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.

This weekend in Hong Kong...

So now you have options this weekend. You could go to Lamma (see blog post below) or you could go to the Winenow Wine fair. Click on the image to enlarge for details.

Weekend on Lamma...

The end of a busy week in Hong Kong and no doubt there will be countless people taking the ferry over to Lamma for a spot of lunch at one of the many waterfront restaurants. If that sounds like you then could I direct you to two restuarants in particular - The Genuine Lamma Hilton and the Shum Kee Seafood Restaurant. Not only do they both serve excellent seafood they also serve excellent wine, Sandihurst wine! I cant think of a better wine to accompany some of that food than our 2008 Sandihurst Sauvignon Blanc. I could have done with it back in 1998 when I ate at the Shum Kee, a plate of garlic sea snails, hmmm...

Remember the name and give it a try this weekend.

Late November in the vineyard...

Heres a photo of the Pinot Gris from our home vineyard here in West Melton. The canopy is developing well with the first fruiting wire now in place. Most shoots have two bunches on them and each bunch looks to be average-to-above average in size at this stage. The bunch above clearly shows each flower and is probably about 2 weeks before bud burst. There are between 150-200 potential grapes in this bunch.

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But not all flowers will set, more like around half in a normal year which, on historical average berry weights of around 1.5g will give us a bunch weighing somewhere between 100-150g max. From here we can begin to estimate the current crop in the vineyard. Weather conditions at flowering will play a major part in determining how many of these will 'set' and become grapes. And from there, the weather for the remainder of the season, disease pressure, bird damage and canopy management all play a role in determining the final amount of fruit that is actually harvested.

The worlds premier cool climate wine region is about to get cooler!

As reported in various news media around the globe, a group of around 100 icebergs, having broken away from Antarctica, is slowly drifting towards New Zealands South island, only the second time since 1931 they will have been visible from the NZ coast. Heres some TV3 news footage from the 2006 incident.

Where to get Sandihurst in Auckland...

The Wine Vault, in Grey Lynn, is now stocking the Pinot Noirs of Sandihurst. These are wines of superb quality and great value, wines that would easily outperform many other NZ Pinots twice the price. Brilliant vineyards from two superb years, traditonally made with no compromise on quality.

2006 Canterbury Pinot Noir - Top100 Gold, Decanter highly recommended, Cuisine 5 star

2007 Central Otago Pinot Noir - International Wine Challenge London - Gold

2007 Waipara Pinot Noir - 2nd place (outof 244)/5 star in recent Cuisine NZ Pinot Noir tasting

So dont take my word for it, get in there and try them for yourself.

The Wine Vault - 453 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn

Where to find Sandihurst in Hong Kong...

So you live in Hong Kong? And you are looking for a bottle or two of that fantastic SANDIHURST wine. Where do you go? Here are our current local retailers...

DAH LEE HONG
399 Lockhart Road, Wanchai - Phone 28342959

FINEST LIQUOR DISTRIBUTOR
G/F 81 Austin Road, Kowloon - Phone 27306638

KIMBERLEY WINES & CIGARS SHOP
G/F Shop 501B, Kimberley Hotel, 28 Kimberley Road, Kowloon - Phone 27215211

SOGO
East Point Centre, 555 Henessey Road, Causeway Bay - Phone 28338338

TAK WAH HONG (Tsuen Wan)
Room6, G/F, Wan Shing Lau, Heung Wo Street, Tseun Wan, NT - Phone 24906512

TAK WAH HONG (Sham Tseng)
Shop R, G/F, Chan Kee Plaza, 42 Castle Peak Road, Sham Tseng, NT - Phone 29406398

Sandihurst Sauvignon Blanc in the UK...

Its always nice to read a review of your own wine that reaffirms exactly what you have tried to achieve when making the particular wine. Neil Phillips is a leading wine expert in the UK with over 20 years experience in sales and marketing roles with companies such as Pernod-Ricard and Gallo. In his newly established blog 'The Wine Tipster' he reviews our Sandihurst Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008. You can also find him here on Twitter.

Sandihurst thought provoking Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc

Celia and Hennie Bosman, who own the Sandihurst Winery, are making excellent wines across the board and their Sandihurst Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Marlborough New Zealand, GBP11.99, delivers some of that typical gooseberry character but not in the overpowering extrovert at the party style. Here you also find cut grass, exotic fruit flavours and a lovely dry finish with crisp acidity. This is a quality Sauvignon Blanc for those of you who want to sit back and appreciate. Sancerre fans you will like this too.

Wine and cricket...

I heard this morning that a recent MCC poll conducted in NZ, South Africa and India found that less than 10% of people prefer Test Cricket. More than half of all Indians polled prefer the 20-20 format of the game. In a world where money and time are key, Test cricket is (sadly) on the way out.

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Also in my mind recently was the news that the massive Marlborough winery Yealands Estate is to launch a Sauvignon Blanc in a plastic bottle. This could be the first of a majority shift by the winery to plastic. The bottles weigh only a tenth of a normal bottle so the freight savings alone must be impressive. They are also naturally cheaper and easier to recycle. And apparently if drunk within 18 months there are no issues surrounding either taint or premature ageing to consider. Is this the way of the future?

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Naturally I can hear the purists turning over in their graves. What is the world coming too? It seems just as Test cricket is dying a slow death so it seems the wine world is changing.
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There will always be a market for a premium product, in wine as in everything else. As a producer it depends on which pool you want to swim in. The concept of Terroir, aged Riesling and decanting are important only those at that premium end of the scale. Most wine as we are told is consumed within a few hours, if not minutes, of purchase. The mainstream wine market, todays youth and future consumers, are increasingly open, expectant even, to innovation where marketing and branding are arguably more important than the product itself.