Napier's famous Art Deco Festival, held each year in February, has now got a wine to go with it -- a bubbly that captures exactly the spirit of the of the 1930s when Hawke's Bay's beautiful port city was virtually destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in art deco, the architectural style of the time. The city now attracts thousands of visitors every year, many of them to a week-long festival that re-lives the days of the Great Gatsby and all the glamour that went with them -- bubbles included. Hence the launch this week by Sileni Estates of a limited edition wine called Art Deco Sparkling in . a snazzy black and gold bottle decorated with the bold, geometric patterns that characterise art deco.The wine? It's Hawke's Bay in a bottle -- lively with plenty of stonefruit and it's made from pinot gris. It is generally available and costs $25 a bottle. |
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Current All Blacks, rugby's world champions, are not the only ones with smiles on their faces. John Ashworth is wearing one too, as no doubt are Andy Dalton and Gary Knight who were the other members of the AB's formidable front row in the 1970s-80s -- tough nuts who now decorate the label of a gold medal pinot noir. But that's only part of the story and the All Blacks connection. The wine is made by Ashworth's son Leith for what is now a family business that grew out of Dad's discovery of pinot noir during an All Black tour to France. He reckons it went ''straight to his toes'' and inspired him when he and his wife Jo sold their farm in Canterbury in 1985 to look for a property where they could grow some grapes as well. Takapau, about an hour south of the main grape-growing area in Hawke's Bay might not have seemed the best choice for some, but Ashworth happily followed the advice of the late Sir Richard Harrison, a former Speaker in the New Zealand Parliament, who had been growing pinot on his property, nearer the Ruahine Range, for a number of years. Reassured by Villa Maria's interest in the same general area Ashworth planted pinot noir around his home near the junction of two highways on the Takapau Plains and then across road where vineyards have since been developed to grow more pinot, aromatic whites and chardonnay. The set-up also now includes a rustic cellar door which was last year voted Hawke's Bay's best. Junction Wines have also achieved a great deal more success (including a number of other gold medals for pinot noir) than many ever thought they would or could and a gold medal at New Zealand's most prestigious wine show certainly confirms that they demand attention. The gold medal-winning 2014 Possession Pinot Noir (all wines are identified by terms used in rugby) is available . from the cellar door or online. It sells at a very tempting $25 a bottle.
No.Of course you can't and it's about time that producers, winemakers, judges and writers who suggest that you can got real.
Associating wine's perceived minerality with it's origin is a load of nonsense -- that from a geologist Alex Maltman, formerly a professor at Aberystwyth University in Wales, who has been reading about wine for 40 years and growing grapes and making it for 30. Whatever “minerality” is in wines, it is not the taste of vineyard minerals, he says.. Any perceived connection is ä "romantic myth." because there is just no evidence to make the connection. So what is it then that influences so many to do so? A good question and one which is under investigation by New Zealand scientist Dr Wendy Parr, of Lincoln University who says the perception of minerality in wine is not a figment of tasters' imagination, but the source of the perception remains a mystery. Dr Parr recently collaborated with scientists in France and at Plant and Research in New Zealand, to see if wine professionals at either ends of the earth perceived the same so-called minerality, particulalrly in sauvignon blanc. Samples were served blind in opaque, standardised glasses in unique order for each if the participants who evaluated the wines by palate (taste and mouth-feel) alone, smell alone and both palate and smell together. The result: Minerality was perceived by both groups in all cases, and was consistently associated with several wine characteristics -- citrus for example. In fact there were more similarities in perception between the groups than differences, implying that wine professionals share a mental construct of the ‘mineral’ concept, as it applies to sauvignon blanc at least. But the source of this perception still remains a mystery. Is it to do with acidity, with sulphide reduction as a result of the widespread use of screwcaps, or is it the absence of perceived flavour in the wine? For the moment the latter offers the best explanation. "In the absence of other flavours, it appears that wine is more likely to be referred to as mineral," says Dr Parr whose team will continue the study by looking at certain aspects of wine's chemical composition. Meantime I'll go along with with the noted British winewriter Andrew Jefford even though I am not entirely happy, as he is, about using ‘mineral’, ‘stone’ or ‘earth’ --- in a strictly metaphorical sense, of course --- to allude to what he calls "a certain sensorial repertoire we associate with worked earth or rocks, just as we use cat’s pee, cream or cassis in a similar metaphorical sense." "The problem with wielding these metaphors, though, is that if I/we describe a wine whose vine is growing in slate as ‘slatey’, the metaphor is quickly gobbled up by the literal image, and the trusting reader assumes a direct line of transmission. "We need to wield these terms with care." Or not at all.
If the object of drinking is getting pissed, then this cross between a bong and a champagne flute (it's called a chambong) seems to be the answer for a generation who would believe än Australian publicist who says, and I quote, that it "allows the user to drink extremely fast, while still remaining classy."
Which means that those among us who drink to enjoy the stuff, champagne or otherwise, and have a grown-up view on what is classy, what is not, should stick to glasses I guess. Now in residence at the showpiece Craggy Range winery in Hawke's Bay -- three stunning bronzes by the noted British sculptor Paul Day, best known for the Queen Mother and the Battle of Britain monuments in London.. He believes the charolais bull, cow and calf offer a wonderful connection between the old and new worlds. In fact, they surround his home in Burgundy, in France and are not unknown in this part of the world. Day's first commission outside the Northern Hemisphere was unveiled by Terry Peabody, of Craggy Range, last week. -- Photo John Miles Bob Campbell was wearing his New Zealand's Mr Wine hat (and that panama which is welded to his balding pate) when he announced the other day that he has lost his virginity. What he meant was, that after having tasted an estimated 100,000 wines from around the world he has just awarded 100 points, the maximum, for the first time. And the honour fell to a New Zealand wine -- Neudorf 2014 Moutere Chardonnay (pictured left). He believes it is the best that Neudorf have ever made. It costs $64 a bottle. |
AboutWarren Barton is a veteran newspaper journalist who spent more than 25 of his 50-plus years in the business, writing for a number of publications about wine and the wine industry. Well known for his no-nonsense, easy-reading style, the ability to connect with wine-lovers no matter what their level of experience and his support and belief in New Zealand wines and their makers. Has also written about food, travel, theatre; worked as an editor, columnist, feature writer and is an award-winning golf writer. Archives
September 2016
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