Tasting wine in Johnsonville since 1980.
The BBQ at Derek’s was the usual success with the weather playing its part.
Thanks to everyone who brought a salad or a dessert, but special thanks to:
Wednesday 8th February, 7.45 pm
Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18
There is much to admire and emulate in the wines of Australia. For many members such wines may well be amongst your favourites. Perhaps such wines are from South Australia, perhaps Western Australia, but for this tasting to kick the year off for the club we are highlighting Victoria.
For many wine enthusiasts the wines of this state fly under the radar. If so, you are missing a treat. On a much smaller scale than the neighbouring South Australian state, the wines of Victoria have their own charm, distinctiveness and award-winning status. And some plantings are indeed old vines.
As with NZ there are a number of different vineyard regions within the Victorian state and some well-known vineyards which we will explore under the guidance of Keith Tibble from EuroVintage, who is very well acquainted with these wines.
Across the state from the south (Mornington) to the central near Melbourne (Yarra Valley) to the interior (Grampians , Murray River) there is a diversity and quality that elicits awards and a dedicated following
…is a highly famous cool climate-based winery in the Grampian range of Northern Victoria. Established in 1969 by the Fratin Family, the site had been planted (like Hawkes Bay’s Te Mata ) back in the late 1890s; after one poor and challenging year in 1980, the Fratins decided they needed a consultant and hired the noted winemaker Trevor Mast. Six years later, Trevor his wife and partner Ian Menzies purchased the varied blocks. They started to develop the concept of Cool Climate (Victorian) Shiraz, a personal vision of Trevor that has led Mount Langhi to be regarded as one of Australia’s greatest shiraz producers. We will taste two shiraz wines, the superb but great value Billi Billi and the superb ‘Mast’ awarded 96/100 in Decanter.
…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; this was Victoria’s first winery and was the largest Victorian vineyard right up to the 1980s. Purchased by the Rathbone Family in 1996, Yering Station is sister to Yarrabank, a sparkling producer jointly owned by a champagne House Devaux. However, Yering is famous for its Burgundy style wines – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – and we will taste the legendary reserve chardonnay along with two superb Pinots, the superb Yering station 2021 and the unique value Village 2021.
![A well-kept secret of the international wine scene, and certainly the most diverse wine-growing state in Australia, is Victoria. [Wine Folly]](https://cellarclub.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-01-01-Jan.jpg)
One not to miss out on. Wines continue to impress after more than 30 years.
Check your next newsletter for details.
Sunday, 29th January 2023, from 4 pm. Check your inbox for address details.
Looking forward to seeing as many of you as are available by starting 2023 as usual with our Club’s January BBQ at Derek’s place on Sunday, 29th January 2023.
This will be a great afternoon/evening where members get to know other Club members and share food and wine. We hope to see you all at Derek’s and start off 2023 with cheer!
We, the committee, wish members happy and enjoyable Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you at the club BBQ at the end of January. Details will follow in the new year.
Check out the tribute to sharing wine over the holidays. →
Cheers
Your Cellar Club Committee
Emily Brookes | Nov 11 2022
Lindauer is an iconic Kiwi sparkling wine brand, but soon some of your favourite bubbles will be more Aussie than local.
Starting from next week, the Lindauer Classic Brut going to market will be made with Australian grapes rather than New Zealand, while the Classic Rosé will be a blend of Aussie and Kiwi.
Both were previously made with 100% New Zealand grapes from Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.
Jane De Witt, head winemaker at Lindauer owner Lion, said the decision had been made to keep costs stable.
“As with everything that’s happening at the moment costs have increased significantly for us,” she said. “We’ve really struggled to find the volume and the quality that we’re happy with to ensure the quality and the value that our consumers expect.
“Costs are increasing, so if we are to supply Lindauer to the consumer at the same or similar price point we just couldn’t continue using New Zealand grapes.”
De Witt originally claimed Lion would not decrease the volume of grapes it purchased from New Zealand growers, indicating they would be deployed to other Lion-owned wine brands, which include Wither Hills, Huntaway, Daniel Le Brun and Morton Estate.
After Stuff reported that, however, Lion clarified this point, saying it was purchasing two products’ worth fewer grapes, but claimed that volume would be picked up by other, non-Lion, wine companies.
The new Classic Brut and Classic Rose grapes would be sourced from South Australia, which provided the best climate for the chardonnay, pinot noir and pinotage grapes used in the styles and mimicked the New Zealand grapes that had been used before.
Initially De Witt was disappointed to be in a position where using foreign grapes was inevitable, she said.
“But I’m really happy with what we’ve got in bottle.”
While all efforts had been made to keep consistency through the Classic Brut and Classic Rose, both of which are non-vintage, De Witt said she had “decided you can never underestimate the consumer in what they can and can’t taste”.
If they could detect a difference, she hoped it would be deemed an improvement.
The move to foreign grapes was a permanent one for these two styles, De Witt said. The only other Lindauer wine made from non-New Zealand grapes was the Prosecco, which used Italian grapes.
There was a good turnout for the evening, although numbers were down due to illness, and in one case, nearly the whole table was absent due to Covid. We hope everyone is feeling much better at this stage.
Wayne had organised this evening on his own and had a bit of a shortbread competition with his wife – not mentioning who won!
The first half of the evening was simply tasting some of the wines and discussing the different grapes and countries these came from.
The second half of the evening was a taste and tipple scenario. We had shortbread, strawberries, cheese & crackers, and Christmas cake to sample after we had had our first taste of each wine. This was to see if our taste buds registered any meaningful changes to the taste and texture of the wines.
The wines we sampled were:
Two more mysteries to go with the Christmas Cake to finish off – these were also both poured blind:
Check out the Complete Guide to Sparkling Wines.
Wednesday 14th December is your Cellar Club’s Christmas dinner
Being held at Istana Malaysia Restaurant
Arrival at 7 pm for seating at 7.30 pm
1-5 Allen Street, Wellington – Directions
Thank you to everyone who let Wayne know whether they would be attending or not. It certainly makes the organising easier, and it is exciting to see that 43 people will attend our final event of the year. This year, as we have shared dishes, there are no meal choices to decide upon. But so there is no confusion on the night, we will still be allocating people to set tables and letting you know your table number before the dinner.
Given there are some members attending the dinner for the first time, it is perhaps an opportune time to mention how our dinners operate.
This is the 30th year of operation for Istana Malaysia, with Danny, the owner/chef, still on board. Everything is prepared fresh in the kitchen daily, guaranteeing quality and enjoyment.
If some members are a little weary about the spiciness of the food, please be assured that everything will be catered to milder tastes for the dishes with extra chillies and tofu on the table for people who want to add it to their plate.
A Reminder: We have planned no dessert for the evening, but please bring your favourite dessert wine, as this will complement both the food and finish the evening off nicely.
28 Club members chose to attend this diverse and interesting pink evening, but those that did were pleasantly surprised by most of the wines tasted, educated and now appreciative of Rosés.
From when to drink Rosé, regional styles, and the variety of grapes now used for the various wines, from the opening bubbly, everyone connected with and enjoyed the tastings. Opening with a Toi Toi Sparkling Rosé, which comprised of a mixture of Riesling and Merlot, through to the last McArthur Ridge Lilico Pinot Rosé, the diverseness of the 21st-century Rosés was indeed on display. Rosé is a style of wine, not a grape variety.
The wines were selected from wine sites and supermarkets, which were below the $20 mark, so they can be purchased and enjoyed by everyone the next time they’re shopping or browsing the computer. The wines we sampled during the evening were:
To be held at Istana Malaysia, 1-5 Allen St, Wgtn.
This will be an evening to remember: Club bubbles on arrival, shared meal dishes – some new/some old favourites, b.y.o. wines to share – perhaps try and match your bottle with Malaysian food – Gertz, Riesling, a Rose’, Pinot Noir or a Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is the 30th year of operation for Istana Malaysia, with Danny, the owner/chef, still on board. Everything is prepared fresh in the kitchen daily, guaranteeing quality and enjoyment.
We have planned no dessert for the evening, but please bring your favourite dessert wine, as this will complement both the food and finish the evening off nicely.
PLEASE NOTE: This will be on our usual Wednesday night, 14th December -not on a Saturday, arriving at 7 pm for a 7:30 pm start. The cost is $50 per head incl. GST and corkage.
A great way to kick the 2023 tasting year off. Details to follow.
Wednesday 9th November | Members $18, Guests $22
From weekend brunches to housewarming parties to casual happy hours at home, popping a bottle of bubbles generally promises a good time. However, knowing what you’re drinking and which bubbles to seek out is key.
This month the club intends to present a number of different wine styles of quite a diverse quality in the hope that we can make your Christmas buying a little easier and more informed.
And our plan is to do so in a number of different ways, some of which will be with nibbles, whilst others may require a little deduction on your part to decide what is in your glass.
The wines are currently being sourced, but our plan is to include wines from around the world that will reflect the varying degrees of dryness/sweetness that is typical of the areas being tasted. These are likely to include Prosecco, a Cava, Champagne and several Méthode Traditionnelle wines from elsewhere.
We don’t want to say much more for fear of spoiling the surprise, But the slightly higher door price reflects some of the quality you will taste and some of the additional costs of bringing this tasting to you.
We look forward to you joining us for this fun evening with bubbles.
Homework – Complete Guide to Sparkling Wines
What a great turnout for our Trifecta event from the Hawkes Bay vineyards!
This event was well attended by Club members, plus we had four guests attend. There were eight wines to sample for the evening, plus the owner Peter Robertson was there to let us in on some of his planting/vineyard secrets.
Peter explained to us how he started his wine career working for McWilliams making a rose spritzer that they used to export to Fiji! Times have certainly changed as have tasted in the 21st century.
See Stop Press!! Cellar Club Wins Trifecta of Top Hawke’s Bay wineries!!Information is now freely passed between the Old-World vintners and the New-World vintners as are cuttings of the different wine varieties. The eight wines for the evening were:
Our thanks go to Peter for his generous support for the Club, and to members for their support through the volume of sales.