THIS BLOG IS MOVING TO A NEW HOME

The Sandihurst Wine Blog is moving house to

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www.sandihurstwines.co.nz

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please adjust your settings and i'll see you over there

Jancis Robinson...Riesling...

A quick reminder, if you needed any, about the magic of Riesling. The introduction to Jancis Robinsons Wine Course episode on Riesling. JR refers (rightly) to Riesling as making 'the greatest white wines in the world' and labels Chardonnay as 'boring'. She talks to a youthful looking Ernst Loosen and also points the finger at the Germans for creating the image problem Riesling is currently facing.

A quick tour of Central Otago vineyards...

Pinot Noir in the Brennan vineyard, Gibbston Valley, flowering just underway, a slightly cooler start to the season than normal but remarkably no frosts in November.

The iconic Cardrona pub on the Crown Range road from Queenstown to Wanaka

Looking back across to the Pisa vineyards from the Bendigo side of the lake. Theres a real diversity in soil types here and regional climatic differences can put harvest dates 2-3-4 weeks apart.

Clone 115 Pinot Noir spur pruned in Bendigo. 3 spurs each side, great open canopy

Prophets Rock Pisa vineyard - Pinot Noir

Flowering well advanced in the Pisa sub-region, probably more than any other region. This vineyard was practically complete whereas in Gibbston flowering was only just underway.

Dog Trials - a real Kiwi iconic pastime. Possibly not as popular as it used to be (even had its own TV show)

Yes! Fresh snow in December. At 45 Latitude, this is very cool climate. The combination of a short but intense season and the very marginal nature of viticulture is great for Pinot Noir.

First signs of flowering in Gibbston. This bunch has a little shoulder bunch to the right of the photo which will be cut off later in the season.

Pinot Noir - Jancis Robinson...

Jancis Robinsons Wine Course TV programme - Episode 7 Pinot Noir. Just an 8 minute taster. Brilliant stuff. Great quote that 4 out of 5 Burgundies JR tastes are 'disappointing' but that people are prepared to put up with that for the brilliance of the 5th. Thats worse than cork taint!

Back labels, can you trust them?

"...Located on Auckland idyllic Manukau Harbour, the Ihumatao vineyard sits in a sheltered 20,000 year old volcanic crater...". So reads the back label of Villa Maria's Ihumatao Vineyard Auckland Gewurztraminer 2008.

Obviously that was preferable to writing 'from the vineyard in front of our massive winery, situated on the edge of an industrial estate only minutes from the countries busiest airport'.

Somewhere in between lies the truth. Regardless, the wine is very good. New Zealand should be producing superb Gewurztraminer given our climate and lack of winemaking limitations but to date I would suggest there are as many misses as hits, something we need to address.

Google Goggles...a brilliant tool...

You point your camera or phone at the product and Google figures out what it is and provides you with the background information. It uses OCR, optical character recognition to identify key words and labels. Just launched, this product is probably only the start of things to come but would be such a brilliant tool inside a wine shop. Check out more about it at the TechCrunch site here, complete with a video or two.

Bottling Day c'est arrive...

Dont let this happen to you...

Recently, hard though as it is to believe I know, certain people were discovered not to have even sampled the wines of Sandihurst. They had to be taught a lesson. Don't let this happen to you...we do have a cellar door, open 7 days a week, we ship wine freight free around the country and soon a new feature - online shopping on our website. It couldn't be easier.

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SO CONVENIENT, SO SIMPLE, SO BUY SOME........................You have been warned...

Noble gesture...

In a new agreement with the EU, the New Zealand Food Standards Authority have announced a relaxation of the rules that previously did not allow NZ wines with a potential alcohol level of 15% or greater to be imported to the EU and UK markets. This effectively ruled out all NZ sweet wine styles. However, commonsense has prevailed and now you people in the North can prepare yourselves for some real vinous treats. The cool climate regions of NZ are capable of superb 'stickies' with fantastic aromatics and great natural acidity. Read more on the Decanter website here.

Wine in the movies...Jules et Jim...

A (wine) scene from Francois Truffauts 1962 classic film Jules et Jim. Starting to look a little dated although Jeanne Moreaus classic French attitude to Frances place in the world isnt!

Behave!

From a first glance this poster appears to be telling us to go overboard at home...

Gluhwein time...

Its not all about Riesling you know, the German Christmas markets are second to none...

Ein attraktives Programm mit tollen Aktionen bietet der Frankenthaler Weihnachtszauber. Besucher, Gäste und Kunden kommen dabei voll auf ihre Kosten. Eine Premiere erlebt die mobile Eisbahn im historischen Ambiente der Erkenbertruine. Zugleich geht damit auch ein lang gehegter Wunsch der Stadt Frankenthal endlich in Erfüllung. Auf einer 300 qm großen Eislauf-Arena können Schlittschuhläufer mitten in der Stadt ihre Runden drehen. So ist unter anderem eine große Silvesterparty mit Livemusik und Schneekanone geplant. In unmittelbarer Nähe zur Eislaufbahn lockt der traditionelle Weihnachtsmarkt auf dem Rathausplatz mit wärmendem Glühwein und duftendem Lebkuchen.Der Weihnachtsmarkt kann täglich von 11:00 bis 21:00 Uhr besucht werden. Ein stimmungsvolles Bühnenprogramm mit weihnachtlicher Musik, Tanzdarbietungen und Kinderunterhaltung ergänzt die kunsthandwerklichen und kulinarischen Angebote der zahlreichen Buden und Stände des Weihnachtsmarktes.