The newly elected committee met for the first time in May, with Tim and Ken being welcomed on board.
Continue this new routine
It was great to have everyone help with the tables and chairs at the start of last month’s meeting and take the same down after the meeting. Also, take the table contents: spittoons/water jugs/cracker plates back to the kitchen. Could we please continue this new routine?
Please note
We can’t arrive to do the setting up activities any earlier than 7:30 pm as we interrupt the cleaner(s) schedule. The cleaners are in the hall until 7:30 pm.
Wow, nine wines! This was an interesting evening full of updated information about the Esk Valley region and touching on areas of Portugal that most members present haven’t been to yet.
The variety of wines was great, beginning with Linden Sparkling Rose’ from Esk Valley, a blend of Merlot and Pinotage, a delicious start to the evening. The rest of the evening’s selection was:
Confidencial Reserva Rose –10-grape blend
2020 Casa Santos Lima Chardonnay
2022 Moutere Hills Riesling
2020Waipara Downs Pinot Noir
2020 Confidencial Tinto-Red – 10 grape blend
2019 Mosaico De Portugal
2017 Colossal Reserva Casa Santos Lima
Parcelas Portuguese Tawny Port
Most of the wines for the evening had received at least one gold medal in competitions, with some receiving ten gold medals.
Wednesday 14th June, 8 pm Start | Door Price: Members $12 / Guests $16
Askerne Estate Winery commenced in April 1993 when wine lovers John and Kathryn Loughlin purchased the original 11.6 hectares site in Te Mata
Mangateretere Road. John and Kathryn had studied winemaking and viticulture in the previous years, with Kathryn, as the more diligent student, achieving the higher grades.
They called the property Askerne, being the olde English name of Kathryn’s birthplace, Askern, in Yorkshire, England.
John took up the role of Finance Manager of the large Richmond Limited meat company to provide the finance for the developing wine venture, and Kathryn assumed management of the vineyard operations.
Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted in late 1993, Semillon and Riesling in 1994, Chardonnay in 1995 and Gewürztraminer in 1996. The first wines were made at the Waimarama Estate Winery (then owned by Dr John Loughlin, John’s father) in 1996. These wines were released under their initial white label with green trees.
2015 Rebecca, the second Loughlin daughter joined the Askerne team working in the cellar door.
In February 1997, the Askerne cellar door was opened to the public, and it also sold Waimarama Estate’s red wines, including the then-famous Waimarama Dessert Cabernet.
The 1997 vintage produced very fine wines from Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay which confirmed the potential of the site.
Askerne commenced exporting with wines from the 1997 vintage and in 1998 Dr John Loughlin sold Waimarama Estate Winery and from the 1999 vintage Askerne’s wines were made on site.
John last presented to the Club in February 2019 and his presentation was a delight, both because of his delivery and the wines themselves. This month’s tasting promises to be equally compelling as we get the chance to taste the following wines:
2022 Askerne Sérieux Rosé
2020 Askerne Sémillon
2022 Askerne Reserve Chardonnay
2021 Askerne Gewürztraminer
Askerne Merlot Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon
2021 Askerne Cabernet Franc
2019 Askerne Late Harvest Sémillon
This selection of Hawkes Bay wines promises a lot and I’m sure we will not be disappointed by their taste or quality. Make sure you are there to find out which will be your favourite.
While there are two resignations from the present Committee, six people are staying on. Club members have been approached for new positions, and numbers are now back to eight for the new committee.
Member support
It was great to have everyone help with the tables and chairs at the start of last month’s meeting and take the same down after the meeting. Also, take the table’s contents: spittoons/water jugs/cracker plates back to the kitchen. Could we please continue this new routine?
Arrival times
We can’t arrive to do the setting up activities any earlier than 7:30 pm as we interrupt the cleaner(s) schedule; the cleaners are in the hall until 7:30 pm.
This was an interesting evening full of updated information about the Esk Valley region and touching on areas of Portugal that most members present hadn’t been to, yet.
The variety of wines was great, beginning with Linden Sparkling Rosé from Esk Valley, a blend of Merlot and Pinotage, a delicious start to the evening. The rest of the evening’s selection was:
Confidencial Reserva Rosé – 10-grape blend
2020 Casa Santos Lima Chardonnay
2022 Moutere Hills Riesling
2020 Waipara Downs Pinot Noir
2020 Confidencial Tinto-Red – 10 grape blend
2019 Mosaico De Portugal
2017 Colossal Reserva Casa Santos Lima
Parcelas Portuguese Tawny Port
Most of the wines for the evening had received at least one gold medal in competitions, with some receiving 10 gold medals.
12 April – New Zealand and Portuguese Wines with Victor Kattenbelt, Confidant Wines. Check out…
10 May – Cellar Club AGM – The AGM Agenda was emailed with April’s newsletter. We would ask you to note that if you have any Notices of Motion, these need to be in the hands of the Secretary – Jenny Jebson – by 19th April ’23.
Your committee continues to review how it operates, particularly in trying to work out which tasks need to remain with the committee and which can be delegated.
This review is timely, given that two of the committee are stepping aside for the coming year, and we need to ensure that we have a good match of skills to match the roles being vacated.
This process will only work if members continue to provide us with their support when asked. Thanks.
Hall setup
We also continue to be delighted and thankful for everyone’s help with the hall setup for our gatherings and then the pack down at the end of the evening.
But please remember: We can’t arrive to do the setting up activities any earlier than 7:30 pm as we interrupt the cleaner(s) schedule, who has the hall until that time.
This was an evening of tasting grape varieties from around the world but produced right here in NZ.
Adding to this international flavour was our presenter Carlos, who was born in Chile and came to NZ in 2010, and now resides in Marlborough with his wife and daughters. Carlos informed us that Forrest is now second-generation owned and operated and that they loved working with many different grape varieties.
As a reminder of the wines we sampled during the evening:
Forrest Botrytised Riesling 2018Forrest has approximately 150 ha of grapes plants in Marlborough, with additional plantings in the Waitaki Valley, with the latter having limestone ground, similar to Burgundy conditions.
Visit Forrest
70% of their Sauvignon Blanc goes overseas each year, with 100 cases to Waitrose per year!
Notably, most of their Forrest Botryised Riesling, with a honey/marmalade taste – is made for and sold to Air NZ. So when COVID19 hit NZ, the unwanted stock was stocked by NZ based stockists – a bonus for the NZ public.
There were 15 orders from Club members for this tasting, evidence of just how much this tasting was enjoyed by our members.
Thank you to Carlos and Forrest Wines for your support of our club.
If you drilled down from New Zealand through the earth’s centre, where would you come out, Iberia? If it were not in Spain, it would level with the wine heart of Portugal.
Therefore, there must be something special that links the viticulture and the wines of our two countries.
Victor from Confidant Wines will present a mix of special boutique wines from New Zealand, some wonderful new wines from Portugal, and several repeated favourites.
This is your chance to try some new varieties and vineyards and support one Hawkes Bay vineyard (with a great sparkling Rosé) that was impacted after the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle. The evening will take a small journey from Hawkes Bay to Nelson to Waipara in North Canterbury; and then to Portugal with an array of blended wines and, to finish, a Tawny Port. Be prepared to be impressed.
We will see the influence of terroir in Waipara wines, the influence of climate on Nelson wine, what makes Hawkes Bay special, and some delicious red styles from award-winning Casa Santos Lima vineyard in Portugal. The Portuguese selection will focus on new vintages and some previous wines that were very popular and still available. Do you remember Waipara Pinot Blanc? Something new, something known, gold medals, new vintages, comparisons and varieties to experience. This array of wines has been specially selected we believe to suit the members’ preferences for this tasting.
In summary, we will kick off with a Linden (NZ) Sparkling Rosé, followed by a Portuguese Rosé and two classic NZ white wines, Riesling and a Viognier or Chardonnay. We will then compare the new award winning Portuguese Confident red and a blended Mosaico red with a NZ Pinot Noir. We will conclude with a delicious Tawny Port from the home of all great ports.
We look forward to enjoying these wines with you. Please remember your tasting glasses.
MERMAIDMARY lauds the delights of lesser-known white wine variety chenin blanc.
Like many of the grape varieties we know and love, chenin blanc originates in France, hailing from the Loire Valley. And like other European wine varieties, chenin has found its spiritual home in the New World wine regions – South Africa produces one-fifth of the world’s chenin, twice as much as in its native France. Here in New Zealand, just a few passionate producers are devoted to this lesser-known white wine.
You can describe most New Zealand wines in a few words that refers to their signature style. For example, sauvignon blanc is zesty and vibrant, chardonnay is buttery and oaky and so on. Chenin blanc, however, is hard to narrow down due to its remarkable versatility.
On the vine the chenin grape is akin to chardonnay with high acid and a neutral palate. As a result of this neutrality the grape is influenced by the terroir in which it is grown as well as winemaking decisions. In the glass, chenin comes in a range of guises, from the perfect base wine for crisp dry sparkling wines to lusciously sweet dessert wines – and everything in between. There truly is a chenin blanc for every wine lover.
Chenin is best served chilled, but not cold, so as to preserve its complex aromatics and rich flavours – about half an hour in the fridge will suffice. Chenin is also a fantastic food wine, complementing a range of different cuisines. Off-dry examples with a hint of sweetness are particularly sublime with Southeast Asian cuisine.
Although delicious young, chenin has an incredible ability to age. A dry chenin could hold its own in the bottle for 10 years, with sweeter examples cellaring beautifully for decades.
Essentially, you can drink chenin in any style, at any age with any food, so there’s no excuse not to try one.
For a number of years, the Club has benefited from a stable committee which has been a blessing as we have had to meet a number of challenges, especially how to cope with Covid.
However, two of the committee have signalled that they would like to step down from their roles which raises the exciting prospect that the AGM will provide a new infusion of blood to continue the successful operation of our club.
Non-Committee Roles
There are a number of tasks that the committee carry out that strictly have nothing to do with the decision-making of the committee, so would not involve someone having to attend monthly meetings, but everything to do with how the Club conducts its successful tasting evenings.
Your committee is considering if some of these tasks could be delegated to the general membership, and we may seek volunteers to fulfil these roles at our monthly tastings.
Watch this space for more information.
The Club Cellar
Most members know that Derek Thompson is our Cellar Master, and this vital and important non-committee role means that Derek looks after the 80 to 90 bottles of wine that we carry forward for future use at tastings etc.
Derek is currently looking to downsize and the Club is now faced with the real likelihood that we will need to rehouse our cellar sometime later this year. We believe that our wines can adequately be stored in a recycled lockable metal cabinet that has a footprint of 1050mm x 470mm and a height of 1770mm, which the Club would supply, if required.
If you have a space in your garage, or rumpus room, that could house this cabinet and its contents, then can you please let Wayne know [0274523802 or email] and he will contact you to discuss this role in more detail. Thanks
AGM
And whilst on the subject of the AGM, if there is a matter you would like to raise, we would appreciate a heads-up before the AGM so it can be investigated and a considered response offered at the meeting, thanks.
Thank you
It was great to have everyone help with the tables and chairs at the start of last months’ meeting and taking the same down after the meeting. Also taking the tables contents: spittoons/water jugs/cracker plates back to the kitchen.
Could we please continue this new routine.
PLEASE NOTE: We can’t arrive to do the setting up activities any earlier than 7:30pm as we interrupt the cleaner(s) schedule, the cleaners are in the hall until 7:30pm.
With most of the club familiar with Australian wines, but not necessarily Victoria wines, this was an interesting introduction for most of us.
Keith introduced firstly, Mount Langhi (Ghiran) is an extremely famous cool climate-based winery in the Grampian range of Northern Victoria, established 1969 by the Fratin Family.
Secondly, we were introduced to Yering Station is an acclaimed producer almost as famous for its cellar door and restaurant as their amazing Yarra Valley Wines. Originally the first grapes were planted in 1838 by the Ryrie brothers.
The styles included a Prosecco to start [yes it was sourced and made in Australia], as well as two each of Chardonnay, Pinot and Shiraz.
That everyone present enjoyed Keith’s presentation and wines was reflected in the excellent orders received. Thanks again to Keith and EuroVintage for their continued support of our club.
UPDATE: We have just been advised that these are now in transit from the Auckland Warehouse, despite the logistical delays [weather issues etc.] and will be delivered to you, via Murray, either this weekend, or early next week.
