rd year in a row
9 Mar 2008: Well, the Royal Easter Show Wine Award trophy winners are out and a Syrah has taken out the Champion Wine of the Show for the third year in a row [...]Toast a Wine Woman today
8 Mar 2008: Today is International Women's Day, so raise a glass and toast a woman in wine. There are plenty to choose from here in New Zealand as women infiltrate all parts of this exciting industry. [...]Self-saucing peach and blue cheese-stuffed chicken thighs with bacon
7 Mar 2008: In these days, when it's so easy to go out and buy a ready made meal, butchers are making things easy too by providing alternative cuts of boneless meat. And in the chicken department it's the skinless boneless chicken thighs [...]The cultest New Zealand Pinot Gris
5 Mar 2008: With all my ravings about the fast growing white grape varietal Pinot gris, and all the Pinot gris wines I am enjoying from the excellent 2007 vintage, it's easy to forget the first Pinot gris in New Zealand to become a 'cult'. But it doesn't take long to remember [...]New releases of Cult Wines - Ready, Set, Buy
3 Mar 2008: Being released this month are wines from cult Martinborough producer, Dry River, and two iconic Hawkes Bay producers - Te Mata and Stonecroft. March 1st is also traditionally the unveiling of the new release of the Penfolds 'Bin' reds. Read my reviews [...]Vinous Street Names
2 Mar 2008: How many streets in Auckland have vinous names? I thought about this as we drove to Blossoms Café in Kumeu for a Sunday brunch, then to Westgate in Henderson for a spot of shopping. In Kumeu you'll find a cluster [...]Find older entries on my Blog Archive
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There's also a formatted feed at Feedburner.April may be a quieter month of posting for me. More later.
Cheers,
Sue Courtney
Editor, wineoftheweek.com
mailto:wineoftheweek@clear.net.nz
www.wineoftheweek.com
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