The HK R&B Expo begins...

Another day in Hong Kong and the first day at this years Restaurant & Bar Expo. Hennie has again been meeting with various leading lights of the local wine and food industry. In photos below, international food and wine critic, judge and president of the HK Wine Writers Circle Maggie Beale, Peter Kwong, HK's top sommelier and wine lecturer, and Cornelia Francesca Maeder of Swiss Chocolate house Francesca.

Mr Peter Kwong and Cornelia Francesca Maeder

Hennie with Maggie Beale and Mr Thomas Lim

Tasting at the Conrad...

Its hard to appreciate the scale of Hong Kong if you haven't been there. High rise buildings and people everywhere you look and just a general constant buzz of activity that really makes HK stand out from other cities. And add to that the wealth of this gateway to China, so obvious and none more so than tto see the amount of luxury hotels and shops on the island. This morning Hennie presented the Sandihurst wine range to the staff at the Conrad Hotel, one of the best, just above Pacific Place in Admiralty.

Hong Kong ...Day Two...

Not only is Hennies trip to Hong Kong making me feel hugely nostalgic and envious (I used to live there) he is now proceeding to rub it in by sending back photo after photo of him wining and dining in various parts of the city, and its only day two!.

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Today Hennie was fortunate enough to meet with celebrated HK gourmet and wine expert Lau Chi Sun, the publisher and editor of Hong Kongs first magazine dedicated to wine, Winenow Monthly. Its great news as we attempt to raise our profile in Asia when someone of Lau's note is able to taste our wine. In a 2007 HK Whos-Who poll Winenow was voted best wine publication, being praised for raising wine consciousness amongst Chinese, and with Lau Chi Sun winning 'Best wine journalist' and being nominated in the category 'Most influential wine person' where his 'exceptional palate' was noted.

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Hennie with Lau Chi Sun

Sandihurst 2007 Central Otago Pinot Noir and Peking Duck

Hennie in Hong Kong...

A few snaps from Hennies current trip to Hong Kong. Food is quite central to life in Hong Kong and Hennie seems to have got into the swing of things with 4 of his first 6 photos that he has sent back relating to food. Stay tuned for further updates/photos about how Sandihurst wines are going in Hong Kong, the restaurant and bar expo and other important issues like Hennies ability in using chopsticks...

Pinot Noir reviewed...

Cameron Douglas from QuaffTV tastes the Sandihurst Waipara Pinot Noir 2007. You should too.

Springtime in the winery...

Winter has been and gone it seems. The days are longer and warmer. And with that warmth the barrels of Pinot Noir in the winery have burst back into life with the telltale signs of malolactic fermentation. Bacteria are hard at work consuming malic acid and substituting it for a smaller amount of softer rounder lactic acid. They love the warmth though and when the wine hits around 15-18C they are at their happiest.

Out in the vineyard pruning is complete and budburst only a matter of days away.

Kellergeist...

Spotted in the winery this morning, the Ghost of Riesling present...

Sandihurst in Hong Kong...

The annual Hong Kong Restaurant And Bar Expo is being held in Hong Kong on September 1-3. At the invitation of Omtis, our agent in HK, Sandihurst Wines will be there. You will be able to taste our wines at the Omtis table and, in addition, as part of the World of Wine programme, Hennie will be presenting a seminar (430pm Sept2) on New Zealand wine, with a focus on the aromatic wines of the South Island. This will feature 4 of our wines, the 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 2006 Canterbury Riesling, 2008 Waipara Pinot Gris and the 2007 Central Otago Pinot Noir. Hennie will also be showcasing the wines at various tasting events in Hong Kong and Macau during his stay. For more information you should contact Omtis. Stay tuned for more photos and reports.

In the news...

Two interesting stories caught my eye this morning. Mike Veseth, of The Wine Economist blog, has a very good piece on Steins Law and whether that applies to New Zealand wine. The basic premise of this particular law is that nothing lasts forever. Sounds feasible, you can read the full article here.

And over at Slate.com, a news site from the USA, there is an article about the current wine hoax/libel case fiasco that has enveloped respected UK wine expert Michael Broadbent. This is a story just crying out to be turned into a movie and Im sure we havent heard the last of it just yet given that people like Robert Parker were also duped. Read the article here.

Degustation Dinner...

Just a peek at the menu-wine matches from our recent weekend of Degustation dinners at Le Pot au Feu restaurant here in Christchurch. Chef extraordinaire Bono Beeler did a wonderful job and both evenings were a great success.

First Course

Mussel ragout with Sandihurst Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Second Course

Salmon Tartare with Sandihurst Waipara Chardonnay 2006

Third Course

Potato and Wasabi Creme with Sandihurst Waipara Pinot Gris 2008

Fourth Course

Pot-au-Feu with comparison tasting of Sandihurst Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 and Sandihurst Waipara Pinot Noir 2007

Fifth Course

Spiced Crepe with Chocolate Sauce with Sandihurst Gewurztraminer 2008

Sixth Course

Pear Brioche and Goats Cheese Praline with Sandihurst Waipara Riesling 2008

The organ grinder and the monkey - which is which...

Just reading Victoria Moores article in The Guardian about screwcaps - not all they are cracked up to be, she writes. Reduction issues and wines with delayed development, fresh but boring. Interesting was a comment from the wine buyer Graeme Nash at supermarket chain Tescos where 60% of all wines they buy are under screwcap. That number looks set to rise as Nash explains .

We generally go for screwcap if it is available," says Tesco buyer Graham
Nash. "It's our preferred choice. Initially, the motive was to avoid cork
taint. Now it's also about keeping the wine as the wine-maker intended it to
taste."

I intended my wines to develop at a normal pace, in cork. Surely what he really means is that by opting for screwcap the wine lasts much longer on the shelves and there is less reason for the wine to be returned, both of which are great for Tescos bottom line. So coming ahead of providing customers with a range of fine wine is the motivation for profit.

Quite normal of course in a business environment. Which then got me thinking, who really started all this debate/issue over closures in the first place. Was it actually the winemakers who were sick of the problem of cork taint or was it in fact the big buyers at the other end who forced the change ?

Would you rather...

There is a lot of wine around these days, the choice is enormous. Wine can be a bit scary for a lot of people. A lot of people simply plump for what they know and what they know is highly likely to have been influenced by the constant and impressive advertising reaches of the large corporate wine companies. That's bad news for the small fry and I think the consumers are missing out too.

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The recent story about Nobilos Sauvignon Blanc becoming Americas biggest selling white wine is a classic case. Loads of press about the 'achievement', not much about the actual wine or the aggressive price cutting policy that got it there. You might argue that it has in fact downgraded the image of NZ Sauvignon in the US.

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There is no denying that these massive companies do make some good wines but for any wine enthusiast a wines interest/appeal should extend beyond the bottle. Real wine (as opposed to the corporate factory model) is handmade, its crafted from vine to bottle, its open and honest, it tastes different each year because nature delivers something different each year, its limited in stock, its regional, the people behind it are accessible and real, and there are no 'Show' wines. The list goes on.

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Real wine from real producers has a story behind every bottle. Take the time to find out and you will be rewarded. Guaranteed.

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Or as one person put it - You can get your meat from the supermarket but isnt it so much nicer to go to a butcher.

This week on the winery playlist...

The Flames - Everytime

Some songs just stick in your mind. When I first heard this I was driving to Weingut Max Ferd Richter in Mulheim, in the Mosel, to deliver some Lingenfelder wine (where I worked) that was to be consolidated in a shipment of German wine to the USA. Dirk Richter, the owner, let me taste through his barrels of Riesling in the underground cellar. An amazing day. I just drink the last of the wine I bought from there, a 1992 Auslese, earlier this year.

This song, by German band The Flames, featured in a the above TV commercial for AfriCola and was a massive hit in Germany, spawning a popular dance craze. Check out the full song on youtube.

Slideshow...

Whats Plan B?...

Not Phillip Gregan

The NZ Wine Exporters Forum was held in Christchurch last week. TV3's business program aired this interview with UK supermarket Tesco's product development manager Pierpaolo Petrassi. You can watch it here.

What I got from watching it is that NZ sauvignon blanc is not expected to hold the same position in the UK that it currently does forever and Tescos is already looking at other options to fill that eventual gap. Hmmm.

Tescos are surely a good barometer of the UK as a whole so my question would then be - with half of NZ planted in Sauvignon Blanc, what are we doing to address that issue ? Are we worried? Do we have a Plan B ?

Be afraid...weeds...

and rabbits, long grass, moulds and mildews too for that matter.

Skills for life...

Theres something wrong here. And Im not sure which is worse, that there is such a video or that nearly 25000 people have already watched it. Still, if you are buying a bottle of Sandihurst wine YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS...Stay tuned for for the legendary follow-up, 'Pouring your wine into a glass'.

Hello from Waipara...

Ive been in the vineyard (Georges Road-Waipara) for the last two days helping out with the winter tasks - namely pruning and weed spraying. Frosty starts but beautifully warm and sunny days that made me think that spring was only just around the corner. Soil temperatures are still around 6-7C at the moment but it wont be long before it warms up and the vine begins to wake from dormancy. Bud burst could be as little as 5 weeks away in some varieties.

In the winery its also warming up and this will mean that the barrels of our 2009 Pinot Noir will kick off Malolactic fermentation soon. Just another piece of fine wine jigsaw.

Peleton...

Just a reminder about what a great spectacle the Tour de France is. Even if you arent into cycling.

Beautiful barrels...

Just tasting through our 2009 Pinot Noir which is currently maturing in barrique in our cold cellar awaiting some warmer temperatures so that the malolactic fermentation can kick off. Some of our oak comes from the Burgundy cooper Gillet. Heres a look at how each barrel is made, courtesy of BKWine who also have a large number of other interesting wine videos available to view on Youtube.

Industry turmoil continues...

When a handful of companies control most of the industry (in NZ) then there is bound to be trouble when one of them decides to make a few changes. The region of Gisborne has really taken a hit in the wake of Pernod-Ricards (Montana) decision to terminate a large number of contracts with its growers. The impact on the region will be quite far-reaching.

Read more here from the Gisborne Herald today. Or here in the NBR. And here for some video footage from TV3's national news.

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Ps - thanks Castro-Martin (i think) for the great photo

Bottle Shock...

A few shots from our recent bottling run, our biggest yet. Four days of folding, lifting, packing and stacking that left everyone feeling more than a little sore. On the plus side though, it is the final act in the making of our wonderful product and it is highly satisfying to see the end product.

Wine should learn from Beer...

Beer advertising, it seems, has always been much better than its Wine counterpart at appealing and attracting a wide and youthful audience - the sort of audience that Wine should be trying to appeal to.

Wineries (with money and an advertising budget) pay attention...

Sanity and Sanitization are two different things...

Winemaking, as you often hear, is 1% art, 2% science and 97% cleaning. And let me tell you that there are times when the 97% cleaning part just loses its appeal. Just like any job there are bits you never enjoy. Most people, who ask what I do for a job, always say 'great, do you get to drink wine every day'. I dont tell them its less than 1% of the time...

Postcard from New Zealand...

Having a brief holiday in Kaikoura, about 2 hours up the coast from Christchurch. There are plenty of seals on the rugged beaches along the coastline and from our house we can see dolphins leaping out of the water. The house is over the road from the beach and at the back the hills rise steeply to the snow covered mountains beyond. Its picture postcard stuff. And remote too, getting out of the city reminds us how sparsely populated rural New Zealand is.