The card with the fresh chilli attached to it was not exactly what I expecting to see when I opened my mail.

"Chilly is hot" I read and on turning the card over I found it was an invitation to meet Aussie winemaker Charles Chilly Hargrave, who had been given his hot/cold sounding nickname by his Grandad when just a lad.

Chilly is the sparkling wine guru for Beringer Blass, the owner of Matua Valley Wines, and has an office in the Barossa Valley headquarters next to Mark Robertson, who left Matua earlier this year to take on the role of Chief White Winemaker for the group.

Chilly was in Auckland to judge at a wine competition, so took the opportunity to visit the Rodney wine region for the first time. Although almost all of the grapevines had lost their leaves, he was still impressed with Matua's lovely setting in the Waimauku Valley.

Two of his bubbles are available in supermarkets here.

Yellowglen 'Yellow' is a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay and some other white grapes that add freshness and fruitiness to this light, approachable, foamy textured fizz. (11.5% alc. $12.95).

Yellowglen 'Y', my favourite, is a blend of Chardonnay (60%) and Pinot Noir (40%) that has been fermented in the bottle. The result is a richer more yeasty flavoured wine with good fruit and a dry toasty finish. (11.6% alc. $16.95).

Chilly also looks after the Ingoldby wines from the McLaren Vale region, which is as close to Adelaide as Kumeu is to Auckland.

If you like the toasty style of Aussie chardonnay, you'll like Ingoldby Chardonnay 2003. With citrus, nectarine and a soft creamy buttery finish, it is perfect to accompany fresh fish, which we should all be eating twice a week, I'm told. (13.5% alc. $19.95).

Ingoldby Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 is ripe and juicy with creamy American oak, fine tannins, concentrated red berry fruit, vanilla, mocha, spice and a touch of mint as it lingers. I love the smoky fragrance and with those minty nuances it is the ideal match to lamb. It's a medium-bodied style with plenty of user-appeal. (13.5% alc. $19.95).

Ingoldby Shiraz 2001 is full of fragrantly sweet, cracked pepper aromatics and has a good peppery bite with an earthy richness, spicy oak, velvety tannins, a lovely intensity of plum and cherry fruit and just a touch of liquorice on the red fruit and pepper influenced finish. To me this is a wine that aboslutely needs food. Chilly suggests lamb, veal, duck or chicken. (15% alc, $19.95).

Ingoldby Reserve Shiraz 2001 is a big jump in price but the wine takes you to another level. It’s more of a grunter with its fine-grained tannins dominating a little right now but taste the wine with food and those tannins melt away. Spice, red berries, vanillin oak and sweet mocha aromas tantalise the nose while richly concentrated fruit flavours and an array of fruit cake spices, clove, cinnamon, etc, fill the palate. The wine is young and tight with plenty of life ahead of it in the cellar but there's lots going on in the glass and as it opens up it reveals more layers of flavour. I'm not much of a fan of chilli-influenced foods but a caramelised onion and red pepper tart with just a dash of chilli was indeed an inspiring match. (14.5% alc. $49.95).

© Sue Courtney
26th June 2004
Parts of this article appeared in the Rodney Times on 24th June 2004