If you haven’t been their lately take a look at the newly designed Cellar Club website – http://www.cellarclub.co.nz. Steve Eades, the chap doing the biscuits and pate at half-time on meeting nights, has taken over managing the site and worked with the committee to update the site from August last year.

Hence you might have seen our vanilla version until November. The updated website features a number of new areas including:

• descriptions of the next event and any reminders
• list of articles online; no more trawling through old email to find previous articles
• list of upcoming events including previous events dating back to the first meeting in February 1985 – St. Helena wines
• the ability to now order tasting glasses online
• an online subscription to the clubs newsletters; members get the newsletter anyway but this allows you to opt out if you no longer want to receive it
• previous newsletters
• information and links to discounts offered by the clubs supporters
• more details about the club and our rules
• and the ability for you to contact the club.

In the future the membership form will be online as well as a photo gallery of previous events. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please complete the form to send them in. If you have trouble completing this, there is a contact number for help.

Over the next month or so, Steve and myself will be working on ways we can make the current newsletter easily accessible through the website. Hopefully this will make it easier for most members with me only needing to send a reminder that the newsletter is available on the site.

If you have questions, photos, stories – humorous or a recent experience, like to suggest a club night theme, really anything, we would appreciate hearing from you.

A view of Paris from the Montparnasse Tower. Quite an orderly city compared to some.

Cheers

Robin Semmens, Editor.

“Stonecroft was the first winery to be established in the Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay. We also have the oldest Syrah vines in New Zealand. At Stonecroft, we continue to make a small quantity of wine, using traditional methods. Stonecroft is well known for its Syrah, Zinfandel, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay wines. Only organic practices are used in the vineyard and Stonecroft is now officially ‘in
conversion’ to organic certification.”

The above paragraph gives an indication of the Stonecroft philosophy. We look forward to yet another interesting presentation and tasting. More detail next month.

36 people attended the event and enjoyed convivial company, great food and a selection of rather nice wines.

We continue to be very grateful to Derek for making his place available and there is no doubt that Derek has made it fit for purpose. Every year there are improvements to the facility. In a discussion with Derek he mentioned that he has BBQ’s organised at his place most 4 weeks until mid March. If you haven’t attended one of these events, let me recommend it. Whatever the weather Derek has made sure that a good sized group can enjoy the surroundings, and the event.

Thanks again Derek, your efforts are much appreciated but all the club members who attend.

‘You talk?’ he asks.

‘Yep,’ the Lab replies.

After the guy recovers from the shock of hearing a dog talk he says ‘So, what’s your story?’

The Lab looks up and says, “Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the Government so I told the CIA. In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping.’

‘I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running. But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn’t getting younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the Airport to do some undercover security, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.’ ‘I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I’m just retired.’

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog. ‘Ten dollars,’ the guy says.

‘Ten dollars? This dog is amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?’

‘Because he’s a liar. He’s never been out of the backyard’

This 2011 Hutt River Estate Shiraz was sent to our President, Anne Megget, by a friend dining at a BBQ in Australia recently.

The Hutt River label, owned by Cellarmaster Wines Australia, is one of about 80 labels on their books.

For those interested in viewing all Cellarmaster’s wine labels, visit the Australian Intellectual Property report website. To build the report use the following report criteria:

• by search term = +Cellarmaster +Wines +Limited +Street +BONDI +JUNCTION +2022 +AUSTRALIA
• by class = select Class 33
• select button Update

It is with regret that one of our founding members, John Revell passed away on Friday 16 December 2011, aged 86. John was still a club member where his last attendance was the dinner in which Graeme Fountain received his Life Membership award. John’s family have asked for a “closed” funeral.

The Cellar Club pass on our condolences to John’s family.

First XV Wine Competition – and the winners are…

Source: zimbio.com

From: tizwine.com

New Zealand – represented by Nelson wines, has held international competition at arm’s length to win the supreme award and First XV trophy at the 2011 Nelson Wineart First XV Wine Competition.

The winners were chosen after a blind tasting of all 45 wines – Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer. The judges then selected their favourite 15 wines (the first XV) from all the wines and the country with the most wines in this selection was awarded the overall trophy.

New Zealand took the award after having 7 of the 15 wines in the judges’ favourite first XV line-up, Italy had 6 and the USA 2. The best Riesling was judged Blackenbrook Vineyard Nelson 2009, the best Pinot Gris was Etude Carneros 2010 from the USA and the best Gewürztraminer was Cantina Tramin Alto Adige Nussbaumer 2009 from Italy.

Matching what was happening on the rugby field, Italy, USA and New Zealand had each provided a ‘team’ of 15 consisting of five wines from each of three aromatic wine varieties – Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris and Riesling. The New Zealand selection was represented by Nelson wines, renowned for their aromatics.

From left Ralph Kyte-Powell, Riccardo Castaldi, Leslie Sbrocco and Sam Kim.

The independent judging team included renowned international wine judges Sam Kim from New Zealand, Leslie Sbrocco from USA, Riccardo Castaldi from Italy and Ralph Kyte-Powell from Australia was the chair.

Ralph Kyte-Powell says it was a fantastic international event and he says the results from the blind tasting couldn’t have been more perfect.

“We achieved results that were really quite remarkable. If it had been organised, it couldn’t have turned out any better because we had one winner from each of the three countries participating and we also had an overall winner which was the host. It was all completely anonymous and I didn’t even know the results until I opened the envelope to read them out at the degustation dinner, so it added a real spice and some good natured ribbing to the event.”

Ralph Kyte-Powell says the First XV competition has been a huge success.

“Nelson is one of those regions of New Zealand that slips under the radar internationally sometimes. They just do what they do really well. I think this competition focussed on nelson in a way that rarely happens, which has got to be good.”

He says he could see this becoming a regular event.

“Wine is a tool for hospitality and friendship and this Nelson Wine art competition was the perfect mix of fun and serious wine competition,” says Ralph Kyte-Powell.

Daniel Schwarzenbach from Blackenbrook Vineyard, who won the best Riesling, says it was a fantastic international event that has put Nelson on the map.

“It was a real honour for us to win Best Riesling against such great competition and it’s an honour too for Nelson and New Zealand.

“Riesling is like the white pinot noir for winemakers, it’s quite a challenging wine and to win against stiff competition is fantastic. With 4 out of 5 of the Riesling winners coming from Nelson that’s all really good for our region.”

“It was a fabulous event, I’d like to thank Nelson wineart – it was so well organised and professional.”

A total of 360 bottles were flown into Nelson recently – 180 from Italy and 180 from America for the judging, the Degustation Dinner held straight after the judging, and the Tutored Tasting today.

Nelson Winegrowers Association Chairman Mike Brown says the competition has been a huge success.

“As well as promoting the quality of Nelson wines on a global level, this competition has shown that while we’re serious about making great wine, we also like to have a bit of fun. Linking wine with rugby shows just how far New Zealand has come over the past decades from a rugby and beer only mentality. I know a lot of fans who want to enjoy the rugby with a great glass of local wine.”

For those who want to sample some more great Nelson wine, the Nelson New Release Wine Tasting will be held at the Boathouse on Wednesday 28 September from 5 – 7.30pm, where guests can taste over 100 local wines and chat to the people who made them.

To find out more go to : www.nelsonwineart.co.nz

For More Information Please Contact:

Nelson Wine Art – Gisela Purcell on 021 1010 366

Tasting notes are also available – please email admin@nelsonwineart.co.nz for copies.

The 2011 Nelson Wineart First Fifteen Trophy wines are in italics

The top 5 Riesling are:

1. Blackenbrook Vineyard Nelson 2009 Nelson
2. Greenhough Vineyard Apple Valley 2010 Nelson
3. Woollaston Estates Nelson 2009 Nelson
4. Neudorf Vineyards Moutere 2010 Nelson
5. Cantina Produttori Valle Isarco Aristos 2010 Italy

The top 5 Pinot Gris are:

1. Etude Carneros 2010 USA
2. Te Mania Nelson 2010 Nelson
3.  Plozner Friuli Grave 2010 Italy
4.  Neudorf Vineyards Moutere 2010 Nelson
5.  Chehalem Reserve Willamette Valley 2008 USA

The top 5 Gewürztraminer are:

1. Cantina Tramin Alto Adige Nussbaumer 2009 Italy
2.  J. Hofstätter Kolbenhof Alto Adige 2010 Italy
3.  St Michael-Eppan Alto-Adige Sanct Valentin 2010 Italy
4.  Cantina Produttori Cortaccia Alto Adige Brenntal 2009 Italy
5.  Seifried Estate Winemaker’s Collection Nelson 2010 Nelson

The final tallies for Italy, the US and Nelson are therefore:

USA 2

Italy 6

Nelson 7

Therefore the winner of the 2011 Nelson Wineart First Fifteen Wine Competition is Nelson, New Zealand.

About a week later the housekeeper came to the elderly priest and said, “Father, ever since the young Father came to dinner, I’ve been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don’t suppose he took it do you?”. The priest said, “Well, I doubt it, but I’ll write him a letter just to be sure.”

So he sat down and wrote: “Dear Father, I’m not saying that you ‘did’ take a gravy ladle from my house, and I’m not saying you ‘did not’ take a gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here.”

Several days later the elderly priest received a letter from the young priest which read: “Dear Father, I’m not saying that you ‘do’ sleep with your housekeeper, and I’m not saying that you ‘do not’ sleep with your housekeeper. But the fact remains that if you were sleeping in your own bed, you would have found the gravy ladle by now.”

What a great night. Numbers were a little down on previous November Bubbles events, but those that attended were rewarded with a top class tasting.

We kicked off with some stills from the “Doctor” series. The purpose of this series is to create pleasant drinking wines with a
lower alcohol content. Something people can enjoy without being so concerned with the effect of the alcohol. Better health wise.

He then followed with three bubbles; Brigit, Doctors Remedy and Bubbles for Beth. All were pleasant, the Doctors remedy followed the lower alcohol theme, but the real surprise for most was the Bubbles for Beth. This was Syrah based and a red, but met with great approval. Members were more than pleasantly surprised that a bubbly based on Syrah was so enjoyable, a lovely drink to have over the festive season.

In the second half of the meeting we sampled a Duval-Leroy Fleur De Champagne, a Jean Marc Vigreux Frere, and a Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut NV. Brigit Forrest had arrived by this time and enjoyed the tasting with us. John provide comment on these wines.

A totally enjoyable evening was rounded off with a Forrest botrytis Riesling, accompanied by a rather lush fruit cake provided by Cecilia Parker.

Sunday 29th January from 4pm, wet or fine

Derek Thompson’s residence

4 Arthur Carman Street, Johnsonville

No charge

Our first event for the year is the traditional Club Barbecue. We are very grateful to Derek for continuing to make his place available and there is no doubt that Derek has made it fit for purpose.

The Club will supply meats, salmon, potatoes, bread and a BBQ chef! You do not need to bring your tasting glasses as the Club will provide glassware.

Members are requested to bring wine plus a salad if you live at an even numbered address and a dessert if you live at an odd numbered address. For the information of our newer members, we suggest that your salad/dessert serves about 8 people.