1 February 2010Blending Trials 2009 (Road Trip Day 1)

How quickly time rolls by.  It hardly seems that 12 months have gone by.  But Patrick and I are back in Central Otago, and we have just finished reviewing the 2009 Pinot Noir in barrels and doing a few blending trials.

This time my partner, Jane, is along as well.  She is catching up with all the great folk involved in the logistics of storing and dispatching our wine; and to affix our 'Recommended by WineState Magazine' stickers to the Pinot Noir 2008 and the '4 Star' stickers to the Pinot Gris 2009.  It's rough work but someone needed to do it.  Her reward is sittting on the deck in the lovely Central sun with a glass of that 4 star Gris (lightly chilled of course).

We travelled by Inter Islander ferry and the trusty Toyota RAV from Wellington to Central Otago.  And just to prove you can never guarantee a smooth crossing on Cook Strait even in summer the weather was rough on Saturday night and Jane was still recovering for the whole drive to our accomodation on our Pinot supplier's vineyard in Bendigo.

But back to the wines.  We had a joint session with Dan and James at Maude Wines, our winemakers, to review the barrels.  They had recently finished malo but were already giving a great glimpse of the fruit weight, structure and flavours that are in storeonce they've settled down.  Already though we are able to sort some 'winners' (barrels to include in the final blend) and 'losers' (barrels that don't meet our standards). A few trial blends have given us an idea about what we can produce.  However, the final decision will be made in another few weeks.

Now its off for a 'cleansing ale' - Speights of course.

17 January 2010Happy New Year & some updates

Hi there,

As this is my first blog entry for 2010 (say it how you will), I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.  May this be the year when everything exceeds your expectations! 

We had a quiet few days with family over the Christmas break and as you would expect we 'cracked' a bottle or two of our Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.  Very nice! 
If only the weather in Wellington matched the wine, food and company!
There have been a couple of updates to the site. 
Check out the new recipe - Watercress, Rocket and Sweet Pear with Blue Cheese Toasts.  This is devine with a glass of Pinot Gris.
And check out our updated Winesmiths.  We have added Emma who has been involved for quite a while now, ensuring all orders and queries are dealt with really quickly and smoothly.

Talk again soon!

22 December 2009And the winner ....

Part of the interest at the Kapiti Food Fair back on 5 December was the opportunity to enter the draw to win a very beautifully presented Magnum (1.5L bottle) of the 36 bottles Pinot Noir 2008 from our first vintage.  The Magnum is one of only 12 bottled, and is sealed in the traditional manner with a cork and with a hand dipped wax capsule.

The draw was made yesterday from all the people who had dropped their business cards in the bowl, wrote their details in our 'friends' book or who joined our friends list online and quoted the magic code word.

Cue drum roll! And the winner is ..... Alan and Sheryl, who are Kapiti Coast locals. 

Patrick, our Marketing Manager ,popped in on them today to deliver the prize as an early Xmas pressie.    We all know that they will love the prize and look forward hopefully for feedback once its been enjoyed!