Want to try something new, and not already a member? Come on your own, grab a friend, workmate or partner and join us for our next tasting. Take a look and see who's presenting. Scroll down to view the website.
Detergent is the enemy of effervescence, so always rinse your sparkling glasses in warm water to remove any residue. Photo / Getty Images
From weekend brunches to housewarming parties to casual happy hours at home, popping a bottle of bubbles generally promises a good time. This tasting has been put together with assistance from our friends at Eurovintage and presents many affordable wines from around the world that may well surprise you with their wide range of styles and tastes.
And if you then go out and seek one or more of these wines after the tasting, we will be well pleased. Wines to be tasted will include:
De Bortolli Family Selection Sparkling Brut NV – Australia – Our welcome wine
Graham Norton Prosecco D.O.C – Italy
Perelada Brut Reserva Spanish Cava NV – Spain
Pongracz Sparkling Brut – South Africa
Hunter MiruMiru Marlborough Method Traditionalle Brut – New Zealand
Aimery Grande Cuvee 1531 Cremant De Limouix Rose NV – France
The Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz NV – Australia
Pegasus Bay Encore Noble Riesling – New Zealand
The club will supply you with a flute to taste the wines, but bring your flutes or tasting glasses if you prefer.
As there are eight wines for the evening, members are encouraged to have a good meal before attending the evening.
There will be extra small food supplied for some of the above wines to enhance the experience and make the evening extra special.
In the 20 or so years in which they’ve been around, these handblown Austrian glasses have acquired a cult-like international following.
Victoria Moore, WINE CORRESPONDENT, The Telegraph | 26 August 2023
Along with the Rolex Oyster, Zaltos were one of six ‘perfect things’ to be given an ‘unimprovable award’ by The Wall Street Journal
Last summer, 67 Pall Mall, the private members’ club for wine lovers, sent out what must surely rank as one of the most first-world-problem apologies of all time. ‘We have used Zalto glassware exclusively in the Club since opening,’ it began, before explaining that, because of production delays, the club had been ‘forced’ to put ‘alternative glassware’ on the tables. The horror!
But that’s how people get about Zalto. In the 20 or so years in which they’ve been around, these handblown Austrian glasses have acquired a cult-like international following. They are used for service in 19 out of France’s 29 three-star Michelin restaurants. Most sommeliers and wine writers I know – including me – have at least a couple of the huge, extremely thin, straight-sided Zalto Denk’Art Universals (right) in the cupboard. Along with the Rolex Oyster, Zaltos were one of six ‘perfect things’ to be given an ‘unimprovable award’ by The Wall Street Journal, which I suppose makes the price tag – the ‘use for everything’ Universal is now about £50 a pop – look almost accessible.
Catholic priest and influential Austrian wine lover, the late Father Hans Denk
I recently met up with Zalto’s GM, Christoph Hinterleitner, in London. He told me a key moment in Zalto’s rise came in 2007 when the German current affairs magazine Stern tested out a bunch of wine glasses in a blind tasting and Zalto took first place in three categories. Wait – a blind tasting of stemware? How does that work? ‘You had to wear an eye mask, and thick glove, like a skiing glove, so you couldn’t feel or see anything.’
In London, I saw Zalto gain traction in the tasting equivalent of word of mouth: you try one, you buy one – or put a pair on your Christmas list. One influencer named her dog Zalto. The Universal became a kind of gold standard. It altered glass fashion. The overall size and shape became familiar even to those who don’t pay Zalto prices (see the Large Wine Glass at Zara Home, £9.99).
According to Hinterleitner, it takes a team of eight to make each glass CREDIT: Thomas Schauer
Hinterleitner explained that it takes a team of eight to make each glass. But pinning down the story of how Zalto glasses came into being proved impossible as the Hinterleitners, who now run the company, and Kurt Zalto, whose family originally owned it, agree on almost nothing.
Hinterleitner tells me the ‘vision’ belongs to the late Father Hans Denk, incongruously a Catholic priest and influential Austrian wine lover. Denk, he said, felt he was ‘missing the perfect glass’ for the Wachau Grüner Veltliner he loved to drink, believed there must be an alternative to the ‘traditional egg-shape’ and created the Zalto range in collaboration with Kurt Zalto.
Kurt Zalto, who no longer has any involvement with Zalto Glass and left the company over a decade ago, selling them the right to use his name, says he alone conceived of and drew the thin, straight-sided glasses. He credits an Austrian feng shui expert, Thomas Schwäbisch, with one key input – the use of the angle of the tilt of the earth’s axis in the design. But he says when Father Denk – one, he says, of many people to give feedback – came in the picture, the designs were ‘already like they are now’, and only ‘minor changes’ followed. In short, behind one of the world’s most loved and perfect glasses, is a very ugly mess.
Portuguese distilling company apologises for accident that led to fears a nearby river would suffer environmental damage
It is enough to make a connoisseur weep – the sight of millions of litres of red wine flooding down the streets of a Portuguese village.
The freak occurrence took place when two huge wine tanks burst at a distillery in Sao Lourenco do Bairro in the centre of the country.
Bemused locals watched as an estimated 2.2 million litres – equivalent to the water held in an Olympic-sized swimming pool – cascaded through the village on Sunday, swirling around street signs and parked cars.
Video footage showed the torrent of red wine flowing down a slope and around a bend in the road.
The wine flooded the basement of one house, though much of it was diverted into fields, Portuguese media reported.
There were fears that it could contaminate a nearby river, but local authorities said they had managed to prevent that from happening.
The distilling company, Levira, apologised for the damage and said it took full responsibility for the unusual accident.
“The causes of the incident are being investigated by the competent authorities. We are fully committed to covering the costs associated with cleaning up and repairing the damage, with teams ready to act immediately. We are committed to resolving this situation as quickly as possible,” the company said.
‘The miracle of Settecani’
The incident came three years after locals in a village in Italy were delighted when they found that red wine, rather than water, started pouring out of their taps.
The bizarre water-into-wine mix-up happened in the village of Settecani in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna.
The local winery, Cantina Settecani, is connected to the public water supply, but a valve malfunction during maintenance work meant that instead of water being piped into its bottling plant, sparkling Lambrusco started flowing in the other direction.
“[Our] staff intervened fairly quickly, much to the disappointment of the locals, some of whom had started bottling it,” Luisa Malaguti, a representative of the company, told The Telegraph at the time.
“People are talking about it as ‘the miracle of Settecani’ and comparing it to the story of Jesus turning water into wine.”
The reality was more prosaic.
“The problem was traced to the malfunction of a valve. The pressure of the wine was greater than that of the water and the wine flooded into the public water network,” Ms Malaguti said.
It was great to have everyone help with the tables and chairs at previous meetings and take them down at the end. Also, take the 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.
Looking ahead
November – Bubbles Evening, tbc
December – Christmas Dinner, tbc
January – TBC
Tasting Glasses
This is a friendly reminder that all members are expected to bring their own tasting glasses to our meetings unless otherwise advised.
This said, your club does provide glasses on the night for guests, presenters and for a member who does forget [it does happen].
The Club does have glasses for sale at $18 for 6 if you would like to buy some. Please order from Wayne Kennedy. Or, you can purchase your own from the likes of Moore Wilson’s who stock ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶2̶1̶5̶m̶l̶ ̶X̶L̶ (out of stock) tasting glasses used by most of us. But the choice of glass and glass shape etc is yours.
The evening was well attended, and our presenter was Tim Turvey, winemaker, vineyard owner and the person who had returned tanned from Australia the day before after planting a pineapple plantation.
Tim regaled us with the history of how and why he set up the vineyard, built the house, established a native tree nursery and the expansions through to other regions of New Zealand for the different grapes he wanted to be able to use. He has 28 grape varieties they currently work with, plus a 100-year-old Olive tree that the original property owner, Vidals, planted.
He told us how the ‘White Caps’ range got its name, simply by white caps being the only colour available at the time for the new wines.
Our special treat was the extra tasting of their 2022 Reserve Chardonnay with a big buttery nose and taste from a challenging vintage, so it is in short supply.
The evening was finished with their Sea Red Dessert wine, a nice sweet touch.
A reminder of the wines we tasted during the evening:
French Wine Merchants, Established 1999 Dedicated to bringing the best of French wine and food to New Zealand
Presented by Scott Hurrell, Wednesday 11th October, 8 pm Start
Door Price: Members $18 / Guests $22
For our newer members, Maison Vauron is a French Wine Merchant company set up in Auckland in 1999 to bring the best of French wine and food to New Zealand. They have presented their wines to our club several times previously and we are very lucky to have them do so again.
Pierre Vauron’s original business card in 1918. ‘A la grappe dorée’ (‘The golden bunch’) was the name of the business then, established and based in the town of St Etienne (South West of Lyon) since 1879. The card mentions that Pierre was specialising in white wine from all regions and red wines from the Beaujolais.
The company resulted from a visit to NZ in 1991 by Jean-Christophe Poizat who wanted to learn more about NZ wines. Jean-Christophe is the great-great-grandson of Antoine Vauron who in 1879 set up a wine merchant business in Saint Etienne, 50kms southwest of Lyon, the city scheduled to host the All Blacks last 2 pool games in the 2023 RWC.
Six months after arriving JC [as he is often called] would meet his future wife and then some years later, his business partners, Peter & Scott. The importance of family is central to Maison Vauron’s operation, with siblings of JC and Peter involved in the business, as are the partners of JC and Scott. Every year Maison Vauron likes to return to France to taste the wines and try the cheeses, meet their producers and most importantly, make new discoveries. This year, wine mentors, Jean-Christophe and Will are also attending the Rugby World Cup, hosted by France.
As a result of their absence, Scott [responsible for trade sales] has agreed to step up to the batting plate and will lead us through a tour of French vineyards that will reflect various grapes and wine styles.
Scott is well qualified to present these wines, as he previously trained for 11 years as a winemaker in the Bordeaux area of France.
Sauvignon blanc grapes at Alapa Vineyard Services in Blenheim.
Prices for sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough have topped $400,000 per hectare this year, up by almost 60% on past record, the Real Estate Institute says.
Andy Poswillo, director for Colliers in Marlborough said it was a big jump from the $270,000 per hectare that the best vineyards fetched for a long time.
A number of factors influenced the price, he said.
The best vineyards delivered consistent high-quality yields, Poswillo said.
The land that attracted the most interest was not under any contractual obligations and buyers could “do what they wanted with the fruit,” he said.
Investors looked at the rate of return and the value of a vineyard came down to yield and location, he said.
Water availability and security was a major contributor to the value of land.
The price per tonnes of grapes made land attractive, he said.
Sauvignon blanc grapes harvested recently sold for up to $2200 per tonne, Poswillo said.
Real Estate Institute rural spokesperson Shane O’Brien said these sales were the only “bright spot” in the rural property market as sales continued to decline compared to last year.
The institute’s data showed there were 166 fewer farm sales for the three months ended May than for the same three months ended May 2022.
“The reduced number of sales is impacted by buyers continuing to take a wait-and-see approach to buying amidst the backdrop of higher interest rates, farm expenses increasing and lower farm incomes off the back of adverse weather and challenging economic conditions,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said the sale of two established vineyards was at a price per hectare never seen before.
“In Marlborough sales are now being reported at record levels for good quality sauvignon blanc land and more land is being acquired for further development in grapes,” he said.
The recent uptick in wine exports and free-trade agreement with the UK gave the industry “renewed confidence,” O’Brien said.
Chief executive of New Zealand Winegrowers Philip Gregan said earlier this month wine exports for the year to May were worth $2.4 billion, up 25% on last year.
Sarah Wilson, general manager for advocacy at New Zealand Winegrowers, said under the UK free-trade agreement technical barriers to trade would be removed, and certification and labelling requirements minimised.
Marcus Pickens, general manager for Wine Marlborough, said the phenomenon of good sales for sauvignon blanc vineyards was not new, with ongoing growth in the industry for the last 30 years.
“It’s a continuation of the growth trajectory.
“There could have been an uptick and land conversion into viticulture. The world discovered sauvignon blanc in the 1980s and there’s been growing demand ever since. Other varieties grow very well, but sauvignon blanc gets all the attention,” Pickens said.
Marlborough had “nice warm days” in the growing season and “quite cold nights which was good for flavour development,” he said.
Marcus Pickens says sauvignon blanc gets all the attention in New Zealand.
Of Marlborough’s about 30,000 hectares of vineyards, about 24,000ha was planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Pickens said.
The vineyard area grew by 29% in the last 10 years, but it was hard to say if this trend would continue, he said.
Marlborough had a record harvest last year, after a small harvest in 2021 brought about by poor fruit set, he said.
This year’s harvest was marginally less than last year because of an abnormal summer, Pickens said.
“As a wine industry we have been careful to map planting planning with consumption demand as we do not want to oversupply the market, just grow our premium offering at the same pace as demand grows,” Pickens said.
The median price per hectare for dairy farms for the three months ended June this year was up 3.1% compared to last year, for finishing farms it was down 4.8%, up 5.3% for grazing farms and down by 25% for horticulture, Real Estate Institute data showed.
Antonia presented us with some of the Babich wines, mainly from Marlborough, where their new winery is situated. Their base is still in the Henerson Valley, where the Babich family first settled.
Antonia regaled us with the Babich family members’ comings to New Zealand at an unsettled time for the world and why they turned to making wine, with their increasing presence here and their increasing knowledge base. An interesting evening for everyone.
The different labels certainly made for an interesting evening.
A reminder of the wines we tasted during the evening:
Wednesday 13th September, 8 pm Start | Door Price: Members $10 / Guests $14
Clearview Estate has grown and owner-operated since 1986: Tim Turvey & Helma van den Berg.
TIM TURVEY & HELMA van den BERG
Purchased in 1986, the neglected but historic Vidal’s No.2 Vineyard at Te Awanga, Hawke’s Bay, was set to become Clearview Estate. Tim Turvey, with business partner Helma van den Berg, took on the challenge of bringing it back to life. Together, they hand-grafted and planted the first vines in the winter of 1988. Clearview Estate Winery Ltd was established for the first red wine vintage in 1989, following experimentation in prior years. Chardonnay began in 1991 with the release of the first Reserve Chardonnay.
Over the next several years, Tim and Helma planted thousands of trees, including avocado, olive, bay, citrus, gums, and melia. And they didn’t stop there. Together, they expanded the vineyard by three acres each year, grafting and planting vines, ramming posts, running wires, training young vines, and, for many years, completing all of the pruning themselves.
Today, the business proudly remains owner-operated. Tim oversees the vineyards and works with chief winemaker Matt Kirby and assistant winemaker Rob Bregmen to create legendary, much-awarded wines. Helma manages the finance, restaurant, gardens and her extraordinary team. Steeped in history, Clearview Estate Winery Cellar Door and Clearview Estate Restaurant have become an iconic and awarded destinations for both locals and visitors from afar.
194 Clifton Road, Te Awanga, Hastings, Hawke’s Bay.
The evening was a success, as usual, with 36 happy diners.
On arrival, complimentary petite onion tarts were handed out with Club’s bubbles, followed by miniature croque-monsieur, before we sat down to start our meal.
The tables were set up for lots of mingling, wine-sharing and chatting.
As a reminder, our menu for the evening was:
Entrée 3 mini entrees served to each person (Quiche Lorraine, petite French onion soup, mini goat cheese salad)
Mains Beef Bourguignon Monkfish with Saffron Sauce Chicken Provencal
Dessert 3 mini desserts in the style of petite fours
Sadly, local fish supplies could not provide the monkfish, so Chef Vero replaced that with Blue Warehou, which was equally enjoyable.
The evening finished with a nice surprise when Chef Vero served us 5 petite fours to finish the night, all entirely delicious!
Sustainably Crafted New Zealand Wine – 100 years in the making
Wednesday 9th August, 8 pm Start Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18
People thought Josip Babich was crazy back in 1912. Planting vines in West Auckland and then patiently making wine the difficult way – with great vision, graft, thoughtfulness, ingenuity, and true craft. That pioneering spirit is something that still runs deep in our veins today, and we’ll keep ‘paying it forward’ for as long as we exist.
Over 20 years ago, we registered our first sustainable vineyard – a New Zealand first. But we’re not content to look back because what you’ve done is not who you are. We’re more excited about our future than ever and applying 100 years and three generations of winemaking experience to sustainably craft the most drinkable wines from New Zealand to the world.
Sustainability is always better when shared. Babich’s iconic NZ wine regions: Marlborough is home to some of the world’s finest Sauvignon Blanc. And a second home to Babich since we established vineyards there in 1989. Hawkes Bay is internationally renowned for its soil profile – perfect for supple, robust and sophisticated reds.
Please ensure your subscription of $25, due on 1st July, is paid soon. Remember, we don’t send out an invoice. Thanks.
Special General Meeting
At the August Monthly Meeting, for the first 10 minutes, we will hold an SGM to discuss and pass some small changes to the Club’s Constitution. These changes will be circulated shortly and are an update to the wording as it is at present.
Heating
We hope everyone appreciates the new heating in the hall.
Support appreciated
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, taking the table’s contents: spittoons/water jugs/cracker plates back to the kitchen. Could we please continue this new routine?
Setting-up
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, as they are often in the hall until 7:30 pm.
