16 December 2009Wine tasting is (not) hard work!

It's that time for year!  Spring has sprung (although a bit battered and lacking bounce) and Summer is here on the odd day, so it must be time to check how the wine in barrel from the 2009 vintage is maturing.

Yesterday, on a lovely sunny day I found myself in the barrel room in Wanaka with glass in hand, barrels of 2009 Pinot Noir wine lined up for sampling and Dan (of Maude Wines winemaking team Dan and Sarah-Kate Dineen) at my side.  The comprehensive 'after winter' tasting helps to set the scene for and kicks of the planning of the format barrel selection and blending in late January / early February.

Sometimes there are parts of the winemaking process that are just pure joy.  It was to become clear this was one of 'those' parts for this vintage.

We got down to the work at hand (if you want to call it work!).  Out with the first bung, 'thief' a sample, share into our glasses, and we silently swirl, sniff the bouquet and taste.  Then the hard part - spit it all out into the 'slops bucket'.  If you still want to have a clear head at the last barrel this is a 'must do'.  And finally we do a quick compare of thoughts, scribble a note (barrel details, aroma, taste, potential) and move on to the next barrel.  What a wonderful way to spend a morning; I think I would do this at least once a week, without having to have my arm twisted too much at all.

All too quickly it seems that we are done, how quickly 3 hours passes sometimes.  I comment that the team has done a great job to husbanding and bringing out the quality of the grapes received from the vineyard.  And a silent thanks to Tim Kerruish for the care and attention in growing said grapes. 

I mentioned in my newsletter last week that I thought the cooler vintage and longer 'hang time' in 2009 would lead to fine, classic style wines from Central for this vintage.  I believe saw the evidence.  I like the red fruits, toasty & charry notes, small berry aromas and the presence of nice acid, (already) fine tannins and structure.  There is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge but this will be a fun vintage to blend.

5 December 2009After the Kapiti fair

Wow!  That was our first impression after we packed up at the end of the fair.

A cold bleak morning at 8:30 blossomed into a perfect Kapiti day by about 10:00, just as people started to arrive at the Polytech grounds.  And they kept on arriving - about 7,500 in all.

We had great fun meeting and greeting old friends and making new friends.  We must have talked to well over 150 folk, and we are grateful for all the wonderful comments we received.  Thank you to everyone who added their names to our mailing list address book, or dropped their card in the bowl and bought a bottle or two or more of our wines.

The magnum of Pinot Noir 2008 certainly got people's attention and the draw for that will be completed at the end of the week from all those who provided mailing list details or business cards.  The lucky receipient will have it in time for Christmas (although it will cellar just fine for at least another 5 years!).

Thanks to the organisers for the work they did putting this great Kapiti event together.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the date for the next fair in December 2010 is definitely marked in our calendar as a must do event.

3 December 2009All the fun of the (food) fair

The second Kapiti Food Fair is taking place this weekend on Saturday, 5th of December, in the grounds of  the Whitireia Polytechnic Campus, on State Highway One just north of Paraparaumu.  The Fair was a great success last year and its going to be bigger and better this year . 

As we at 36 bottles are, or have been, residents of the Kapiti Coast we have taken a stand at the Fair and scored a great opportunity to share our love of wine and winemaking with our fellow Coasters.

Our site is close to the entrance, so we you can catch up with us on the way in and then say 'bye' on the way out! 

We will be tasting our awarding winning 36 Bottles Pinot Noir 2008 and the newly released Pinot Gris 2009 at the Fair from 10:00 AM through to 3:00 PM. 

We would love to see all our local and Greater Wellington based Friends during the day, so please come on out, see the wonderful produce the Coast has to offer and catch up with us.

Please bring a can of food with you, as admission to the fair is by donation to the local Food Bank to assist those less fortunate at this time of the year.

See you Saturday!