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Hosted by Wayne Kennedy, Murray Jaspers and Michael Kuus
Wednesday 9th April, 8 pm Start
Door Price: Members $16 / Guests $20
Immediately after the Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show were announced last October, your club set out to acquire three bottles of seven gold medal wines for us to taste this month. April was chosen to do this as that is a time of the year when the wine industry is busy with harvest, and thus many wineries are unavailable to present to us.
The beauty of doing this immediately that the announcements were made were two-fold. It meant that the wines were still available and more importantly it also gave us an opportunity to secure seven trophy wines, including the McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Pinot Noir which was the Champion wine of the Show.
Many of these wines are hard to come by now, so we are fortunate that your committee acted so quickly. All that remains is for you to attend and enjoy a great trophy tasting.
Please remember your tasting glasses
The wines we will be tasting are:
2024 Leftfield Pinot Gris, Marlborough
2024 Wairau River Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
2024 Sileni Advocate Grand Reserve Albarino, Hawkes Bay
2023 Bladen Eight Rows Riesling, Marlborough
2022 Kirrihill Regional Series Clare Valley Shiraz, South Australia
2021 Church Road McDonald Series Merlot, Hawkes Bay
We started the evening with a French Chateau Laubespin Rosé. Lucus’ presentation was lively with a sprinkling of history and news of the different areas and permitted grape varieties grown in each place, as he took us through an evening of Italian and Spanish wines.
The evening was well attended with 37 attendees, and the grape varieties were an interesting mix, as were the mixes of the different/familiar varieties.
It certainly made for an entertaining evening, especially the unexpected introduction to a Balsamic at supper time. This was a ground level product, and one that the Italians used as a digestive, by having a teaspoonful after their meal!. It was certainly NOT the quality of product NZers are familiar with. It was so much better with a depth of sweetness akin to that of date, rather than sugar, sweetness and was thick and creamy.
An evening of superb Italian and Spanish wines.
A reminder of the tastings we had during the evening:
PLUS, a special treat, a Balsamic aged in French oak for 30-years!
This tasting was clearly enjoyed, with the different grape varieties and areas they are grown in sparking conversations all evening. Del Munto received 17 orders from members which reflected just how much they enjoyed the evening.
A heritage like no other – Mission Estate Winery Wednesday 12th March, 8pm Door Price: Members $6 / Guests $10
Reaching NZ shores in 1838, pioneering French missionaries founded a legacy. From their many accomplishments now interwoven throughout history came New Zealand’s first winery, Mission , in 1851. Their inspiration, a legacy, continues.
Today their vineyards span two of NZ’s best winegrowing regions; Hawkes Bay and Marlborough. Hawkes Bay vineyards in the Gimblett Gravels and Taradale focus on Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah; but also include small clocks of other varietals such as Semillon and Cabernet Franc.
Whereas, their Marlborough properties, perfect for producing cool climate wine styles, grow Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.
Mission Estate Winery established in 1851 by pioneering French Missionaries is New Zealand’s oldest winery and the birthplace of New Zealand wine.
Paul Mooney, our passionate winemaker since 1979, was trained by the Marist Brothers themselves, Paul imparts the very essence of Mission’s French heritage winemaking philosophy into both our Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough wines.
We consider ourselves guardians of our heritage and our land, and for more than 20 years we have been proud to be a founding member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand. In 1998, we were also one of the first wineries in New Zealand to be certified with the internationally recognised environmental management system ISO 14001.
We start with 2024 Mission Estate Rosé as our conversation/entry tasting followed by:
2023 The Gaia Project Pinot Gris
2024 Mission Estate
2023 Reserve Chardonnay
2019 Mission Reserve Cabernet Franc
2020 Mission Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
2023 Reserve Syrah
SPECIAL NOTE: The door prize on tasting night is going to be something a little special, namely a bottle of Lanvin Brut Champagne NV. Ticket prices for this will be $2 each.
34 members and one guest attended the evening; tastings and sales were good.
Our presenter for the evening was Brent Linn from Wairiki, and as well as giving a brilliant talk about the terroir of the region and how the wines were different, Brent gave a personalised view of the owner of Petane and his families’ losses from Cyclone Gabrielle where they lost everything. Phil Barber lost his house, vineyard, restaurant, and a neighbour’s brewery; his brother also lost his property. The good news is that they didn’t lose family; all were safely rescued.
Phil Barber continues to make wine, but now the grapes are from neighbours, and the latest batch he is working with is from Gisborne. His wines are worth seeking out.
The different labels certainly made for an interesting evening, and a reminder of the wines we tasted during the evening are:
We had Pegasus Bay wines presented to us by Ed Donaldson, Marketing Manager, who was informative and entertaining throughout the evening. Our club ordered 109 bottles from Pegasus.
Some of the information he imparted to us was:
Their venture started as a curiosity by Ed’s father, a surgeon 40 years ago.
That they have 40ha now planted in vines.
Their vines are not grafted from root stock.
They used to get grapes for their Main Divide range strictly from other growers/friends, this has now changed as they planted vines in 2008 to cover half this load.
There is seven family members involved in the day to day running of the business.
They export half of the wine they make to approx. 20 countries, including the UK, Belgium, Holland and Australia.
They will be 40 years old next year.
As a reminder of the wines we tasted during the evening:
Main Divide Rosé 2023 – Welcome wine a mixture of Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon
Pegasus Bay 2021 Sauvignon Blanc had less than 15% Semillon added
Pegasus Bay 2020 Chardonnay the grapes for this were foot stomped!
Pegasus Bay 2023 Bel Canto ‘Dry Riesling’ this is a really important grape variety for the area, these grapes are picked really late in the season – Bel Canto translates as beautiful music/singing
Main Divide 2021 Te Hau Pinot Noir
Pegasus Bay 2020 Merlot Cabernet
Pegasus Bay 2021 Finale ‘Noble Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Hosted by Michelle Fraser, Clearview Sales Manager and occasional Wine Judge
Wednesday 10th April, 8 pm Start Door Price: Members $14 / Guests $18
Please remember your tasting glasses
Immediately after the Gold Medal Winners from the New Zealand International Wine Show were announced last October, your club set out to acquire 3 bottles of 7 gold medal wines for us to taste this month. April was chosen to do this as that is a time of the year when the wine industry is busy with harvest and thus many wineries are unavailable to present to us.
The beauty of doing this immediately that the announcements were made were two-fold. It meant that the wines were still available and more importantly it also gave us an opportunity to secure 5 that were trophy wines, one of which was also the overall Champion Wine of the Show.
And to help us present these wonderful wines to you all, we have invited Clearview Sales Manager, Michelle Fraser back to help us. You may recall that last year she mentioned that she has been a wine judge but she also comes with an extensive knowledge of viticulture and wine making, so is well placed to provide background and her take on each of our wines that we will be tasting.
The wines we will be tasting are:
Lindauer Special Reserve Rose NV – Gold & Trophy for Champion NZ Sparkling Wine
2022 Leefield Station Gewurztraminer -Double Gold & Trophy for Champion Gewurztraminer
2022 Brancott Estate Letter Series O Chardonnay – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Chardonnay plus Champion Wine of the Show
2021 Daisy Rock Reserve Pinot Noir – Gold Medal
2021 Esk Valley Artisanal Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold Medal
2021 Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah – Double Gold, Trophy for Champion Syrah, Trophy for Champion Syrah & Predominant Blends & Trophy for Champion Commercial Red Wine
Hiking in Girraween National Park. Photo / Lachlan Gardiner
You’re not alone if you’ve never heard of Queensland’s Granite Belt. This little-known wine region has been kept closely under wraps. With epic scenery and delicious drops, no wonder Queenslanders don’t want us to know about it, writes Caroline Gladstone.
Balancing Heart Vineyard occupies a prime position in the shadow of Girraween National Park – a 117sq km expanse of forests and creeks dominated by spectacular granite outcrops, arches and bizarrely shaped lumps of stone sitting precariously atop lofty peaks.
This is the Granite Belt region of southern Queensland, home to more than 50 vineyards, wineries and cellar doors.
Balancing Heart takes its name from a heart-shaped chunk of granite that rolled down the mountain eons ago and has pride of place among the vineyard’s premium shiraz vines.
Balancing Heart Vineyard is home to bizarrely shaped lumps of stone sitting precariously atop lofty peaks.
With altitudes between 800m and 1500m, the Granite Belt is Australia’s highest wine region, which took root, so to speak, 15km away at Ballandean Estate. There, in 1968, Angelo Puglisi produced the first shiraz on a vineyard his grandfather had bought 30 years earlier to grow table grapes.
Five decades on and shiraz and its cool-climate cousins, – chardonnay, cabernet, and merlot – are still the region’s mainstays, however, a growing number of Mediterranean varieties including fiano, petit verdot and nebbiolo and an Eastern European wine, saperavi, are gaining notoriety.
Yet, despite high praise from wine writers, the region – three hours from Brisbane and an hour from the New South Wales border – is relatively unknown. Mention it to a sophisticated Sydneysider or Melburnian and you’ll likely draw quizzical looks. It seems this 305ha pocket, on the eastern spine of the Great Dividing Range, is still very much a Queensland secret.
And Queenslanders love it, flocking there in record numbers during the Covid border closures to sample the fruits of the vine and stock up on gourmet produce and snuggle into guesthouses during winter, fondly known as brass monkey season.
At its centre is Stanthorpe, Queensland’s coldest town, which proudly displays its chilly temperatures on a giant thermometer outside the visitors’ centre.
Barrel View Luxury Cabins in Ballandean are designed to look like giant halved wine barrels.
The town (population 5500) and a clutch of northern Granite Belt villages have a long agricultural history. Decades before commercial vines were planted, they grew apples, pears, berries and stonefruit. Today the region’s one million apple trees produce around 20 per cent of Australia’s crop, while fruit and vegetables are still very much part of the economy. Growers such as Nicoletti Orchards and Eastern Colour open their farms to the public for apple and strawberry picking and the hottest ticket at the biennial Grape & Apple Harvest Festival, a fixture on the calendar since 1966, is the public grape crush where bare-footed folk squish as many grapes as they can to be crowned Queensland’s grape-crushing champion.
With such a bounty of good food and wine, a Granite Belt trip deserves at least a two-night stay and an escorted winery tour to remove the angst of drink-driving. Mini-van day tours visit five wineries and include lunch, while new ways to explore the vineyards include self-guided or group cycling tours that travel on e-bikes.
Accommodation choices run from the cosy to the curated with many guesthouses, bushland cottages and cabins set among the vines. One that has grabbed the headlines since its opening in October is Barrel View Luxury Cabins in Ballandean.
Views of the grapevines and distant hills from Barrel View Luxury Cabins.
Designed like giant halved wine barrels with exterior timber cladding bound by metal hoops, each of the three cabins is the last word in decadence, with curved travertine walls, slick kitchens with the latest appliances and huge oval windows bringing in the views of the grapevines and distant hills.
Another property embedded in a vineyard, with the added advantage of an onsite cellar door, is Ridgemill Estate. Comprising 12 studio cabins and a three-bedroom cottage, guests have several wine experiences at their fingertips from tastings, master classes and vineyard tours led by the winemaker.
Heading out from Brisbane, a good place for a lunch break or even an overnight stay is Warwick, an historic town of impressive sandstone buildings and eclectic events including the annual rodeo and the Celtic Festival. Here the place to stay is the Abbey Boutique Hotel, an 1891-built Gothic-designed former convent and girls’ boarding school. Each of the 12 individually themed rooms has a story, such as the sought-after Bavarian room, once the girls’ dormitory and later the nuns’ chapel, and the Mother Superior’s room, created from four smaller nuns’ cells, with a glorious, canopied bed and cosy fireplace.
Ridgemill Estate boasts 12 studio cabins embedded in a vineyard.
A short detour to Allora, 25km north, would appeal to history lovers: it houses both the restored Glengallen homestead, considered the finest house in Queensland when built in 1864 by wealthy pastoralists, and Mary Poppins’ House. The latter was the childhood home of author P.L. Travers, who as a 6-year-old girl moved there with her family in 1905. Guided tours tell the story of the girl, born Helen Lyndon Goff, who later adopted her father’s first name of Travers, and changed Helen to Pamela, reportedly because she thought it was ” pretty”. She moved to England in 1924 and began writing her famous novel, the first of a series of eight Mary Poppins stories, 10 years later.
From Warwick it’s an hour’s drive to wine country and the first Granite Belt village of Cottonvale, home of Heritage Estate Wines. Another 50 wineries are located down country roads in the villages of Thulimbah, Applethorpe, Severnlea, Ballandean and Wyberba that lead off the New England Highway as it wends south towards Girraween National Park and the NSW border.
Wine enthusiasts can partake in a “Winemaker for the Weekend” course at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism.
Each has something different to offer.
Heritage Estate Wines holds tastings, lunches and monthly five-course degustation dinners (complete with old movies) where guests dress to the nines in a huge mid-19th century cellar door that was once an apple barn. Owners Therese and Robert Fenwick love to entertain and their latest offering is a weekly Friday night progressive dinner that begins with hors d’oeuvres among the vines and culminates with dessert in the cellar door.
Ballandean Estate, the oldest winery in Queensland, offers daily tastings and grazing platters in the rustic barrel room amid century-old wine barrels, while Whiskey Gully Wines’ cellar door occupies the 1880-built colonial homestead known as “Beverley”, where owner and multi-instrumentalist musician John Aldridge entertains guests at Saturday night dinners with an array of tunes.
Robert Channon Wines offers guided wine tastings including their award-winning verdelho in a venue that overlooks beautiful Singing Lake, and weekend lunches in the Persian Poppy, the region’s most exotic restaurant where dishes such as camel tajine grace the menu.
Discover a spectacular setting of giant granite boulders in Girraween National Park.
While locations and quirky features differ, what unites Granite Belt wineries are their “Strange Birds” – the wine varieties that represent less than 1 per cent of Australia’s vines, which include fiano, frontenac gris, malbec, gewurztraminer, marsanne, sylvaner, saperavi and nebbiolo. Visitors can pick up a Strange Bird Trail map and head out on a journey of discovery. One not to be missed is Bent Road Wines; owners Glen and Andrew provide tastings in an old timber church they bought on eBay, and show visitors the huge amphora vessels, known as qvevri, imported from Georgia (the former Soviet Republic) that has made saperavi, a robust red wine, for more than 8000 years.
“Winemaker for the Weekend” course at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism, the only facility of its kind in the world, or book a “Wine Philosophy” course with Balancing Heart Vineyard’s winemaker and viticulturalist Mike Hayes.
Named 2017 Queensland Winemaker of the Year, Hayes leads a fun session of swirling, sniffing and tasting of five of the vineyards top drops, including the acclaimed Campfire Company Red, in a spectacular setting beneath the granite boulders of Girraween National Park.
Getting there
WHERE ARE WE? Southern Queensland, Australia. Within 3hrs drive of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Byron Bay.
Brisbane is the easiest airport to fly into from New Zealand, with many of the Granite Belt’s townships sitting a 2.5-hour drive south of the airport.
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.
John Loughlin from Askerne Vineyard presented to us last month, and he was very pleasantly surprised to find 45 members and guests attending. We have to go way back to 2010 to find that number exceeded, so thank you, everyone, for supporting us with your presence.
John explained that Askerne now has 32ha to grow the 17 varieties of grapes that he and his wife now cultivate, and whilst Askerne is right beside the Tukituki River, they were spared the full force of Cyclone Gabrielle. It could easily have been much worse, as the water rose to 30cm below the top of their stop bank!
Their cellar door is now open 24/7, and John said please visit if you are up in Hawkes Bay for some tastings, He went on to explain that whilst we weren’t tasting these on the night, he felt their Pinot Gris was looking really smart, and their Pinot Noir really good too.
The wines tasted on the night were:
2022 Sérieux Rosé – the welcome wine
2020 Semillon
2022 Reserve Chardonnay
2021 Gewurztraminer
Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc
2021 Cabernet Franc
2019 Late Harvest Semillon
And it was pleasing to note that the quality of these wines was reflected in the excellent number of wines orders received on the night.
So, thanks again to everyone for your support and a special thanks for John for his well delivered tasting presentation.
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.
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.