NZ Wine Blogger

Hangover Cures

2012-01-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

Okay – just about everyone who has a fondness for alcoholhas at some stage, if not quite often, over-indulged and then felt the repercussionsthe following day.

Hangovers are very personal and vary from drinker to drinker. A colleague who I talked to yesterday, regularlyimbibes 750 ml of wine a night with no ill effect, but suffers slight headachesif she has another few glasses. Certainlythe volume consumed is directly proportional to the physical and mental damage.

Personally, if it gets to the point where I’m unsure of howmany glasses I had - but it’s about 1.00 a.m. and I’m on Facebook dispensing swathesof wisdom and hilarity, then there is a very good chance that I will be unwell thenext morning For me, it pans out as nausea, mental confusion,dehydration and a pounding headache. Asthe day proceeds with a leaden gloom, foul mood, general feeling of loss ofwill to live, and an inability to form complete sentences. This doesn’t disappear for about 24 hours ifI’m lucky.

So – is there a cure for hangovers?

Yes. Duh? Don’t drinktoo much. .

Nah, but yeah truly - is there a cure for hangovers?, I hearyou ask.
Not really, but there are some measures of damage control which appear to havesome scientific backing.

Drink as much water as you can during theevening and before you go to bed to alleviate symptoms caused by dehydration. Continue drinking fluids the nextmorning. Sports drinks, such asGatorade, relieve dehydration, andreplace electrolytes. The downside is(hopefully remembering) to get up in the night frequently to relieve the bladder.
Painkillers – Aspirin, and ibuprofen help to reduceheadaches and muscle pain. But don’t usethem if you have any gastric pain or nausea, because these painkillers are alsogastric irritants and can add to stomach lining irritation. Paracetomol is a more gentle option.

Eggs are thought to help with breaking down toxinsassociated with alcohol breakdown

Ginger – either tea or in pill form can help to relievenausea

Bananas help to replace potassium and other electrolytes

Fruits and fruit juices replace vitamins andnutrients, particularly vitamin C

Berocca and vegemite (not mixed together, silly). Both good sources of vitamin B.

Then there are Ye Olde hangover cures – which you may wishto try: pair of pickled sheeps’ eyesin tomato juice, tea brewed from rabbit droppings, or themore familiar Prairie Oyster. I.e. a whole raw egg and Worcestershire sauce,seasoned with salt and pepper. The aim is to swallow it in one gulp withoutbreaking the yolk.

Phil runs winery tours in Auckland New Zealand

Waiheke Island Wine Tours

2012-01-25T21:52:00.000-08:00

Just over a year ago I made a serious effort to get to know the Waiheke Island wine region. See here. And after that initial foray, I took the plunge and set up a Waiheke Island wine tour option on my website.

The uptake has been modest, but the good news is that I have been able to share Waiheke's magic with many people over the last 12 months. Waiheke can be over hyped and its wines vary from year to year, but there is something magical about the Island. As soon as you step off the ferry, there is a feeling of having left all the rest of the world far behind - deep breath - exhale slowly. Relax.
That's part of the charm of Waiheke Island: nothing is done in a hurry, just be laid back and enjoy the day as it unfolds.

Waiheke does boast one of NZ's most famous red wine producers, the organic Stonyridge vineyards. Their 'Larose' Bordeaux style blend is legendary and tends to sell out even before it's released. Other overachievers are Te Whau and Te Motu along with Kennedy Point and Jurassic Ridge.

Along with some of NZ's best restaurants, stunning scenery and views of the Gulf, Waiheke does deliver.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

Wyndham 333 Pinot Noir- drinkable, and at ten bucks

2012-01-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

I'm always on the lookout for a bargain Pinot Noir - being a Pinotphile from way back.

In NZ it is hard to find any Pinots under $25 that aren't wimpy raspberry-lite BBQ quaffers.

Admittedly, the Marlborough Pinots seem to be getting better each vintage with older vines and improved vineyard management. But they are still clocking in at about $24 for anything reasonable. Or 'drinkable' as some wine tossers are prone to opine. (It's a funny thing how saying a wine is drinkable is a good thing. Whereas if you described a dish as edible it would be pejorative.)

Anyway, at the risk of losing my citizenship, I do find the Aussie Wyndham 333 Pinot Noir often available at $NZ9.99 a bottle very good value. It's a medium style with fruity cherry and red fruits flavours plus a fine grained tannin.
The wine seems to be a blend of South Eastern Australian wine, with no particular region quoted on the label. I have bought bottles over the last few years and the Pinot tastes like it is blended to a particular consistent style (not unlike their 555 Shiraz). In former times as a Shiraz fan, I often drank their 555 Shiraz. And nothing wrong with blending for consistency - French Champagne makers have been doing that for yonks.

Even Wine Spectator give it 86/100. Very imbibable, says I. (I'd swear on the Bibable)

Phil runs not for profit Wine and Food Tours in Auckland New Zealand, God bless 'im.

Robert Parker and Google - what they have in common

2012-01-12T01:07:00.000-08:00

Okay oenophiles - if you're aware of famous USA wine critic Robert Parker (no relation) then this will possibly make sense to you.

Robert Parker is a wine critic with an extraordinary 'photographic memory' for wine - that enables him to recall the taste and aromas of any wine he has sampled in his life, at the mere mention of its name. He is likewise able to pretty well nail the grape variety, country of origin and even the vintage year of a wine given to him 'blind' to sample. These are formidable skills that have made him probably the world's most influential and powerful wine critic. A bad word from Robert and your wine may as well be worthless. Conversely, a rating of over 90 on his 100 point scale and your wine is going to sell like hot cakes.

The movie Mondovino exposes the incredible influence that Parker's ratings have on the wine making world. In essence - the leading wine producers on the globe are so desperate to gain accolades from Parker that they craft their wines according to his palate. Never mind, is this a good wine? No. Is this a wine that Robert Parker will give a high score to because it favours his unique palate? Parker's alleged obsession with micro-oxygenation has forced many winemakers to follow this tannin softening process, in order to please his palate.

Now, to Google. In the immense virtual world of the Internet, if we are looking for something - we need search engines. Ten years ago most folk had their fave search engine - Alta Vista, MSN Search, Big Pond, or even that other one - Google. Now, Google has emerged as the world's most powerful search engine. Yes, there are a few others, but if you're not on page one of Google with your web site, you may as well consign your site to the dust bin. Consequently, everyone is tailoring their website key words and content in order to get a good ranking from Google. This again gives Google enormous power. Google says put Google +1 on your web site, we all say Yes! Google says you need to link your website with FaceBook - we all say Yes! Meanwhile Google is accumulating shiteloads of data on you and your friends and connections, and able to use that to their own (allegedly benevolent) ends.

I think that's all a bit creepy.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

Kaiken - Argentinian Malbec 2010

2012-01-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

Last night we had friends over for dinner, and being wine lovers, they bought some wine with them plus a damn fine mushroom quiche. Among the (many) bottles the four of us consumed over the evening was a Malbec from Kaiken. When the bottle was brought out I assumed it was a Japanese winemaker's label, but no - the Kaiken is a native Argentinian bird.

Anyway, the wine is made from Mendoza fruit - 93% Malbec with the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon. Great wine - intensely ripe and seamless, with soft tannins and black berry fruit and savoury flavours.

Glengarry have it in stock for $NZ17.90 a bottle - a total bargain.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland

So what's wrong with Christmas?

2011-12-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I am agnostic. I was raised as a Catholic. But at 55 and with two parents long gone from cancer, and two marriages, no kids and a bit of life experience, I ... still ...just ... don't know.

However, Christmas ...

Where I live - New Zealand, has a predominantly Christian religious culture. Polynesian people came here about 800 years ago and developed their own Maori belief system. Then around 1800 NZ was seriously colonised by Europeans who brought Christianity - as well as rats, measles, muskets, alcohol, syphilis, influenza and other stuff. But anyway, eventually many Maori converted to Christianity. So - like it or not, over about 150 years, and right now NZ has a majority 'religious culture' of Christianity. (Even though fewer than 10% of us attend church regularly).
We also have much smaller numbers of Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Taoist, Hindu, Sikh, Jedi, Pagan, Wiccan and many others.

Christian culture celebrates Christmas as a reminder of: good will, peace, generosity, kindness, reconciliation, hospitality, family and friendship.

Christian religion celebrates all of the above plus the birth of a Jewish male who they believe is the Christ (the chosen one) and therefore son of God. Believe it - or not.

As a physiotherapist a few years back, I felt no insult or rage if Muslim patients shared Ramadan food treats with me. Or when a totally crazy Ukrainian Jewish guy used to bring me traditional heart-stopping cold weather fatty meat products to sample.

- I see no shame in celebrating Christmas - or wishing someone a Merry Christmas. Or sending Christmas cards, or exchanging Christmas gifts. Christmas is part of my culture - not necessarily my belief system.

So If I say, Have good Christmas, or Merry Christmas - I'm not saying "Screw your religion and your culture," or "My imaginary friend is better than yours," or "In your face, immigrant."
I am saying, "Enjoy our traditional New Zealand festive celebrations and holiday season, and best wishes to you."

So - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Gregorian Calendar - my bad) to All

Internet marketing bullshit

2011-12-12T23:31:00.000-08:00

Now, don't get me wrong - the InterWeb is potentially a powerful marketing tool for small business.

Twenty years ago it would not be possible for me to run a one-man wine tour operation. I have the added advantage of an 0800 number that connects direct to my mobile phone. I can take online bookings direct from my fabulous website, I process international credit card payments online. Thus I pick up my customers, all paid-up, and then hopefully exceed their expectations with a fab tour, so everyone is happy. Win-win. Yadda yadda.

Problem for me is - the Internet has become a confusing predator-driven market for sales reps and web hawkers who prey on the unsavvy average punter who is just trying to sell something and make an honest buck. Every day, I have unsolicited emails and phone calls from people who claim to be experts at 'getting me on page one of Google,' by optimising my search critera and generally doing Harry Potter-esque dark Web Magic to make me hot to trot.

Then there is the received wisdom that 'you have to be all over social media' - i.e. FaceBook, Twitter, Blogger, TwitBook, Facer, ArseBook, TwitFace or whatever - all in the desperate hope that someone will feel wildly excited by your online profile to sign up for what you're selling.

I have been doing this for ten years now - and it has been a random roller coaster ride of expectation and disappointment with web marketing. I have tried pay per click with Yahoo and Google, plus paid listings on TripAdvisor, FaceBook, Rankers (NZ), and Cruise Critic. I have free listings on Tourism Auckland, Tourism NZ - and many others I can't remember. And I write a Blog - and you're reading it. Whoo hoo.

My over all impressions:
1. There is a a swag of competitiors out there - all doing all marketing stuff that you are doing.
2. It's a money game (i.e. if you have tens of thousands of dollars to throw at online marketing - you will likely achieve a high level of response). That's fine if you're a 5-Star hotel chain in Auckland or a Casino or million dollar sailing adventure operation.
3. There's no easy answer to selling online.
4. Disclaimer: I run a one-off wine tour experience with no expectation of repeat custom.. I am in a niche market. God help me.

Phil runs just the diddly darned best goddamm winery tours in Auckland New Zealand

Do you know there's a dog on your roof?

2011-12-10T18:11:00.001-08:00

Yes, we do, and we're not surprised. George has discovered that he can squeeze through the window above our bed and gain access to the roof space. Whereupon he is master of his own domain - scanning the neighbourhood for cats, getting an early glimpse of any invading visitors and generally lording it over us lower ground mortals. It's been a good way to meet the neighbours - mostly female - who have rushed over in a state of mild alarm to tell us the news. Anyway, after a while, Georgie gets sick of it and asks to be lifted back (he can't jump back in). And peace is restored to Point Chevalier for the meantime.

Phil runs winery tours in Auckland NZ when he's not being annoyed by George.

Karikari Estate Wines

2011-12-08T14:06:00.001-08:00

ByPhil Parker wine writer and operator of Auckland Fine Wine &Food Tours www.finewinetours.co.nz

Afew months back I was invited to a relaxed sit-down tasting with KarikariEstate’s winemaker, the affable Ben Dugdale.

Availablefor tasting were no less than six wines. Northland’s wines constitute less than 1% of our national wineproduction nationally, yet these are an impressive range of wines and well worthseeking out. Ben’s winemaking history dates back over 20 years to iconiccompanies such as Collards, Coopers Creek and Dry River.

Karikari Estate is locatedon the Karikari Peninsula, overlooking the blue Pacific towards North Cape. Ben, and his assistant winemaker Rachel Hogan, overseethe production of a number of red and white varieties – many of them trophywinners. The first vines wereplanted in 1998 and production commenced with the first vintage in 2003. Theyboast some 41 hectares of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc, Malbec,Pinotage, Chardonnay and Viognier. The use of naturallyoccurring ‘wild’ vineyard yeasts adds a special character to these wines from NewZealand’s northernmost winery. As aspecial Northland twist, they areinvestigating the use of Kauri casks as an adjunct to traditional French andAmerican oak barrels.

Associated with Karikari is theHeritage hotel chain’s Carrington Resort, comprising luxury accommodation,championship 18-hole golf course designed by American designer Matt Dye,Olympic skeet shooting range, vineyard and winery, anda grass-fed Black Angus beef farm.
The onsite restaurant features fresh and often organic produce from local farmsand pristine coastal waters.

Okay – the wines. The Calypso range is made from fruit sourcedfrom other regions. The remainder are estate grown.

CalypsoSauvignon Blanc 2011 $NZ22.00
Fruitsourced from Marlborough. This is veryapproachable even for a young Sauvignon Blanc, lacking the rampant acidity ofmost young Marlborough Savvies. Soft andinviting, with Gooseberry, bell pepper and crisp fruit flavours.

WildChardonnay 2010 $NZ40.00
FabChardonnay – estate grown, ripe, unctuous and buttery, with integrated flavoursof Golden Queen peach, spice, vanilla and tropical fruits. Only 75 cases made – mailorder, cellar door, or at the restaurant onsite.

CalypsoMartinborough Pinot Noir 2009 $NZ24.00
Matured in French oak barrels for 12 months, then bottled and cellared foranother year before release. Soft, perfumed and graceful Pinot with classic blackcherry and savoury characters.

Pinotage2010 $NZ29.50
Grown on the property. Very drinkableright now, yet shows potential for cellaring for 3 or more years. Silky tannins with ripe sweet black cherryand black berry fruit flavours, and a hint of mocha.

Syrah2010 $NZ27.50
This isa big wine with firm tannins. Definitely a food wine. Aromas of pot pourri and spicy vanillin oak, withripe black berry sweet fruit palate.

Toa ItiMalbec/Cabernet Franc/Malbec 2008 $NZ25.50
Toa Ititranslates as ‘Little Warrior.’ Itsbigger brother the Toa was a 2007 release. This is another big wine. Earthy, tannic and complex with black berryfruit and poached Black Doris plum flavours.

KarikariEstate
Maitai Bay Road
Karikari Peninsula
Kaitaia
Ph: 09 408 7222 Web: www.karikariestate.co.nz

Fiji On 2 Margaritas A Day

2011-11-28T22:24:00.001-08:00

Hello again - any regular readers, I have been away for a while, and taking a while to get back into gear after returning.

My Charming Assistant (and her charming 9 year-old daughter) scored a good deal with Air Pacific and Sofitel Fiji for 4 nights for the three of us with child staying free and a free dinner for her each night.

Now, I did have some moral reservations about holidaying in a country which has a repressive military dictatorship running the place. On the other hand - as I often hear in these cases, the last thing the low-paid locals need is a tourism collapse on top of coup turmoil. I saw one miltary policeman in the whole time - grim looking, with a beret and Attitude. That was it.

Anyway, Sofitel is run by a French hotel chain and this shows in the high standard of food - from the basic Cafe style (and bloody good coffee) through to fine dining available on site. Value-wise it was about the same as in $NZ, but alcohol was generally over-priced. (I recommend the very good local Fiji Gold ale at about $NZ5.00 a bottle.) But they do a mean Margarita at about $NZ15. On the other hand, a bottle of basic Nobilo Monkey Bay Merlot goes for about $NZ42.00. Staff are immaculately dressed and are very attentive and friendly. The second floor lounge bar plays retro jazz and faces the beach with views over the underlit pool.

However, you could be whisked from the airport straight to the Fantasy Island ambience of Denarau Island's international hotel strip - and think that you are in 'real' Fiji. But it really is a gated community with security guards on the causeway to the exclusive tourist strip. On the way from the airport, you can't fail to notice extremely run-down third world, tired and dirty looking shops and homes. It is obvious that very few locals enjoy an affluent lifestyle - and that our friendly and polite hotel staff very likely live in those very basic homes.

The sheer foreignness of any destination is what I love - if it smells different or I see unusual animals or flora - that's what I love. So I got coconut trees, toads, Frangipani trees, little red and grey birds, and little stripy fish that race around your legs in the shallows. What I wasn't expecting - re exotic natives, was eyebrow-plucked and camp as a row of tents transvestites and gay boys. Kind of disconcerting when they are 6 ft 4 Fiji natives and built like a brick shithouse. They were everywhere from the airport to the action-packed Robinson Crusoe tourist island activity. Maybe they find more sympathetic employment in tourism and hospo. I had heard that the military are anti-gay, so perhaps the international hotels offer refuge and are gay friendly.

Four nights was about enough - I have a 3 day burn out with most foreign spots. It was great - I zoned out and had fab food and expensive wine. The 9 y/o loved the Kids' Club - we had some quality time out together. It was exotic and relaxing and very enjoyable.

Phil runs the goddamn best wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

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Auka Torrontes 2009

2011-11-06T23:08:00.000-08:00

I was out to dinner with two mates on our irregular Boys'Night Out and met up with the Law Professor before the GP arrived to completethe trio. I randomly chose a forgettable Chardonnay which tasted like it hadbeen open for a few days and was flat, acidic and barely worth drinking. So I drank it.

The waitperson materialised - as they do. "Andwould you like some more wine?"

I said - Yesssss - how about that funny wine - about which I know nota thing. Torrentes?

"It's a South American grape. Very fruity,refreshing wine. Quite young."

Whatever. Thanks. And one for the Professor too.

I wasn't expecting anything really - but when it arrived:clear pale gold colour.

Aromas: Floral, Muscatel. Flavours: Muscato, citrus,apple, pear. Clean and crisp with ripe white grape flavours, yet a dry finish ... fabulous.

A really exciting and unexpected wine find. I thinkit's about $NZ30 a bottle.

According to the Official Torrontes Website: "The Torrontesgrape is cultivated in the Argentine provinces of Catamarca, La Rioja, Mendoza,Salta, San Juan and Rio Negro. The Torrontes wine made from this white grape isconsidered the best of its kind in the entire world."

No arguing with Latin braggadocio.

Hey - check out Phil's revamped website with new pricingand gosh-diddly-darned fab extras

Vouvray, Cotes du Rhone, Kumeu (France Vs New Zealand))

2011-10-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yes - those bottles are empty.
They are now redundant wine-less vessels of Sunday night's epic rugby final BBQ - chez Phil and his charming assistant. Not having the spare $NZ 3,000 plus, for tickets to the game, nor the industry connections to score freebies, we opted for a night at home in front of the flat screen, with rugby fan friends and some good food & wine. My TradeMe BBQ for all its eccentricity coped well with the flow of chicken wings, shrimps, sausages and steak - and a great time was had by all.
Lucky for me, two friends brought some damn fine French wines with them to share. And I opened a bottle of my current favourite, West Brook's Ivicevich Estate Chardonnay.

West Brook Ivicevich Waimauku Estate Chardonnay 2004
Gorgeous Chardonnay at its peak after seven years in the bottle. Golden and clear with aromas and flavours of brioche, peach, nectarine and hazel nut. Mouthfulling and seamlessly integrated, this wine lasts on the palate and draws you back for another glass.

Domaine du Margallau Vouvray 2009
Made from Chenin Blanc fruit from France's famous Vouvray region in the Loire.
Ripe and fruity wine with crisp acidity and rounded flavours of honey, pear and a hint of smokiness.

Cotes Du Rhone Linteau 2009
I can't find out much about this wine - other than it is Grenache-dominant blend from the Appellation Controlee certified producer. Anyway - ruby red colour with slightly rustic and savour flavours, plus cherry, blackberry and plum, with a slight acidity. Drinking very nicely now - even better in a year or two.

Verdict: wine and The All Blacks were the winners on the day.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland NZ

Clayridge Pinot Blanc 2008

2011-10-13T01:13:00.000-07:00

Marlborough’sClayridge vineyards was established by colourful winemaker Mike Just and his wifePaula. Mike is a direct descendant ofKing Edward III, wears a black eye patch and his dark hair pulled back in aponytail. He also has a penchant formedieval sword fighting, and has chosen Edward III’s family crest as the brandto represent his Clayridge wines.

Mike and Paulaplanted their own Clayridge vineyard on the steepest slopes in Marlborough,plus they source premium grapes from Taylor Pass valley and the WitherHills.

Butwhen it comes time to pick the grapes, Mike makes use of the facilities atMarlborough’s Indevin contract winemaking company, which was established in2004, and has a capacity to process over 8,500 tonnes of grapes a year. Indevinprovides a full range of services to the winemaker, from pre-harvest grapeanalysis, to crushing, de-stemming and pressing, oak barrel ferments andageing, to temperature controlled fermentation tanks, and final laboratory workprior to bottling.

Anyway - last night we nipped out for tapas at a local restaurant and I spotted the Clayridge Pinot Blanc 2008 on the wine list. I haven't tried Clayridge wines for ages - the last time was at a wine trade show about 3 years ago. Pinot Blanc is a distant relative of Pinot Noir - AKA Pinot Bianco in Italy. This example is a gloriously lushly flavoursome fruity wine with earthy hints. Oily and mouth-filling, there are flavours of lime, quince, honeysuckle and minerals. Fab. Me want more.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

Champagne and Sparkling Wine - FAQ

2011-10-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Sparklingwines, especially Champagne, are associated with celebration, sophisticationand Grand Prix winners acting like complete tossers.

I havenever really liked Champagne. I've always found it acidic and and unbalanced -and never really understood the fascination with it. Weeell ... until I got totry the most expensive label on the planet - Louis Roederer's Cristal.

Butanyway, wine is all about personal taste. Some like fizz - some don't.

There are four methods of producing a fizzy wine.
Those wine lovers, the French again got in on ground level by popularisingtheir sparkling wines from the Champagne region. Champagne is the most northernwine region in France and lies north-east of Paris.

There isa bit of debate as to who was responsible for making the first naturallysparkling French wines. Generally, the Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon(1639-1715) gets the credit. French widow - Veuve Clicquot, discovered in themid-1800s the best method of removing accumulated yeast from the bottle.Nowadays the word Champagne is copyrighted and fiercely protected by theFrench. Only wines made by the traditional method and produced in the Champagnedistrict may carry the name.

Method 1.The Traditional Champagne Method. A dry, low alcohol base wine is made,sometimes blended from finished wines (as above) and even from differentvintages. Just before sealing, yeast and sugar are added to the bottle. Thenthe bottle is capped, often with a beer bottle type crown seal, and the yeastmix begins a secondary fermentation, trapping CO2 – which gives the wine itsfamous finely beaded bubbles.
Depending on the quality of the wine, the wine and its yeast residue may beleft undisturbed for one to ten years. The classic yeasty/bready flavour isderived from disintegrating yeast cells. The longer the wine sits, the more thedesired yeast flavour is extracted.

The nextbit is the good widow Clicquot’s method of gradually tipping the bottle fromhorizontal to vertical (this takes about two weeks), where the accumulatedyeast sits in the neck of the bottle allowing for removal. The neck of thebottle is frozen and the yeast plug ejects under its own pressure. Finally, thebubbly wine is topped up with the dosage - a dash of wine and sugar to balanceacidity, before sealing with a cork and securely wiring the cork in place.

Method 2.The Transfer Method. Basically exactly the same as above, but once bottlefermentation has finished, all the bottles are emptied into a large vat underpressure; the wine is filtered, then rebottled. This method still gives thewine the ‘rested on yeast’ character.

Method 3.The Tank Method. This is a bulk method where huge amounts of inexpensivesparklers can be made. Basically, the secondary ferment takes place in a sealedtank – where the base wine has been poured in and yeast and sugar added to kickoff the whole bubbly process thing. The downside is that the yeast flavoursdon’t transfer to the same extent and the bubbles are coarser and don’t last aslong. Still, it is a way to make affordable bubbly wines such as Prosecco, andAsti style Muscato.

Method 4.Carbonation. No brainer. Take wine – inject industrial CO2 gas. Bubbly wine.Exactly the same process for making fizzy lemonade, cola etc. You get what youpay for.

Phil runswine tours around Auckland NewZealand

Shitzu Happens

2011-10-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

When I moved in with my charming assistant, I kind of realised that I was also moving in with a nine year-old girl and a 3 year-old Shitzu/Maltese/Yorkie cross called George. (See pic.)
Do not look upon his image, brethren, he may assume other demonic forms.

My 11 year-old Black Lab Jasper was part of my moving in package. And in his own amiable, lumbering, accommodating and goofy way he fitted in pretty well. As long as Jaz has a place to lie down and gets a feed and a walk each day he is extremely content.

So Georgie figured Jaz for a gentle giant and decided to take the upper hand and tried to dominate Jasper for the first few weeks, by humping the few bits of Jasper within reach of his little legs, snatching food from Jasper's plate, snarling at Jasper if he competed for affection, racing to be the First Dog at The Water Bowl after walkies. And engaging in very one-sided play fights - where George would snarl and hang on to Jasper's face and other appendages - till swatted away by the ever-patient Jasper.

Now they have settled into a fairly happy domestic relationship - George pretends he's the boss most of the time, but is not above snuggling into Jaz for a nap on a cold day, or licking his eyes every morning as some of canine facial grooming service.

I am greeted daily by George when I awake groggily trying to focus on the new day. The first warning is the thumpitty-thumpitty-thump - as Georgie flies up the stairs. Then a momentary pause while he launches himself toward the bed. Then the final crash as George returns to earth - often landing upon my person in an alarmingly waking-up manner. This is followed by a furry, wet Good Morning kiss and a demand to be let under the covers, whence he snuggles up and lies completely still.

George is the ADHD on-duty 24/Seven security dog; ready to yap extremely loudly at ANY unusual noise within 5 Km of the property. The smell, sight or rumour of a cat will send George into wild hysterics - with mad yappy insistent barking plus running all over the garden, accompanied by vigorous sniffing under the gate. the only time he excels in his hysteria is on Walkies - where, if he spots another dog which he hates on sight (90%) he will literally scream - so loudly and so high pitched, that bystanders assume he has either been hit by a car - and/or physically abused by myself. On numerous occasions, I have had worried citizens rush from their houses to glare accusingly at me for imagined animal cruelty to the poor wee man.

I shrug and look as innocent as possible: 'He's seen another dog! It's OK. I didn't touch him!'
Yeah right - you cruel bastard.

Yennyhoo - Phil runs The Best Food & Tours in Auckland - when he isn't abusing small animals.

The Rugby World Cup 2011 - My Part In Its Success

2011-09-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s finally here – the Rugby World Cup 2011 ©. (For legal reasons I’m not really allowed to use the phrase ‘Rugby World Cup 2011’ – and should probably say ‘YouKnow What 2011’ instead.

Years of waiting and fevered preparation have finally cometo fruition with around 80,000 foreign fans expected to arrive at some stageover September / October, to attend matches and to participate in rugby–relatedtourism activities in our fair land. AsI have bloggedpreviously there was much pre RWC2011© hysteria and wild predictions of an economicmini boom for poor old recessed, earthquaked NZ.

The reality is – airlines, hotels, pub bars and restaurantshave had a good couple of weeks (in Auckland anyway). But the by-catch for other tourism ventureshas been minimal. A friend who knowsthese things told me that even the brothels haven’t picked up any extra business. For me, wine tour wise, not much at all – but justthe odd two-person booking here and there. (If the fans don’t want wine or women, thenthe Karaoke bars must be going nuts.)

Yet I do wonder how 60,000 fans can attend a rugby match betweenFrance and the All Blacks last night –and not one of ‘em feels the urge to head out with Phil to quaff some fine NZwines a mere 20 minutes from downtown Auckers. It’s not as if I haven’t put in the groundwork with a revamped website, five downtownbrochure rack displays, and a local Auckland A-Z visitor guide print advert, inaddition to schmoozing all the high end hotel concierges. It’s still five weekstill the Final so we shall see …

The tally so far:

Eleven male Aussies here for the first Ireland/Australiagame last Saturday. They had been drinkingall night and were 40 minutes late getting the group together. Eleven hung-over and still plastered,unshaven Aussies is not a pretty sight, I can assure you. Still, they rallied and the loud conversation,foul language and sheep-shagging jokes flowed as freely as the wine down theirthroats - and I emptied them out at their hotel around three p.m., after a tripto a liquor outlet for them to get a few dozen beers for the pre-match hour ortwo.

Tuesday – a charming 50-ish Japanese couple over here tosupport their home team, The Cherry Blossoms. In the macho world of rugby, surely they could have come up withsomething a bit grittier. The WasabiWarriors? The Flying Fugu Fish?

Sunday (today) - aJapanese mother and daughter also here following their national rugby team.

That’s it! Wish meluck!

Being An Also-Dad : Living with a 9 year-old girl

2011-09-14T01:54:00.000-07:00

Living in the same house as a 9 year-old girl is a challenge– me being a non-breeder for all of my 55 years on planet Earth, despite ‘trying’through two marriages and a few lovers.

So, I’m a late comer to my ‘also-Dad’ status as the partnerof a mother of one. Miss Nine is prettyspecial – a volatile mix of high intelligence, artistic temperament, a love ofhigh drama at any opportunity, an enviable prowess in burping and farting, a beguilingcharm, and a vocal range that goes from a roar to ultrasonic ear-splittingscreams.

She has the ability to talk on an adult level on manysubjects - and then break off to have an intimate tea party with her soft toy collection.

On the odd occasion when I am left to babysit, I end up beinglured into reading numerous horrendous children’s books, making hot chocolate, and making up stories from scratch. Lights Out deadlines seem to stretchmagically as I am coerced into … just … one … more … chapterpleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase!!! I am invariably caught out by my partner returningfrom orchestra practice – waaaay past bedtime, me (with wine glass), and MissNine engrossed in another chapter of Enid Blighton’s Subtle as A Train Crashcautionary tales, house lights blazingand all wide-awake.

Still I did get an ‘also-Dad’ Father’s Day present. “It’s SO Phil!,” She enthused to her motherwhen she bought it. It is a bewilderedpaper weight bear, with a snow globe attached to the top half of its head –like a brain surgery add-on. Inside thesnow globe is another smaller bear more depressed looking , seated, with a smallred heart in its upraised hand.

It’s SO me.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland. Why? He asks himself.

Villa Maria Chardonnay tasting - New Releases

2011-09-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

Being a major Chardonnay fan, I couldn’t resist the chanceto join other Villa Wine Club members in a tasting of eight new Chardonnayreleases.

MC for the evening was Senior Auckland Winemaker Nick Picone.

Generous amount of cheese and crackers were available beforethe 6.00 pm start. At the finish, therewas tea and coffee, hot and cold food. All that for $25!

The line-up was a good selection of wines, ranging from from the home vineyard inMangere, through to Hawkes Bayand south to Marlborough.

Yenneyhoo – here we go.

On arrival we were given a glass of the…

Cellar SelectionMarlborough Chardonnay 2010 $NZ 20

An entry level blendfrom various Marlborough vineyards. Mineraland light with crisp lime, grapefruit and apple.

Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay2010 $NZ 28

Floral aromas, with a creamy yeast, grapefruit, white peachand nectarine flavours.

Single Vineyard IhumataoChardonnay 2010 $NZ 33

Grown on the property - a stone’s throw from the tastingroom, in Mangere clay soils.

Spicy nose. Softerpalate of lime and grapefruit with a mouth feel of higher alcohol.

Reserve BarriqueFermented Gisborne Chardonnay 2010 $NZ 33

Gisborne is one of my favourite Chard regions, some wineriessadly seen to be pulling vines because of oversupply.

Anyway, this is great – Soft and creamy with floral jasmine,mandarin and quinine.

Single Vineyard TaylorsPass Marlborough Chardonnay 2007 $NZ 33

Grown in the cooler Awatere region. Quite yeasty and funky with toasty oak crispmineral lime palate.

Reserve MarlboroughChardonnay 2007 $NZ 28

Fruit from two vineyards – the Waldron and TaylorsPass. Funky, ripe and peachy with lemonsquash, toast and quinine.

Finally a vertical three vintage tasting from Hawkes Bay. (Mypersonal favourites).

Single VineyardKeltern Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2010 $NZ 33

Creamy, soft and mouth-filling with ripe grapefruit, pearand apple.

Cellar Selection KelternHawkes Bay Chardonnay 2009 $NZ 33

Riper and even softer than the 2010 with a hint of lanoline andstewed apple.

Cellar Selection KelternHawkes Bay Chardonnay 2008 $NZ 33

Buttery, with cream cheese and quince.

Over all I found the wines still quite young and in thetight, lean and clean Villa style with fairly crisp acidity. However, 2-3 years would take the edges offthem, for the patient buyer.

Phil runs WineTours in Auckland New Zealand

Volnay Versus Pommard - French Burgundy tasting

2011-09-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday night, I was to found at a local French wineimporters for a tasting of eight French Burgundies i.e. Pinot Noir.

These were divided into two flights – 4 from Volnay and 4from Pommard. At $NZ 70 per person it wasstill a rare chance to sample some of France’s most famous red wines. And while I do describe myself as a wine enthusiastI am certainly not an expert. Thus Imake no claim to be any authority on French wines, although I have tasted quitea few over the years. So this was aneducative experience.

Spoiler Alert: Ireally couldn’t bond with any of them. They were wildly tannic, dry, rustic and gamey. We were told that they would benefit from atleast another 5 years ageing, probably more.

Anyway, Volnay and Pommard are two small villages located inBurgundy in the southern end of the Cote du Beaune, more famous for its oakaged Chardonnays than its reds.

Still, some of the Pinot Noirs are rated as Premier Cru.

The first flight of 4 wines from Volnay. These are regarded as more feminine, perfumed wines, compared to the muscular redsfrom Pommard.

Lafarge Volnay 2007 Smokyaromas with red berry fruit. Astringentlydry and tannic, young and edgy.

Lafarge Volnay Premier Cru Clos des Ducs 2004 Brickred tints of colour indicating an older vintage. Herbal and muscatel aromas. Softer tannins. Palate of sour cherry, plumpudding. My over-all favourite.

Montille Volnay Premier Cru Les Champans 2007 Savoury, smoky, gamey and spicy with ripe cherryfruit flavours.

Montille Volnay Premier Cru Les Taillepieds 2007 Less ripe than the Champans. Savoury and spice flavours with plum andcherry.

Then to the bigger masculine reds from Pommard – describedby mine French host as more of a rustic ‘truck driver’ style of wine.
“Zeese wine weel not leap into your lap, and say take me ‘ome,” he explained.

Muzard Pommard Les Cras 2007 Overpowering aromas of tar and dare-I-say-it,creosote. Plus gamey herbal andcarnation. Me no like.

Courcel Pommard Premier Cru Les Croix Noirs 2006 Pot pourri aromas, flavours of cassis andcherry. Big tannins.

Courcel Pommard Premier Cru Grand Clos des Epenots 2006 AgainPot pourri, cherry, black currant and wildly, wildly tannic.

Montille Pommard Premier Cru Les Rugiens 2004 Showing the benefit of age. Floral pot pourri and gamey aromas. Flavoursof beetroot, cassis, ripe plum and still very grippy tannins.

As a regular drinker of NZ Pinots, I really think we haveextremely good value wines, particularly those from Martinborough and Waipara.Considering that the wines I tasted were around $NZ 160 a bottle, I think we aregetting excellent value right here, right now!

Phil runs not for profit wine tours in Auckland Noo Zeelaand,baby!

Pinot Gris - 2010 Vintage Selection

2011-08-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Pinot Gris seems to have come out of nowhere, to be thefashionable white wine both here in NZ, and also overseas. The grape is a mutation of the Pinot Noirfamily and like other Pinots, is described by its colour. In French, Gris (grey) - or in Italian,Grigio.

Only problem is – you never know quite what you’regetting. Pinot Gris can be anything fromdry, flinty and delicate – to sweet, full bodied, and complex. Basically, it pays to read the back label ifyou want an idea of how it’s going to taste.

In Europe – Germany, Alsace, and Italy the best Pinot Grisare oily, sweetish, full-bodied luscious wines. And some of our best NZ examples are coming from Martinborough,Marlborough and Central Otago.

As an alternative to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, it isgaining popularity as a white wine which suits most of the foods which theother two do, but it also has the delicacy to double as a ‘settle the guestsbefore dinner’ aperitif, or get-home-from-work-need-a-drink-ASAP type wine.

Typical flavours to expect: poached pear, stewed apples,honeysuckle, stone fruit, lime & lager. Oak ageing will add smoky and spicy nuances. Call me a philistine, but I think a goodPinot Gris tastes not unlike a gin & tonic. Or as a friend’s wife once said, (after a few), ‘a ginnicand ton.’

For food matches, I would highly recommend seafood, even inpreference to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Ripe sweet fruit and background acidity are a perfect match forcrayfish, scallops, crab, and most NZ white fish.

To the wnes... I award them variously - three bananas, four thumbs up and smiley face each.

Soljans Kumeu 2010 Pinot Gris
Medium style - fruity slightly sweet, clean flavoured with crisp apple and nashi pear flavours. From their local Auckland Kumeu estate fruit.

Staete Landt 2010 Pinot Gris. Marlborough higher end producer, makes this in a rounded oak barrel fermented style, which adds complexity and a lush softness to the poached pear flavours.

Kim Crawford 'First Pick' Pinot Gris 2010

Young, crisp and clean flavoured. More of a dry crisp style - verging on Sauv Blanc flavours. Acidic apple/pear and mouth watering finish.

Phil runs the best wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

Email Phil phil.parker@xtra.co.nz

How to judge and score wine

2011-08-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

How does one judge and then score a wine?

This has been preying on my mind lately - and was broughtinto sharp focus when I was asked to participate in evaluating some full bodiedreds. Sixty Seven of them. Not a printingerror. 67 glasses of Merlot, Merlot blends, Cabernet, Cabernet blends andSyrah/Shiraz in three hours. This maysound like fun. It is not.

As a wine enthusiast and someone who writes about wine,I like to take an individual bottle ofwine, sip away quietly at home of an evening, share some with my charmingassistant, and take time to write some notes on aromas and flavours. Beyond that I don’t grade or score a wine –either I like it or I don’t. Mostly Iwon’t write about I wine I don’t like – I’d rather that people look at my winereviews in the knowledge that I’m saying: ‘this is a wine I like and recommend –see what you think.’

Scoring systems generally fall into four categories: marksout of 5; marks out of 20; marks out of100; and Gold, Silver, Bronze.

The five point system is fairly easily understood five point(or five star) grading as practiced by one of our top critics Michael Cooperand many magazines and newspaper wine columns. It’s a nice concise assessment – you know you won’t be forking out $30for a two star wine if there’s a four star wine next to it on the shelf at $25.

A few years back I completed an Intermediate Certificate inWines and Spirits, with the London-based Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET). Their grading system was a composite score outof 20: Appearance (clarity, colour etc.) 5 points, Aromas 5 points, and Palate10 points. Scores tended to hover aroundthe 15 to 16 region when we judged wines in class. The odd real gem would kick in with 18 or 19. I have always thought that giving points forappearance is a bit silly – it’s a red wine, ergo sum it looks red, 5 points. Duh. Sure there are clues in a wine’s colourthat will give clues to its age and condition. Red wines tend toward brick red and brown as they age; white wines tendto gold and amber with age. A light red wine will be clear and see-through, afull bodied red will be opaque. But anyfault in an over oxidised (too old) wine will be just as apparent on the palateas by noting colour.

Famous USA wine critic Robert Parker (no relation. Okay I’mhis Antipodean Love Child), uses a 100point system explained here,where anything below 60 is considered below average. (Whaa? My rudimentary high school maths tells methat average of 100 is 50). Parker has acomplex formula for breaking down thescore into components a la WSET, and then gives an over all rating. My problem with that, is what’s the difference between a 93 and a 94 score? How about the poor bugger whose wine gets 59and the lucky one who creaks in at 60? According to his scale 80 to 89 covers ‘barely above average to very good.’ And quite irrelevantly: Fess Parker who played Daniel Boone (no relation) in the eponymous TV series, established his own winery in California after acting jobs took a dive.

Finally there is the much simpler Gold, Bronze, Silver,Not-Good-Enough-U-Lose scale used by wine competitions. This is more aimed at final judging of verygood wines, leaving out those that didn’t make the cut. Again, it’s pretty subjective but it iseasier for the punter to get a grip on. And is more in line with the concept of ‘here are some good drinkablewines graded from good, to very good, to outstanding.’

The subjective nature of evaluating wine, like music or artis hugely controversial and will continue to be debated for a long timeyet.

And what of the 67 reds? Well… I tip myhat to my two fellow wine evaluators – one a winemaker, and the other a winecompany director. These guys are seasoned, efficient and organised. They wrote copious notes, scored within apoint of each other most times and whipped through the lot in 4 hours (that’s 3.5minutes per wine – including lunch and ‘comfort stops.’ I, on the other hand, scored way too low onthe first flight of 17 wines and took twice as long as the others. Then I thinkI got into the swing of it by the second flight – my scores were moreconsistent and I got quicker, but I really wasn’t a whole lot of use. By the last flight my teeth were grey, I hada black tongue, my tasting notes were often limited to one or two indecipherablewords, and was praying to be let out.

Phil Parker (no relation to Robert) runs Wine and Food Tours in Auckland New Zealand
Email Phil: phil@finewinetours.co.nz

West Brook Waimauku Pinot Noir 2010 $28

2011-08-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be given this a a sample bottle by winemaker Anthony Ivicevich of West Brook (a boutique sized Kumeu winery, 35 minutes from Auckland City). Just released - this is a brand new red and would obviously benefit from lying down in a darkened room for a wee while (as you do).

"You'll taste a wine that's been grown in salty mineral soil," Anthony advised me. He wasn't kidding. The 2008 Waimauku Pinot Noir gained a gold medal - this one is quite different.
Colour - garnet red and almost opaque.
Aromas - where the 2008 was savoury and gamey, this wine has an amazing mineral nose dominated by aromas of sea salt. Under that, there are layers of ripe black cherry and raspberry, with a hint of floral.
Palate - minerals, black cherry, vegemite, cassis, red berries. The tannins are still quite grippy - these will soften out and make the wine last longer.

Verdict: one to watch. Put it away for three years at least.

Phil is a published author and wine writer who runs FAB wine tours around Auckland

Dry River Lovat Vineyard Gewurtztraminer 2008

2011-08-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

Okay - short story: It's moi birthday, well tomorrow really. 55 years on planet Earth so far.

The wine - boutique and very hard to find wines from Dry River are famous in NZ. As a pre-dinner drink I decided to crack this one from the 2008 vintage.
Colour - clear yellow gold.
Aromas - honey, clove, lime, lychee fruit.
Palate - off-dry, teetering on sweet, with luscious unctuous texture and flavours of ginger in syrup, lychee, honey, clove and lime. Amazing length of palate.
Verdict - More please.

Phil runs Fine Wine& Food Tours Auckland ...Nooo Zeeeland!!

Ngatarawa Stables Pinot Gris 2011 $NZ19.00

2011-08-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

Ngatarawa, apart from being one of the best Cellar Doorvisits in Hawkes Bay, is also a damn fine wine producer.

By far oneof the most friendly and approachable of the wineries in the area. Nice people, great wines, greatlocation. Unpretentious. Alwyn Corban and Garry Glazebrook establishedtheir venture in a former racing Stables back in 1981. Garry’s background was horse racing; Alwyn’sa long history of winemaking, going back to his west Auckland Lebaneseforebears. The Glazebrooks have now sold their share to Alwyn’s cousin, Brian.

Cellar doorand winery are located in charming old wooden stables, and there is an ornamentallake on the property. Wines are in fourlevels. Entry level is Stablesrange (about $19), then Silks (about $25), Glazebrook (around $29),and finally the top shelf Alwyn series (up to $60)

This one –a tad young of course being 2011 vintage, but showing the bright youthfulqualities of a fresh white wine.

Colour –clear, pale gold. Aromas – citrus, hay,pear. Palate – crisp Nashi pear, lager,lime juice, hint of golden tobacco.

Verdict –great. Very young but approachable andrefreshing.

Phil runs a not-for-profit business AKA Fine Wine & Food Tours Auckland New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND’S MAIN WINE VARIETIES

2011-08-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

By Phil Parker – owner and tour guide –Fine Wine Tours Auckland New Zealand

NZ’s temperate climate favours white grape varieties(near 90% of plantings). The remaining grapes are mainly early ripening coolclimate Reds like Pinot Noir and Merlot.

WHITE WINES

SAUVIGNONBLANC
Our most planted grape variety, which is our largest export wine and, allegedly‘put us on the map’ internationally. (Personally I tend to attribute that toseismic activity, and the hand of the Almighty). Nevertheless, the majority of our Savvy vinesare in Marlborough, but some grown in Nelson, Central Otago, Waipara,Martinborough and Hawkes Bay. Thecharacter which typifies the Marlborough and some Nelson Sauvignon Blancs, isthe acidic, intensely grassy, green bell pepper and gooseberry quality of thearoma and flavour. Hawkes BaySauvignons, on the other hand, because of the warmer climate have a less crispprofile and can have some tropical flavours like melon and pineapple. Some winemakers take the option of allowingthe wine to ferment and/or age for a short period in oak barrels. This has the effect of softening and roundingout the wine, normally without any detectable oak flavour. As they age, afterabout three years, Sauvignon Blanc takes on vegetable characters – like tinnedpeas, and asparagus.

CHARDONNAY
New Zealand’s Chardonnays, our third most planted variety, are famous for intensityof fruit and concentrated aromas. Winemakers have a multitude of options available to them to vary theflavour of the wine, including - varying periods of grape skin contact,different yeasts, types of oak, length of oak maturation, barrel toasting, andMalolactic fermentation (a secondary bacterial ferment that removes acidicflavours and gives smooth buttery characters). Oak ageing for 12 months or more, imparts complexity, tannins and someoxidation, which softens the more assertive acids. Flame-seasoned barrel treatment can addtoasty characters. Many regions growChardonnay successfully, however Gisborne has earned the title ‘ChardonnayCapital’ of NZ - and rightly so, for its full-bodied lush and fruity wineswhich typically show tropical and stone fruit characters.
Hawkes Bay Chardonnays tend to taste more of citrus with some tropicalflavours. Chardonnay from Marlboroughtends more to a mineral and citrus flavour profile. Almost every region has a crack at thisvariety – with Auckland’s Kumeu River being acknowledged as one of the world’sbest.

RIESLING

Rieslingis the classic white wine of Germany. The grapes are low cropping, ripen late in the season, and flourish incolder climates – where intensity of fruit flavour develops. Our Rieslings are mainly dry or ‘off-dry’- alittle sweet. More than 80% of plantingsare in the South Island – Marlborough, Canterbury, Waipara, Nelson and centralOtago. These cool climate areas help tocreate wines with crisp acidity, which enables some of the best to age for upto 15 years. Typical aromas and flavours can include citrus, floral(honeysuckle, orange blossom); and dried fruit- raisins, muscatel). As Rieslings age, they can take on honey,apricots, and dare I say it kerosene/petrol characters.

PINOT GRIS
This isthe same grape as Italian Pinot Grigio, (a distant cousin of PinotNoir). An increasingly trendy wine, itcan be a tad hard to nail flavour-wise, but is commonly described as tastinglike pear juice, with musky and spicy flavours – somewhere between a Rieslingand a Gewürztraminer. Plantings arewidespread in NZ, from Central Otago to North Auckland. The cooler regions in the south tend toproduce crisper, light-bodied wines - whereas the riper grapes from the northcan lead to some high alcohol, lush and full-bodied wines.

GEWÜRZTRAMINER

Okay– most people don’t buy it because they can’t pronounce it. Get over it. ‘Gah-Vertz-Tra-Meaner.’
This is a variety best known in Alsace, the French wine region on the Rhinebordering Germany. In NZ it has beenunder-appreciated wine, which can have gorgeous spicy ginger, cinnamon andTurkish Delight/rosewater and lychee flavours. Gisborne, Marlborough and Hawkes Bay are the main regions, with themajority coming from Gisborne. Cooler regions produce more mineral flavouredwines. A fantastic match with spicy (not chilli-hot) foods e.g. Thai, Japanese.

VIOGNIER
French Rhöne grape variety with delicate light apricot flavours. Pronounced –‘Vee-yon-yay.’ Constitutes about .05% of NZ’s grape harvest. It ripensearly; often with high sugar levels and can result in quite high in alcoholwines. The über-groovy white wine, now that Pinot Gris has had its 15 minutesof fame. Classic flavours are apricot and peach.

ARNEIS

Pronounced ‘Are-Nace’. North Italian grape. A tad hardto nail flavour-wise but can be very high in alcohol, with restrained spice andstone fruit flavours. Only two wineries here producing it – Clevedon Hills andCoopers Creek.

RED WINES

PINOTNOIR

Isour second most widely planted grape variety. The famous velvety wine of Burgundy is being produced in Marlborough,Canterbury, Waipara, Central Otago and the Wairarapa – with the latter twobeing our premium Pinot regions. PinotNoir thrives in cool climates, giving the wine a complexity of scents andflavours. Not that it’s an easy grape togrow. Pinot Noir is notoriouslydifficult. Tight bunches of small, thin-skinned grapes are prone to rot late inthe season. Even when the grapes arecrushed, it takes a skilled winemaker to turn it into a successful wine.

Domestically,a large proportion of ours goes into Champagne style sparkling wines likeLindauer, usually combined with Chardonnay. Clear Pinot juice is fermentedwithout any contact with the skins – hence a white wine results.
Young Pinot medium bodied Pinot Noir tastes of strawberries and raspberries. Inthe prime Pinot regions of Central Otago and the Wairarapa, the wines can berich, silky and full-bodied with black cherry and black fruit flavours. Somewine critics describe a classic Pinot Noir aroma as ‘Barnyardy’ – slightlypoohey!

MERLOT
Secondmost popular red grape is Merlot – Bordeaux. Until recently its role was in blending with Cabernet Sauvignon, but now100% Merlot is gaining popularity. Merlot can be deceptively soft, smoky, fruity and silky and low intannins – like a more powerful version of Pinot Noir. Aromas and Flavours aresimilar to Cab-Sav but more rounded and reminiscent of tobacco, chocolate andleather. Around ¾ of NZ’s Merlot is grown in Hawkes Bay, with the remainderfrom Gisborne and Marlborough. The NorthIsland Merlots are generally riper and softer and higher in alcohol than theSouth Island variety.

CABERNETSAUVIGNON
The red wine of Bordeaux, a red grape, more suited to hotter climates and “Atough nut to crack in New Zealand,” says Michael Cooper, wine expert. S till, agood vintage from Hawkes Bay or Waiheke Island can stack up against some of theworld’s best reds.

Andoften blended with the other Bordeaux varieties Merlot, Malbec, and CabernetFranc. Newly fermented or under-ripeCabernet can have a stemmy, herbal minty character. High tannins mean that thiswine will cellar well, giving it time to mellow. Typical flavours from oak givecigar box characters. Fruit characters are typically blackcurrant, cherry,berry fruits, plums, and leather.

SYRAH

Exactlythe same grape as Shiraz. Unlike the bigtannic knock-down-drag-out Aussie’s, our Syrahs are soft, ripe, and medium to full-bodied,with earthy flavours of liquorice, spice, black pepper and cherries. Increasingpopularity, makes Syrah our fourth most planted red with acreage increasingfourfold in the last 8 years. Hawkes Bayhas become Syrah Central, with Trinity Hill’s Syrah winning the 2006Tri-Nations Wine Challenge, beating Australia and South Africa.

OTHERREDS

MALBEC

Fruity,earthy/spicy blackcurrant flavours, with high tannins.

PINOTAGE
A hybrid of Pinot Noir and ‘Hermitage’ (Cinsault), developed in SouthAfrica. Typically has smoky aromas andred, plummy fruit flavours

SANGIOVESE- Italian red Chiantigrape. Grown in very small amounts in NZ.Earthy warm, spicy and savoury.

SPARKLING WINES

The vast majority of our sparkling Méthode Traditionelle is madefrom Marlborough Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It used to be also called Méthode Champenoise before the French got allprotective about the name. Thetraditional method uses a secondary fermentation in the bottle, by adding moreyeast and sugar after the first ferment is finished, to produce characteristicC02 bubbles.
NZ sparkling wine has been a huge success for us in UK, where over 250,000cases found their way in 2007, with Pernod Ricard’s Lindauer leading thepack. Small wineries find traditionalsparklers very labour intensive and too expensive to produce; yet there aresome boutique style examples like Quartz Reef, Nautilus, No.1 Family Estate,Morton and Amisfield. Simple cheap, andoften sweet sparklers are made by injecting C02 into still wine beforebottling.

SWEET WINES

Dessert wines AKA Stickies are unfortunately rejected by a lot of winedrinkers, just because they are sweet. That’s a pity, as suitably aged dessertwines can be the perfect partner to a citrus pudding, liver pâté, or strong cheeseslike Cheddars and Blues.
The most famous dessert wines come from Sauternes in France.

In NZ most Stickies usually are made from Riesling, Semillon orSauvignon Blanc. They fall into three categories: Botrytised or Noblewines – where a beneficial mould called Botrytis (Noble Rot) has affectedthe grapes, and natural sugars are intensified by the action of tiny mouldorganism filaments which suck out water content.
Late Harvest wines – here the grapes are left for an extended period on thevine where they ripen even further and start to shrivel like sultanas.
Ice wines – most notably from Germany, Oregon and Canada, thegrapes are harvested in the early hours of the morning while they are stillfrozen. Crushing them straight awayleaves the ice content behind and produces a sugar rich juice. In NZ we give Mother Nature a hand - and tankfreeze the fresh juice, filtering off the sweet content and leaving the icecrystals behind.

Because of the preservative quality of high sugar levels in the wine,and despite low alcohol, these wines (other than our Ice wines) rewardcellaring for ten years or longer.

Grove Mill 'High Ground' Marlborough Riesling 2009 Villa Maria 'Private Bin' Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

2011-08-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Herewith, a completely random selection from this week's samplings:

Grove Mill 'High Ground' Marlborough Riesling 2009
We picked this one up at Grove Mill winery a month or so back - on a trip to Marlborough.
Around $NZ22 bottle - this is one Riesling that stood out in our whistle stop tour of NZ's largest wine region (over 60% of our grapes produced there). Colour - clear and bright, pale green/gold. Aromas - Lime cordial, minerals, citrus, a hint of petrol. Palate - honey, lime juice, crisp apple. Juuuuust off-dry, with medium weight palate and a lengthy citric finish.

Villa Maria 'Private Bin' Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 Again - about $NZ22.
Confusingly, Villa Maria's entry level range has been named the Private Bin - which would normally connote some elevated status in the portfolio. But no, Private Bin is the least expensive in the range - with 'Villa Maria' standard label (around $NZ30) being the next step, and then the top tier Reserve range of exquisite wines but at a price to match e.g. about $NZ70 bottle.
Yennyhoo - entry level is not a bad thing in the case of VM's consistent winemaking. This is obviously not going to be a blockbuster grunty Central Otago P Noir at the twenty dollar mark, but just the same, it's a very approachable and good value red.
Colour - light garnet red, clear and bright. Aromas - earthy and spicy. Red berry fruits.
Palate - raspberry, black cherry, spice, toasted oak, mushrooms and truffles. Medium to light palate weight, clean finish.

Phil runs the best wine tours in the Universe at Fine Wine & Food Tours

Harry Potter Spells for Grown Up Muggles

2011-07-25T01:59:00.000-07:00

Okay - my partner's daughter is about to turn nine years old and is totally fixated with the Harry Potter film series.
So this has given me the opportunity to rent HP DVDs at will, and further indulge my magical fantasy appetite - unquenched since discovering The Hobbit and LOTR as a yunkster myself.

Now, as a Grown Up, I realise how totally cool it would be to have a magic wand and be able to cast spells a la Harry and his Hogwarts pals.

Therefore ... I propose a number of spells appropriate for the 'over forties'.
Now. Standing firmly. Feet slightly apart. Focus .... Unsheath your wands and ....

Conjuctivitus! (Your enemy is rendered helpless by bloodshot eyeballs.)

Ravioli Maximus!! (They are turned into a large pasta item and boiled in salted water til 'al dente')
Coitus Interruptus! (Your enemy will be intermittenlty distracted by small children's insane and strident demands whilst attempting sexual intercourse.)
Tinea Pedis! (Athlete's foot.)
Rolf Harris! (A talentless aged Australian will sing to them for hours and hours about Two Little Boys)
Barista Malfeus! (lousy coffee forever)
Flatus Incontrollata! (ongoing farting)
Kleptomania Plumus! (irresistable desire to steal pens)

Sammicheli Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2009

2011-07-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

I picked this one up at our local Pt. Chevalier Countdown for about $12 .
Being winter here in NZ I am always on the lookout for a good value red to go with heartier cold weather food.

'Point Chev' as it's known to locals is a peninsular suburb a handy 10 minutes from downtown Auckland City yet blessed with beach walks, wide largely quiet streets and a few good cafes. Not quite as expensive as Westemere, nor as terminally trendy as Ponsonby.

In the old days Pt. Chev was unfortunately associated with Carrington Hospital - a sprawling grim brick and tile Victorian era mental illness complex which now houses Auckland University of Technology. Point Chev still has its share of eccentrics, and the local shopping is a tad underwhelming - with $2 Shops and ethnic fast food outlets predominant.

Which is a very roundabout way of getting to the point that Countdown/Foodtown supermarket has feck-all of a decent wine section. All the reds get lumped into one aisle, whites on the other side and specials at the head of the aisle. The discerning wino would probably travel to Countdown Grey Lynn for a more eclectic wine selection (plus the chance to play Spot The Minor Celeb with TV folk, Creatives and Ac-Tors thick on the ground).

Yennyhoo - The Wine: Aromas of hot vineyards from Abbruzo's mountainous Adriatic coast. Ripe, acidic and fairly assertively tannic, this is a big wine - not really yer sipping vino before The News at Six, but something better reserved for a big and hearty casserole of beef or a steak. Ripe black cherry, black olive, and that astringent harshness that you get with a lot of Italian reds. To be honest, I don't know whether I like it that much.
As I get older, I have lost my love of stonking great reds like Aus Shiraz and Cabernet blends - and tend toward Pinot Noir as the red of choice. But that's just me.

Anyway, time for a gratuitous plug for my Auckland Wine & Food Tours ... Ciao !!

Lemon Marmalade Recipe

2011-07-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Okay - what do you do if Life gives you lemons?
Say - f**k the lemons, give me the money! Or ... make lemon marmalade.

On a cold and gloomy day in Auckland with brisk south easterlies hammering the windows, it's not a bad option for an underemployed wine tour operator during off season.
Being somewhat of a lemo-holic, I couldn't stand seeing a bunch of lemons going to waste on our burgeoning shared driveway lemon tree. So I Googled a recipe, Here it is whipped ten lemons from the tree and got to work.

It seemed one of the simplest recipes I could find anyhow.

1. First up, peeling the yellow skin thinly from the lemons, making sure not to include any of the white pith - which will make the jam bitter. Then slicing the skin finely.

2. Taking the pith. Slicing all the pith from the skinned lemons and slicing them into 1/4" slices.

3. Boiling the water/lemon skin and sliced lemons.

I followed the recipe fairly closely, though couldn't be buggered leaving the sliced lemon and skin and water in the fridge for 3 hours. Don't these people know what a four-person household packs into a fridge? And I added an extra cup of sugar as these are winter lemons and not the sweet summer sun-kissed variety.

Finally - I get four small-ish jam jars of lemon marmalade! I just heated the jars in the oven and poured hot jam into the preheated jars, then screwed the lid on. This is what you get from ten large lemons.

Verdict: extremely lemony - probably for extreme lemon fans. Would be OK with honey on toast - or added to other dishes needing a lemon hit.

Phil runs the best wine & food tours in the known Universe.

Bargain Red Wines for the NZ Winter

2011-07-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Bargain Reds forWinter

By Phil Parker - wine writer.

Phil runs wine tours in Aucklandsee: www.finewinetours.co.nz

One of the nice things about our coolerweather is that it’s an opportunity to drink some red wines. White wines are fine of course but wintermeans that you don’t want to chill them – they taste much better at roomtemperature when it’s cold outside.

Red wines can benefit from being warmed upslightly above room temperature. (My oldtrick – in case you missed it, immerse the unopened bottle of red in a basin ofmedium/hot water for a few minutes. Dry off, open, enjoy). Warming releases thearomas and softens the wine.

Okay – on with the hunt for a bargain red wine.I got lucky with a couple of reds plucked from the supermarket shelves thisweek. This can backfire of course, butif you’re gambling less than ten bucks then it’s not a disaster. From experience, any bargain wines in theseven dollar range are usually disappointing. There seems to be a threshold at $9.99 where they become drinkable.

First up:

Pete’s Shed CentralOtago Matai Block Pinot Noir 2008 $12.99

This is a label purpose made for ProgressiveEnterprises supermarkets (Countdown, Fresh Choice, Woolworths etc.). The 2009 versionwas given less than favourable reviews for being under ripe, but this one’s aripper. Silky soft tannins and ripe darkberry flavours give way to spicy savoury notes and a lasting finish.

Taylors Oomoo McLaren Vale(Grenache/Shiraz /Mourvedre blend) $11.99
The label is a reproduction of an old Taylors wine label - featuring emus and kangaroos! Oomoo is allegedly an aboriginal word for 'tastes good'.

South Australia’s Mclaren Vale is a producerof some pretty grunty reds like Cabernet and Shiraz, but this is a softer takeon the Great Aussie red. The Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre blend is a mix you see in Aus – often called GSM for short. This one opens up with lovely black pepper,plum pudding and a liquorice aromas. Onthe palate – chocolate, plums, black cherry and fig, with medium tannins. A great match with a hearty beef casserole orvenison.

APPELLATION VINEYARDS TASTING JUNE 2011

2011-07-10T02:24:00.000-07:00

Now then. All sitting quietly?
Good.

Then I'll start.
By some sort of osmotic process - being around for about ten years and publishing the odd wine article, I seem to have become a Wine Writer. This is pretty cool. But I see myself as a Wine Journalist - i.e. I do have an insatiable curiosity about wine, but I make no claims to being an Expert.

So, anyway I get invited to the odd wine writing event now and again. I.e. - a chance to taste and evaluate wines gratis - which is great.

Yennyhoo. I got to taste a bunch of wines distributed by Appellation Vineyards Ltd. There was a huge array of wine from many labels, and I was late on account of being in the process of moving house and a whole lot of other stuff. I was The Last Writer to show up. But they folks in control of the show were very charming and left me to wander, pour, sample and spit to my heart's content.

The Winners on The Day ...the envelopes, please.

Sauvignon Blanc ...None. I hate the stuff

Riesling
Fiddlers Green 2008
Glasnevin Classic 2008

Pinot Gris
Distant Land Premium 2010
Fairmont Estate 2009
Isabel Estate 2010
Steve Bird 2010

Gewurtztraminer
Distant Land Premium 2010
Lake Road 2010
Steve Bird 2008
Glasnevin 2008

Chardonnay
Ashwell Vineyards 2009
Isabel Estate 2007
Fiddlers Green 2008

Pinot Noir
Fiddlers Green 2008
Fiddlers Green Reserve 2008
Bannock Brae Goldfields 2008
Bannock Brae Goldfields Barrel Select 2009

Syrah
Ash Ridge 2008

Phil runs the best wine tours in New Zealand - allegedly

Snowy ...the story continues

2011-07-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Okay. Snowy is an ex-stray cat. He initially schmoozed me at my physiotherapy clinic as a cute kitten, playing in the sunshine outside the door until we caved in and started feeeding him.

He is now a self-centred, contemptuous, vindictive, devious, intelligent, and nasty 12 year-old cat. He is, in short, a total bastard. A sort of feline Severus Snape. If ever there is an animated feature starring Snowy, Alan Rickman is a shoo-in for the character voice.

As a result of moving house about 6 weeks ago I managed to move the amiable goofy and lovable 11-year old Black Lab Jasper with no problems. His new pal George (see pic) the Maltese/Shitzu/Yorkie-cross took control immediately and assumed power in return for snuggling Jasper in cold weather and licking Jasper's eyes every morning. (Yeah - dunno what that's all about - hey, dog culture is weird). But he has finally stopped humping Jasper - which I take as a good sign.

Snowy's transition, on the other hand, was a whole new ball game. George unfortunately is a hyperactive cat-seeking missile on four tiny legs. He barks and screams hysterically if he sees any cats near the property.

So the whole Snowy installation was a military operation. We snuck him in one day when George was at the kennels, left him in our upstairs bedroom and put a baby gate at the top of the stairs. Snowy cowered under our bed for two days not eating. When he did eat, he crept out, crapped and peed in my jeans - which were on the floor - and crept back under the bed. Finally he got the hang the dirt box, more or less, but with the odd displaced poo.

Snowy finally took the hint and explored the wider world - by climbing out the window onto the flat roof. But not before depositing a few free form installations on said roof. He then disappeared for a whole 24 hours - then returned, whence I caught him pissing on our bed (on my side) as a middle finger salute to moi for upsetting his life.

Now we have a Mexican standoff - with Georgie sniffing and growling through the baby gate and Snowy huddled up on his electric cat blanket. He does use the cat litter-in-a-paint tray. He does spend a lot of time in out the window mode. He is generally better behaved other than tearing at the carpet in the early hours to wake me up when he's feeling lonely.

Youth In Asia has been muttered by my long suffering charming companion.

Heron's Flight wines - a vertical tasting!

2011-06-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

On May 21st I ventured north to Matakana – a boutique region 50 minutes away from Auckland, with my wine buddy Steve Thompson from Seattle.

Our Noble Quest … to participate in a ‘vertical tasting’ of one of my favourite wines, Heron’s Flight’s Sangiovese. Sangiovese is the classic red wine of Chianti and a wine not grown in any great volume here in NZ.

I have long been a fan of winemaker David Hoskins’ 100% Sangiovese – a wine he will produce only in a ‘good year’ when the grapes achieve optimal ripeness in Matakana’s clay-based North Auckland soils. Rainfall and humidity late in the season can play havoc with a potentially superb vintage.

OK – a vertical tasting is what wine fans call a tasting of the same wine over several vintages. I.e. Heron’s Flight lined up eight wines from vintages covering 12 years from 1998 to 2010. (Horizontal tasting is what happens when you swallow all the samples in a short space of time.)

David does credit me with a good palate, which is very kind of him. But on the day, I felt my palate was a bit off. Dunno. Wine writers and wine critics do have their off days – which is really inconvenient for all concerned. Most days I know my palate is on the nail and every wine sample is a myriad of aromas and nuanced flavours across every subjective spectrum. Some other days, everything tastes a bit flat and I can only pick 3 or 4 wine descriptors.

Yennyhoo – here’s what I can summon from my scribbled notes evaluating eight vintages of Heron’s Flight Sangiovese.

1998 Brick red colour. Astringent, dry and light bodied with smoked meat flavours and aromas. Still quite tannic.

1999 Garnet colour. Complex, dry and earthy with cherry/almond/raspberry flavours and a gamey spicy quality.

2000 Not my favourite. Earthy and mushroomy with a cranberry/cherry astringency.

2002 Now we’re talking . Sweet and ripe, with a smooth mid palate and smoky savoury cherry flavours.

2004 Another winner. Flavours of ripe black cherry and plum, with spiced smoky salami meaty flavours.

2005 Funky aromas. Flavours of soy and black cherry. Yum.

2009 OK this one’s an experimental 50/50 Sangiovese and Dolcetto blend. In my mumbled opinion - a winner. Fermented in old oak barrels. Flavours and aromas of cherry, plum, mushroom, pepper, cloves, cinnamon and earthy forest floor.

2010 Wildly vibrant and fruity. A youthful Julian Clary of a wine. Cherry plum and almond dominate with assertive tannins and sweet ripeness.

Phil runs The Top Auckland Visitor Activity according to TripAdvisor. But what do they know.

Marlborough Wine Region - a quick visit

2011-06-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back I took a quick trip to Marlborough to catch up with family. Mainly my step-Dad who lives in Blenheim, and his extended family.

We stayed at the D’Urville Hotel – a quirky boutique hotel with fab restaurant in the centre of Blenheim town. We were randomly allotted The Rajah Suite which was kind of Indian themed, with intricately carved and painted wood panelling, brassy things and general Bollywood décor. All pretty cool, but the entrance to our ensuite was a wooden doorway carved thingy more suited to your average Hobbit than a 6ft 1” 54-year-old wine writer. I stooped and banged my head on the lintel many times. Otherwise – very nice. Crisp linen, wireless Internet, and acres of white towels. The other suites looked reaaally cool – Polynesian and Cuban themed.

We had one free day so checked out a few of my favourite wineries:

Domaine Georges Michel - 6 Vintage Lane
A slice of France in the heart of Marlborough - Georges Michel and his wife Huguette acquired the vineyard in 1997 and have made their Gallic mark on the region. We had a great light lunch there – rich and hearty venison ragout with crusty bread.

Standout wines: Legend Pinot Noir 2009 $48 Golden Mile Chardonnay 2008 $15

Framingham Wine Company
Conders Bend Road

Renwick
The vineyards date back to the early 1980’s making them some of the oldest vineyards in the region. Riesling is their flagship wine, with other whites, Pinot Noir and the Italian variety Montepulciano completing the line-up.

Standout wines: Gewurtztraminer 2009 $28 Classic Riesling 2009 $25

Grove Mill Winery

Waihopai Valley Rd
Renwick
Eco-friendly Grove Mill is a corporate owned winery, which is situated in the Waihopai Valley. Their philosophy is to produce high quality wines with minimal environmental impact. The company mascot is the Southern Bell Frog, which lives in the winery wetland.

Standout wines: Grand Reserve Riesling 2009 $27 Grand Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 $43

Phil's wine tours are "The best visitor attraction in Auckland" according to TripAdvisor

Wines for the Southern Hemisphere Winter

2011-05-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland - rated "No 1. Auckland Attraction" by TripAdvisor

In spite of climate change, most of us in NZ do experience four seasons, and our wine choices appropriately change with them. Outdoor entertaining in summer accompanied by crisp chilled white wines and light reds, segues into indoor dining with bolder wines to accompany heartier food and cooler climes.

As a step up from Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling - with their young and fruit led flavours; my personal choice has always been Chardonnay. Now, there was an anti Chardonnay movement around ten years ago (the ABC club: anything but Chardonnay).

This was a backlash against the bright yellow Chardonnays that were wildly over-oaked and tasted like a school desk. Sadly, while winemaking has moved on, there are still quite a few Luddite lushes out there who point blank refuse to drink it. This is a pity, because winemaking has moved on, and most of our Chardonnays are subtly oaked, mellow and delightfully complex wines that reward cellaring for up to five years.

After summer’s Roses and light Pinot Noirs, I would suggest a move to Shiraz (or Syrah as we call it). Syrah grapes produce a soft, full-bodied wine with a hint of black pepper aroma and black berry fruit flavours. Hakes Bay’s Gimblett Gravels region in particular is producing some of NZ’s finest examples of Syrah – some of them scoring higher than Aussie Shiraz in international wine competitions.

Here’s a few that I have tasted recently. And remember that in cooler weather, white wines can be served at room temperature and reds often benefit from warming up prior to serving. (My old trick – in case you missed it, immerse the unopened bottle of red in a basin of medium hot water for a few minutes. Dry off, open, enjoy.)

Tohu Marlborough Chardonnay 2010 $NZ22.00
Tohu label takes pride in its Maori ownership, a cooperative of South Island Maori organisations: Wakatu Incorporation, Nga-ti Ra-rua A-tiawa Iwi Trust (NRAIT) and Wi Pere Trust. This wine is a crisp, clean and fruity light style of Chardonnay that is very easy to drink young.

Karikari Estate Chardonnay 2009 $NZ32.00
Karikari Estate has 100 acres of vines on Northland’s Karikari Peninsula, planted with a variety of reds plus Chardonnay and Viognier. This is more in a medium style, with mineral and stone fruit characters and a clean citrus finish.

Discovery Point Judd Selection Chardonnay 2008 $NZ30.00
Discovery Point wines are made by Master of Wine, Steve Bennett who has 20 years experience as a wine-educator, journalist, judge and wine buyer. Displaying the mellowing affect of a few years in the bottle, this is a gorgeous wine – rich, creamy and integrated with flavours of oak, peach, melon and hazelnut.

Sacred Hill Hawkes Bay Syrah 2010 $NZ20.00
Deep purple colour with aromas and flavours of cloves, poached plums, liquorice and beetroot and medium tannins.

Selaks Winemakers Favourite Hawkes Bay Syrah 2009 $NZ20.00
The grapes were fermented in stainless steel, then matured in oak for 12 months. Flavours of raspberry, black berry fruits, mocha and peppery spice.

CJ Pask Hawkes Bay Gimblett Road Syrah 2008 $NZ20
A silver medal winner from the AWC Vienna International Wine Challenge, this is a lovely wine. Earthy spicy flavours of black berry fruits and a hint of pepper. Firm tannins mean this one’s a keeper – say put it away for two years more.

Fancrest Estate's Organic Pinot Noir

2011-05-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

Phil runs the Best Auckland Attraction - TripAdvisor
Fine Wine and Food Tours

Located in Waipara – about an hour north of Christchurch is organic Pinot Noir producer Fancrest Estate. This small family-owned winery grows exclusively Pinot Noir and is New Zealand BioGro certified. Owner and winemaker Di Holding recovered the operation after a disastrous winery fire in 2009 all but destroyed the winery and the 2009 vintage. She has now released two Pinots - from 2007 and 2008 respectively. The 2007 is quite grunty and big, whereas the 2008 is s lighter style. More on that later.

Very few NZ wineries subscribe to the very strict, totally organic systems prescribed by organisations such as Bio-Gro NZ, and the international Demeter organisation. Millton Vineyards of Gisborne were Bio-Gro pioneers, operating their vineyards using companion planting, and the use no artificial herbicides, fungicides, insecticides or fertilisers. Millton was the first certified organic vineyard in NZ and the 5th oldest in the world.

Biodynamics is a theory of agriculture developed by Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner. He saw the farm a holistic being, where soil health is in balance with nature and also in harmony with phases of the moon. It does sound a tad New Age and wacky, but many sceptics have converted to Biodynamics after seeing a vast improvement in their grape, and wine quality.

Some other Bio-Gro members are: Felton Road, Richmond Plains and Sunset Valley of Nelson, Seresin Estate of Marlborough, Kingsley Estate of Hawkes Bay, and Kawarau Estate of Central Otago.

Other wineries use organic methods but haven’t gone through the full accreditation process – notably Rippon Valley, Stonyridge, and Vynfields.
Anyway to the wines:

2007 Fancrest Estate Di's Pinot Noir $35
A big, chunky Pinot more in the Central Otago style. Aromas of spicy oak and savoury roast meat. Palate of black cherry, dark chocolate and plums, with a sweet ripeness and medium to firm tannins.

2008 Fancrest Estate Pinot Noir $22.50
Smoky, tar aromas and savoury sweet cherry and raspberry flavours. Lighter style than the 2007 and more of a ‘drink now’ wine.

Buy Online: Fancrest Estate http://www.fancrest.com/our-cellar

Dry River Wines - Martinborough. Recent tasting

2011-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

WINES TO DRY FOR

By Phil Parker - wine writer.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland see: http://www.finewinetours.co.nz/

Neil McCallum started Dry River in 1979. Dry River shares the Craighall vineyard with Ata Rangi and also sources fruit from contract growers in the area. Plus they have bought the Arapoff vineyard in Martinborough

Dry River would easily be in the top three NZ producers of Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They produce a miniscule two and a half, to three thousand cases of wine a year. (Nobilo makes just over two million.)

Dry River’s loyal mail list members snap up nearly all the output in advance. A little is exported and anything spare generally goes within a few weeks of release. There is even a waiting list to get on the mailing list – basically you can be added if the member doesn’t order any wine for three consecutive years, or they die. Could be a motive for homicide. Coming soon to your screen: WCSI – Wine Crime Scene Investigation.

Anyway, Neil McCallum sold Dry River to El Molino Wines of California and has largely handed over the reins to young winemaker Katy Hammond, but he stays on as chief winemaker. Now am I getting old or are winemakers getting younger? Sadly, all of the above, I’m afraid. The slim bubbly blonde looks no older than 25 and is passionate about her craft. Despite being owned by a US company there are no plans for expansion or even increase in output. In fact, McCallum plans to spend his spare time at Dry River “…doing it better.” Sheesh – what modesty.

Dry River Chardonnay 2008

A very elegant and subtle Chardonnay – clean, crisp and lightly mineral on the palate but with a lingering finish. Flavours of lime, white peach, grapefruit and yeasty brioche.

Dry River Syrah 2008

We drank this with a lamb leg roast and rich mushroom gravy. Lovely lush and sweet ripe black currant and berry flavours with a hint of spicy white pepper, and a glorious lasting aftertaste.

Phil's Spicy Tomato Chutney 2011 ...the legend

2011-04-26T04:06:00.000-07:00

As well as being an all time nice bloke and kind to animals sort of person - I have a reputation as a maker of pretty damn fine Tomato Chutney. Many grateful passengers on my tours have enjoyed, and indeed - begged, for this recipe. It is great with either cheeses or cold meats. Or even kind of guiltily licked from the jar when nobody is looking.

So, dear reader (you knows who you is) - here it is for the first time on the Information SuperHighway InterWeb : Phil's Damn Fine Internationally And Totally, like, Famous Tomato Chutney.

2 pounds (1Kg) tomatoes, chopped: finely as you can be bothered.

3 chillies cut finely

4 onions, chopped finely

1 tablespoon dry mustard

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 cups brown sugar

3 tablespoons plain baking flour

2 1/4 cups malt vinegar

Dessert spoons of any of the following, according to taste: grated ginger, Anise, Cinnamon, Cumin, Cloves, thinly sliced Garlic

then 1/4 cup malt vinegar

NOW .. there is a trick to chopping a shiteload of onions without becoming terminally dehydrated by totally pointless crying. I was told this years ago but didn't really believe it: OK - slice your onion in half:

Then chop it into parallel slices. Now, I have read that the whole smelly and eye-watering thing with onions and garlic and such is actually a protective measure. I.e. once the onion realises that it has been chopped, It gets all defensive and releases noxious eye-watering chemicals in order to deter the assailant.

So the trick is: to cut it up before it knows that it's dead. So .. next - chop it very quickly after rotating the sliced onion 180 degrees.

Put tomatoes and onions into a non-metal bowl. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 12 hours.

Drain off liquid formed. Put vegetables, sugar, first measure of vinegar and chillies into a preserving pan. Boil gently for 1 ½ hours, stirring frequently. Add grated ginger, Anise, Cinnamon, Cumin, Cloves, Garlic

Mix mustard, curry, flour and second measure of vinegar to a smooth paste. Stir into relish. Boil for 5 minutes. Pack into hot sterilised jars (heat in oven). Makes about 4 small jars.

For extra flavour: Add - Ginger (pref grated), cumin, cinnamon, cloves, 5 Spice, Fennel, sliced garlic.

Bono and Robin Williams - Lookie Likie!!

2011-04-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

WINE TOUR PERSONALITY PROFILES

2011-04-12T02:26:00.000-07:00

Okay. I have met some interesting people over the last ten years while running my fabulous World Famous Auckland Wine Tours.

(Ahem) rated the “No. 1 best activity to do in Auckland City, New Zealand” by TripAdvisor.

Most people, in fact the vast majority, are wine enthusiasts who get the general idea of a wine tour. I.e. go to some wineries, sample some selected wines (sniff, savour, evaluate, spit or tip), move on to the next winery. However, some folk have their own concept of what constitutes an ‘wine tour’ and tend to go off on tangential trajectories much to the surprise and general fear and loathing of other passengers - and yours truly. Bear in mind, that most Cellar Door tasting rooms in NZ have a good line-up of wines – often up to ten available to sample, plus they are very generous with sample amounts. And they usually do not charge a tasting fee.

For the sake of brevity and the cheap opportunity to demean and humiliate others from afar, I have categorised them thus:

GULPERS – When the cellar door staff say ‘Now, where would you like to start?’ they say ‘At the top!’ and proceed to gulp down as many free samples as they can from Sauvignon Blanc, to reds to dessert wines. They really don’t give a toss what they drink – they just want to get plastered for free. Some even con extras by asking for another: ‘Oh, can I try that one again – I can’t quite make my mind up.’ These people never buy a bottle.

COLOURISTS – Now fair enough, some people just can’t handle a particular variety of wine so they avoid reds because of tannins, or they avoid whites because they think they are wimpy. But I do get some clients who have a preconceived idea of what New Zealand wines should taste like, and announce almost as soon on the tour, “We only drink reds.” or “We only drink whites.” I don’t have a major problem with that, but I find that if you can persuade them, often they will be surprised by the complexity and pure varietal flavours of all our wines, red and white. Among this group lurks the subset of ABC people– “Anything but Chardonnay!” These are poor deluded folk who had a bad Chardonnay experience circa 1982 when the wines were bright yellow, over-oaked shockers that tasted like a school desk soaked in methylated spirits. They prove one of the most intransigent groups – they refuse point blank to even sniff a lightly wooded fruit driven Chardy.

SWEETIES – Novice wine drinkers do tend to start with sweet wines. This is no crime and they are on the first steps of a wine journey, so it’s mean to be critical. However, the fact is that many wineries produce very little - or no sweet wines at all. This does make for a very short wine tour when you total tasting palette is four dessert wines. Occasionally I can encourage them to try off-dry to medium styles like Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris or Riesling but on most occasions the reaction is the screwed up sucked-a-lemon face of the sugary wine fan.

COCKTAIL SIPPERS - These folk are generally gregarious, and don’t really know much about wine, but they love talking. So instead of the standard Sight, Swirl, Sniff, Savour, Spit routine – are more interested in chatting - with anecdotes about their vacation and general Life Story, all the while taking tiny sips of wine and talking and sipping and talking and sipping ….

WANDERERS – They generally do like the wines, but especially after a few they go into a sort of Wine Zen state and wander off to the gardens and cellar door surrounds, wine in hand, eyes glazed, to soak up the winery atmos. They return much later for another sample – and then wander off again from the main group.

GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE – These folk are almost exclusively from cruise ships where there is a culture of expecting to be both disappointed and ripped-off. These folk make an art of complaining and demanding: Can we have more air in the back? I can’t hear anything, speak louder! Where are the washrooms? How many native birds do you have? Are we going to see any kangaroos today? I think I left my eye glasses at the last winery! The crackers are too salty! Stop the van - I feel nauseous!!

GROUPS - There is a certain critical mass with numbers of people on the tour. My minibus seats a max of seven and that's about as large as I want. Small numbers mean interaction and good company. For me, that's why I enjoy running the tours - I meet people from all over the world and have the pleasure of introducing them to a wide range of our fantastic wines. Now groups are another matter. Numbers can vary from ten up 60. Group tours have to be scheduled with the wineries and the lunch venue. Generally - the more people, the more it becomes crisis management. Within the group will be all of the above - Gulpers, Sippers, Wanderers, Grumpy etc.
Not only do I personally provide tasting notes, witty informative commentary, answer dumb questions, and wrangle the cheese board, but I also have to try to keep to time. The tours invariably run late and I have a migraine by the end of the day. One of the worst was a two-bus, cruise ship group of 60 - where one bus got lost and we were an hour late for lunch. The Maitre D' had a hissy fit, ran away and never talked to me again. At the end of the tour the bus drivers got all the tips.

BUT …. 99.9% of wine tour clients are nice, funny, intelligent, informed, genial folk who just love wine. God bless ‘em.

Roxy Music then. Rusty Mucus now.

2011-04-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I scored a couple of tickets to Villa Maria's Auckland Day on the Green series, Roxy Music concert. The Muttonbirds were the support - and as it turned out, the best thing.

Now, I am an older punter and was lucky to see Roxy Music way back in 1975 at the Auckland Town Hall - at the height of their popularity, and Country Life was the latest album. This was after they had ditched Brian Eno, and had acquired a young Plexiglas violin player Eddie Jobson. The violin was Plexiglas, not Eddie. He also played keyboards. And apart from him, it was the classic lineup of Phil Manzanera on guitar, Andy McKay on sax, Paul Thompson on drums and ... one of the many faceless bass players who dropped in and out of the band over their career.

I was 19 and most of the audience were not much older - we knew all the songs by heart, and Bryan was greeted with rapturous applause as he sashayed on stage in white dinner jacket, bow tie and pink carnation. The show was superb, with all the hits - Mother of Pearl, A Song for Europe, In Every Dream home a Heartache, Virginia Plain, Street Life, Do The Strand (local reference by Bryan: "New Zealanders or Chinese!") SFX: Crowd goes nuts - Applause Whoop Whistle!! etc.
The sound was perfect, the venue was intimate enough and Bryan interacted in a slightly shy but awkwardly endearing way. It remains one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

Fast forward ... Bryan Ferry In Concert, Auckland Civic Theatre circa 2004.
Mr Ferry is on tour with a bunch of shit hot backing musicians doing old Roxy Music songs plus a few of his own originals. But .. no atmos. Bryan doesn't acknowledge the audience, the band plays with workmanlike skill and verve, but the reality is more like watching a DVD. Interestingly, Bryan has a guest lead guitarist (can't remember who) dressed nattily in a brown suit, who collapses on stage about 1/3 into the show. I first notice when I see the brown suited axeman lying completely motionless on his back, guitar still strapped across his chest. I thought 'Now is that some kind of minimal Zen Guitar Hero move, or is there something wrong?' He was quickly dragged offstage (guitar still in place) feet dragging on the boards, whence medical people did emergency recuss stuff in the wings. Clear! Bzzzzzttt!!
Meanwhile, The Show Goes On - Bryan says nothing at all. There is no mention in the press the next day. For all I know, Mr Brown Suit may have been flown back to Blighty, dead as a doornail, in a pine box crossing airpaths with the replacement axeman flying in on Air NZ for the rest of the tour.

Faster forward ... A lovely late summer evening at Villa Maria's sprawling Mangere estate. The Muttonbirds have just played a crisp and memorable set of their hits. I have had some superb wine and food supplied by the sponsor. The sun goes down. Lights go up ... ta dah!
Roxy Music is onstage. Bryan has let a bit of grey show at the temples and looks like a tad older Edward Fox on the (very few) video screen shots. For some reason - the original band (Phil, Andy, and Paul) all have kind of musical stunt doubles. So there is an extra lead guitarist, sax player and drummer. What the?
So the old guys go thru the motions on each song, but often hand over to the young thrusters for the hard bits.
Also there are three lithe women whose only job is to do ethereal jazz ballet dancy stuff, silhouetted against the back screen. Normally the Video screen shows close-ups for the cheap seats people like moi who are miles from the stage - but this time the vids are all hippy pre-recorded swirly patterns and visual distractions, rather than a good look at what's happening onstage. Bryan is again, hugely unengaged with the audience. he may have said 'Hello Auckland.' but that was it. No song intros or friendly banter. Just the obligatory 'name the band members' before the big finale. Then turn up the lights, we bugger off and wander back to try and find our cars in the gloomy park.

Phil also runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand. Gosh. Who'd have thought? http://www.insidertouring.co.nz/

LOOKIE-LIKIE Phil Goff and Ruth Dyson. Are they - in fact - the same person?

2011-04-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Have they ever been seen in the same room at once??

Ultimate Couch Potato Cat

2011-03-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is my cat Snowy, channel surfing

Sacred Hill's new twins - Sacred Hill Pinot Noir 2010 and Sacred Hill Pinot Gris 2010

2011-03-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland see: http://www.finewinetours.co.nz/

Sacred Hill is one of Hawkes Bay’s leading wineries, gaining accolades and awards for many of their wines. The Mason Family, who have farmed in Hawke’s Bay for over 50 years, planted the first vines in 1986 and to this day are still fully involved in the day to day running of the winery.

Tony Bish is the very successful winemaker here, and oversees production from four vineyards owned by the company. Aside from three in Hawkes bay, (Rifleman, Dartmoor and Gimblett Gravels), they also have Hell’s Gate vineyard in Marlborough.

These two releases from the abundant 2010 harvest are from their Marlborough vineyards – a Pinot Gris and a Pinot Noir.

Now, wayyy … back in the old days, the Pinot Noir grape mutated into a few variants, some of which have become popular in their own right. I.e. Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meunier – and the more obscure Pinot Moure and Pinot Teinturier. Pinot Blanc makes a light unoaked white wine, Pinot Meunier is a red grape often used in making Champagne along with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

So much for wine trivia. The wines:
Sacred Hill Pinot Gris 2010 $NZ19.71
Crisp and light, this is a wine that would make a refreshing aperitif. Flavours of pear juice, apple, stone fruit and guava in a medium-bodied style.
Sacred Hill Pinot Noir 2010 $NZ19.71
Young but very approachable, ripe with a touch of sweetness. Smoky aromas with hints of stewed plum and tar. On the palate light – silky tannins and red berry fruits, savoury aftertaste with a dry, s;picy finish.

Xerxes - Dude sings like a lady

2011-03-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

As part of the Auckland Arts Festival Handel's 1738 opera - Xerxes is playing the grand old Civic theatre.

I am a bit of an opera fan but prefer a live performance to CDs and have managed to see most of the well-known operas over a number of years since I saw The Barber of Seville at age 6 in Palmerston North (insert own disparaging Palmy joke here).

However Xerxes meant nothing to me other than a damn fine triple word score at Scrabble. And I knew a bit of Handel – Water Music, Royal Fireworks, Messiah etc.

I had also heard that it features counter tenors. I had always had an abiding loathing of counter tenors from the first time I heard The King’s Singers – a UK a capella male group which features the castrati stylings of the counter tenor. (In the old days the castrati were gifted male singers who had been castrated before puberty in order to preserve their high register soprano voices.)

Once the show got started – I realised that the two male leads were counter tenors. But truly, these guys are pretty amazing and can hit the falsetto high notes. But you do wonder - what was the fascination in the 1700s with guys who sing like chicks? It wasn’t as though women weren’t allowed on stage so that men had to sing female roles. Yet It was a mark of great esteem to be a bloke with no nuts who could hit a high C.

Then I got to thinking – why did we tolerate the Bee Gees? Or Prince singing ‘Kiss’ in a falsetto. Or - Frankie Valli and Four Seasons ‘Walk Like A Man’ (sing like a chick). Whaaaa? Weird shit really. Then Led Zep’s Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury were similar pop culture gods with high voices.

Yennyhoo - the opera. Poncy King Xerxes fancies the pants off his brother’s girlfriend. She refuses to accept his advances. Another chick fancies the brother, so schemes to ensure a marriage between the eccentric king and the girlfriend. A bitter estranged girlfriend of the king wanders in and out in a B plot all about what a heartbreaker King Nutless Wonder is. For some reason she dresses as a soldier to conceal her identity.

Weird moment in the show: King’s bitter ex girlfriend dressed as a guy, sings to the King who is a guy who sings back like a girl.

1738, guess you had to be there.

Finale – after a magnificent aria all about love being crap and that by the King, all of a sudden things turn out for the best within two verses: King’s brother ‘accidentally’ weds the hottie, repentant King suddenly realises he still loves his ex. Hottie’s rival hooks up with an army general. Peace is restored. Love is the winner on the day.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand.

Canterbury Wines - Main Divide Pinot Gris 2010 & Main Divide Merlot Cabernet 2008

2011-02-25T02:54:00.000-08:00

Coincidental with the dreadful news from Christchurch I recently received a sample pack from Main Divide – which served as a reminder of how good the wines of Canterbury are. Waipara, where Main Divide is based an hour north of Christchurch, is a boutique region that often gets ignored in favour of the big players like Marlborough and Hawkes Bay. It remains my favourite region, for its fabulous wines, food, scenery and friendly people.

Main Divide is the second tier label of Pegasus Bay, a label owned and operated by the Donaldson family since the early 1970’s.

Ivan Donaldson is a consultant neurologist, wine writer and wine judge. His wife Christine is still involved in the business though directs most of her energy into maintaining the winery's extensive grounds. Winemakers are eldest son, Matthew who graduated with a degree in winemaking from Roseworthy College in Australia, and his wife Lynnette Hudson, who has similar qualifications from Lincoln University. Another son, Edward, is Marketing Manager and his wife Belinda supervises the Pegasus Bay Winery Restaurant.

Paul, the youngest son, has an MBA degree and works as General Manager for the company.

Main Divide Pinot Gris 2010 $19.95

Lush and slightly sweet, this is a big bodied Pinot Gris with flavours of grape fruit, pears and a hint of honey. It was fermented and then aged for a while in French Oak.

Main Divide Merlot Cabernet 2008 $19.95

Two years in oak barrels has added depth and complexity to this stunningly good value red. It has hints of pot pourri with medium tannins, sweet ripe black cherry, spice and liquorice. Yum!

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand: http://www.insidertouring.co.nz/

Some Bastard ...

2011-02-23T01:35:00.000-08:00

OK - yesterday I had 4 clients in my vehicle. All very fine till we got to lunch.

Front seat passengers when exiting, remarked on a thin string of blue stuff attached to their wine purchase. I investigated. The bright aqua blue gunk was in fact chewing gum. Not only was it stuck to their wine carton, it was also firmly attached to the vehicle nylon carpet in a sticky blob about half an inch square.

SOME BASTARD (gender neutral) not only took a wine tour, but also had the mindlessness to CHEW GUM on a wine tour. For the unwashed - this is akin to farting in the Sistine Chapel, or saying the N word near the President of the USA. Not only did they chew said offensive oral garbage, but they somehow managed to drop it on the carpet ... without noticing...or owning up to it if they did notice. BASTARD!!!

So - I'm reduced to Googling E-How.com for the best advice as to how to remove bright aqua blue chewing gum from carpet. They suggest: place an ice pack on the gum for 5 minutes. This will freeze the gum solid, making it easier to remove in chunks. Any residue may be cleaned off with Carbon Tetrachloride (dry cleaning fluid).

I did the ice trick - moderately successful, but still gum entrapped in the carpet fibres. I have no Carbon Tetrachloride. So I had a glass of Pinot Gris followed by three glasses of Chardonnay. (These were administered to myself and not the carpet, I might add.) Then I decided to leave it till the morrow - whence I will try Bug 'n' Tar Remover - or methylated spirits or mineral turpentine.

BUT ... Shame On You - GUM BASTARD! May you choke on your gum. May any Heimlich manouvre do nothing more than pop wax out of your ears, and may all your cellared wine be cork tainted by horrendous amounts of trichloroanisole.

Phil normally LOVES running wine tours around Auckland NZ

Wine Writer involved in ritualistic blood letting

2011-02-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

For a number of years, I have been periodically donating my vital fluids for the betterment of humankind.

No but seriously, I had long nursed the delusion that I had a rare blood type like my father (O Rh-ve), and thought that I really should have some on hand in case I became exsanguinated for some reason in the future. Or some similar rarefied type needed a top-up. So I went along and ran thru the procedure only to find I was good old common O+. I have the bog standard O+ blood type - the Regular 91 of the blood world - which is compatible with all the others. Somehow I felt let down. It's a tad like finding out that you're not really related to an ex-All Black, having dined out on it for years.

Anyway, they call up about thrice a year and off I go the Blood Centre. It's all very low key. You fill out a form certifying that you haven't slept with Keith Richards or used needles recreationally and stuff like that. You go through to a little room where they stab you in the finger with a little clicky stabby thing. Today I had a charming but almost incomprehensible Thai nurse who was so enthused that she stabbed herself with the clicky stabby thing. 'Ow. It slip!'

Yennyhoo - I was OK, my iron levels are good and I was allowed thru to the open plan room with lots of couches and machines that go ping. It was rush of blood hour - just after lunch and all beds were taken, largely with donors like me or occasionally people on dialysis. We hearty donors exchange the odd nod of benevolent conspiracy - Yes, me too. Doing my bit. And I never realy thought much more about it until today - I spied a heartfelt thank you letter from a young mother. She had haemorrhaged massively after childbirth, losing more than 4 litres of blood in short order. Had it not been for a good supply of O+ she would not have lived to bring up her brand new baby boy. Makes you think. Hey - that could have been MY blood. I could have saved a life.

I felt humbled and surprisingly emotional.

But wait there's more

2011-02-06T00:57:00.001-08:00

Short John Silver

Naughty King Wenceslas

Short Squat Sally

Alexander The Kind of Average

Pontius Air Cadet

Bill Clintoff

Steve Errands

Albert Nilstein

Sneaky Stallone

OK - silliness for weekend

2011-02-04T17:41:00.000-08:00

The game is : Famous People Before They Were Famous

This is very similar to . Famous Movie Prequels

Genghis Khan't
Dark Stubble Beard the Pirate
Adolescenph Hitler
Tutan Kham-out
Ivan The Very Annoying
Billy The Infant
Hans Pagan Andersen
Jack the Snipper
Charles Dickouts
Bishop Desmond Leotard
Yasser Ara-Rexic
Robert Seedling and Jimmy Paragraph (Led Zep)
Henry Hugginger
Oscar Milde

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland - http://www.insidertouring.co.nz/

Coopers Creek Grüner Veltliner 2010

2011-01-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

It’s a rainy Friday night in Auckland. The humid nor-wester blows in like the exhaust tube from a clothes dryer - and saturates the city in gentle, warm rain. Somewhere, a duck quacks.

Outside, cars hiss through the steamy wet streets as Aucklanders head home for a long weekend.

In his secret lair, NZWineblogger hunches over his PC, a glass of Matua Valley Pinot Gris at hand (bloody good and on special at $7.50 and also annoyingly - quite warm because he forgot to stick it in the fridge this morning).

In the background, he has Emmylou Harris on really LOUD playing the Brand New Dance on CD because he believes that downloaded music is stealing from talented musicians. His charming assistant is away in Waiheke for the weekend at a wedding, so he plans a selfish night of music, wine and defrosted stew with mashed spuds. He pauses to feel guilty about the noise level. He takes another swig of Pinot Gris and shrugs his shoulders. What the hey – it’s only 7.16 and the neighbours are noisy, unfriendly pricks anyway.

The PG starts to kick in and he feels suddenly very attractive, slightly amorous and amusing.

OK Grüner Veltliner. Probably the most famous dry style wine from Austria. And rumoured to be a distant cousin of Gewürztraminer. From my German Language night school classes I figure that the correct pronunciation is: Grooner Felt-Leaner. Das umlaut (ü) in German is pronounced as an 'oo' sound, but with the mouth making an 'ee' shape.
West Auckland winery Coopers Creek have a reputation for introducing obscure grape varieties to NZ. They were one of the first to produce Pinot Gris and Arneis. Grüner Veltliner is the latest in this series.

Verdict: Coopers Creek Grüner Veltliner 2010 $NZ22.00
I’m not sure what the ageing potential of this wine is. As a one-year-old it is quite complex. To me, it’s a food wine i.e. a bit too multifactored as an aperitif style.
Flavours – probably peg it in Pinot Gris territory, but quite dry and with herbal spicy notes. So I’m tasting apple, pear, nectarine fennel and lime. I think it would be a great match well with seafood – mussels, oysters – or a creamy Marinara pasta. I probably need to sample another bottle to get a real bead on the style. Watch this space.

Phil runs fine wine and food tours around Auckland.

Dessert wines and French Toast ....

2011-01-20T01:20:00.000-08:00

Dessert wines, or ‘stickies’ tend to polarise drinkers. You can tell as soon as they take a sip: a smile of pure pleasure or grimace of sugar overload. The wines also fall into two categories – light, floral extremely fruity freeze concentrated styles, or the lush oily late harvest and/or botrytised (noble) style.

Freezing grape juice prior to fermentation separates ice crystals from very sweet juice – allowing the winemaker to produce a sweeter than average wine. Late harvest wines are made from grapes left on the vine till they shrivel like sultanas with a high level of natural sugar. In the botrytised style, fungus infects grapes late in the season and sucks out water content, adding a honey-like flavour. In France they call it ‘noble rot’.

These wines are usually sold in a 375 ml half bottle and the labour content is reflected the price – so the freeze concentrated wines are generally much cheaper (around $15), while the late harvest or botrytised ones going for upward of $30.

Food matches? The French like to eat pâté with their sweet wines – the rich savoury flavours complementing sweetness and acidity. Similarly, cheddars and blue cheeses are a good match. My personal favourite is with French Toast – the ultimate brekkie treat!

Vinoptima Gewürztraminer 2004 $59

Premium dessert wine from the iconic Nobilo winemaking family. Nick, son of company founder Nikola, has a winery dedicated solely to Gewürz. This is a classic example of a botrytised/late harvest, with flavours of honey, spice and citrus.

Dry River Gewürztraminer 2008 $50

Another top level wine in the late harvest style – spicy, luscious and tropical with peach, ginger and Turkish delight flavours.

Muddy Water Riesling Unplugged $25

Botrytised/late harvest, lighter style wine with voluptuous raisiny sweetness and a lively acid balance.

Phil Parker runs Wine Tours In Auckland, god help him...
http://www.finewinetours.co.nz/

Dog Shit Happens

2011-01-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

Dog poop is part of the deal when you have a dog. And the amount of poop is proportional to the size of the dog. I have had three Labs in my life in a row and I can tell you the Black Lab, because of his voracious appetite, is a veritable poo factory – producing an endless variety of freeform sculptures of diverse consistency and colour.

Yesterday I was pottering around in the garden – bringing in the tools I had been previously using to get them out of the rain.

Then the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” I yelled, as I sprinted in a sad 54 year-old sprinterly fashion, back into the kitchen, across the dining room, down the stairs, across the lobby and opened the door to the nice Asian courier man. He had some food tour goodies I ordered, and I scribbled on his computery tablet thing to signify acceptance and then he left.

Twas then I realised that I could smell fresh dog poop. Very fresh. That cloying sweet/foul/ nauseating unmistakeable dog poo odour. Yep – I had plonked my right shoe squarely in a large Jaspoo on sprinting from the garden and had tracked it all through the house to the front door in a one-legged right foot fashion.

So – back to the old poo cleanup regime: bucket of warm water with wool fabric mix, old towels. Wet, brush, blot, wipe, repeat ..

However, when I went into the garage to store the wine tour goodies, I discovered that I had previously left my keys in there.

It then dawned on me that this poo has a silver lining. Had I not, answered the door, and then been required to clean up the poo trail, I would not have found my keys parked in an odd place – and would quite likely driven myself mad trying to find the lost keys once I realised they were missing.

Thanks Jasper.

Hello, Good Evening and Welcome ... Waiheke Island Rant

2011-01-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

Hi again, dear reader. Looks like I'm back on the boards for another year of fear and loathing in the new challenging economic environment.

By way of researching a tour option to Waiheke Island, my charming assistant and I recently ventured over the water to spend a day of tasting and driving the circuitous lanes of Wine Island Auckland.

Now, as a mainland City-based operator, Waiheke is a tad vexatious in that - heaps of foreign visitors want to go there and seem to have been primed before stepping off the plane with the concept that wine in Auckland = Waiheke Island.

Not true. Historically, winemaking in NZ was largely begun in Kumeu wine region (30 min drive from the City) by Croatian immigrants way back in the early 20th century. Waiheke is a relative newcomer with vines being planted in the 1980s. And just an hour's drive north of the City we have Matakana - a boutique region only about 15 years old, which produces some of our best Sangiovese and Montepulciano.

Just the same, the wine fans stumble zombie-like off the international flights, eyes glazed, repeating 'I wanna go to Waiheke. I wanna go to Waiheke.' Thus, I guess I'll have to set up some kind of Waiheke option.
Soooooo... we arranged a hire vehicle on the other side. After picking us up from the ferry, the rental car guy's offsider drove for miles, and miles, and effing miles to the seedy car hire office. The owner had an American accent and looked like an arms dealer - unshaven and ingratiatingly smiling as he talked flat out and got me to sign here.. and here.. and here, and finally - here; whence we uplifted the wreck of a vehicle and drove off. (Slightly uncertainly as I have an automatic transmission and kept forgetting the old 'foot on the clutch when you start in gear' thing.)

Okay - Waiheke is bloody gorgeous. I was biased, but after a day there I realised it is unique and does live up to the hype. The locally grown wines are fantastic, the food is fab, the scenery is breathtaking and (for the most part) winery staff are charming, patient and helpful.

Highlights:

Beautiful sunny day, with a relaxed ferry journey bookending the journey.
Sampling Stoneyridge Larose 2008
Scenery, wines and great staff at Cable Bay
Olive oil sampling at Rangihou Olives

Lowlight:

Snotty Maitre D' at one of Waiheke's top eateries - po faced and officious when I suggested that the glass containing my wine had caught some kitchen odours and smelled of fried fish. He appeared spectrally at the table side - clearly offended. He had poured a new glass and claimed he could tell no difference. I still could. It ended in a nil all draw - he could have handled the whole thing much better. Bad luck for him- won't be taking my clients there for lunch.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland
www.insidertouring.co.nz

And A Happy New Year to my reader ...

2011-01-07T03:20:00.000-08:00

OK New Years 2011 was a tad non-eventful for moi. Just 2 days of Stat holidays before I was back into the fray with my International clients (god bless 'em). Show me the money. I'm not cheap but, boy I'm good.

And truthfully- I can't remotely, (and never have been able), to get excited about one day rolling into another to represent some arbitrary human division of one calendar year from another. Who's to say New Year isn't the Winter Solstice? Or my birthday - the 7th of August?

Here's to the annual 7th August Philiday Public Holiday - and cause for wild feasting, drinking and shagging, and playing old Led Zep and Creedence Clearwater REALLY LOUD. (preceded by Philiday's Eve).
Philday's Eve will be in the same spirit of wild feasting, drinking and shagging - but with slightly more introspective music like Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Talking Heads, and occasional Alt.Country like The Be Good Tanyas and Gillian Welch.

For most NZers, Christmas and New Year represents a couple of weeks off - when most of NZ actually pulls down the blinds, locks the front door and buggers off for two weeks at the beach to indulge in too much sun, sand, surf, sleep and alcohol. Nice non-work if you can get it. Happily I am not remotely a beach bunny - and I am quite happy to host charmingly inebriated foreign guests around some of our finest wine producers in an air-conditioned vehicle, while stopping for a fab lunch in the countryside. This probably sounds fecking fabulous - other than the fact that Good Ol' Freddy Mack & Fanny Mae basically screwed tourism for the last two years with the fallout from their habit of lending 120% mortgages to psychotic bag ladies from Minnesota.

Not that I'm bitter. No - just fumingly mad and slightly homicidal. My numbers dropped for about 900 clients a year pre-recession, to about 350.

However, things are looking better. Sort of. We clutch the Cargo Cult vision of the World Rugby Cup (TM ) to our skinny bosoms in the hope that this will turn out to be an economic Bonanza for New Zealand - and Auckland in particular. And it's only NINE MONTHS away - so hopefully we can all keep the bailiffs at bay with sticks and small but scary dogs till then.

Happy Holidays.

Phil runs Auckland Wine Tours, writes stuff and sells his belongings on the Internet to make ends meet.

Happy New Year - Phil's top Ten from 2010

2010-12-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

I looked under Google Images for an appropriate New Year image - the very first was six young women in thongs, squatting facing away from the camera with Happy New Year painted on their buttocks - one letter per cheek. Naturally I averted my eyes, and chose a wholesome exploding incendiary device instead.

Anyway - best wishes to my two readers. Thanks Granny & Grandpa.

I have written a whole bunch of blog posts over the last 12 months and many of the earlier, really good stuff (before I became famous and sold out to The Establishment in return for mind-altering wine trade samples) may have escaped the attention of the discerning reader.

So here's a Top Ten from 2010 ... enjoy! Discuss!

January - Vincent Price & Bob Dylan - are they related?
February - Marley and Me - scathing movie review
March - Dry River Wines - Martinborough NZ
June - Helen Mirren's husband and a Sasquatch. Are they related?
July - Dentists and Vets. Why they pretend money is not involved.
July - Movie Prequels - a word game for rainy days
September - Fine Food & Wine Tours Auckland - world famous in Shanghai
September - Interesting People I have met on my wine tours
December - The King's Speech movie review
December - Epic Fail for Snowy the Cat

Happy New Year !!!!

Phil runs wine tours around Auckland - rated #12 out 100 best things to do min Auckland by TripAdvisor.

Merry Christmas from Jasper the failed Labrador

2010-12-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my dog. He wakes me up with his normal scratch on the door which signals feeding time. His joy at seeing me only just superseded by the anticipatory joy of a bowl of dog sausage and Tux biscuits.

Not being one of those folk who like to pretend that animals have a clue as to the significance of human festivals I have spared him the indignity of wearing antlers or a Santa hat. But as a Festive treat I gave him a chunk of frozen beef bone. 'Merry Christmas, Jasp' - I said. I could have said 'Greco-Roman Toe Wrestling' - it would have made no difference to the wide-eyed, tail wagging unbridled joy that accompanied my gift. (Hint: dog's don't speak English).

The pic above shows Jasper wading in a new pond to escape the heat on a sticky hot day this week. Now Jasper, being a Lab is by definition a water dog. Labs are originally from the island of Newfoundland where they were used to retrieve and pull fishing nets. But Jasper is, in fact, only a water dog up to a certain point - his shoulders, that is. Jasper can't swim and is scared of any water above shoulder height. He will happily wade and plod around in the shallows, but tentatively explores any deeper water with an extended front paw, and a look of concern on his brow.

Jasper should also technically be a retriever - but he has no concept of retrieving. If I throw a stick for him he will feign interest, tracking its trajectory with a 'why did he throw away that stick?' look of puzzlement. Even as a puppy when he was mildly interested in where the stick landed, I would have to find it for him.
Look! Jas - a stick!!
Then, if he liked the stick he would grab it and refuse to let go.

Add to these incompetencies the fact that he is a lousy guard dog: he never barks, and he greets any stranger at the door like a long lost friend. Our grumpy cat totally dominates him and deliberately dawdles over his meals, making Jasper wait patiently in the hope of getting any cat food leftovers.

For all that, he is basically a good dog solely because he has a genuinely nice nature - he is happy, amiable, loving and affectionate, despite having no concept of obedience, or wanting to 'please his master.'

And ...I kind of respect that.

Phil runs Wine Tours in Auckland NewZealand

http://www.finewinetours.co.nz/

Blondie, The Pretenders and the smell of the crowd (Concert review)

2010-12-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

Last night we caught the Blondie/Pretenders Auckland show - the first of three in NZ , the other two being vineyard gigs.

Cut to the chase - excellent.
Auckland's cavernous Vector Arena even managed almost-okay sound quality where we were on the stalls floor area. I swore I'd never sit at the raked back section again after being subjected to a roaring muffled wash of bass and echoey vocals at Bob Dylan and The Cure.

We missed the support band The Dukes, but arrived in time to get a nostalgic rum 'n' coke and find our seats in the refreshingly air conditioned Arena hangar. First up - Blondie. Deborah Harry appeared - to a rapturous response, dressed in a chunky white jacket, tutu, blonde wig and enormous black sunglasses. It did look a tad like she was hiding behind all the gear, and she talked rather than sang through the first three songs, avoiding the high notes and hardly moving. But by the time she'd ditched the shades and belted into Union City Men things were chugging along nicely. The Debbie Harry of old was summoned up and she rocked and sang just like she used to. Original co-founder Chris Stein on guitar was backed by a skilled younger lineup of bass, keyboards, drums and lead guitar. They rolled through some new material - e.g Maria, but the hits were the winners, with the crowd (very tunefully) singing along - Rapture, Sunday Girl, Heart of Glass, The Tide is High, One Way or Another and Call Me. By the end, Harry had also dropped the tutu and jacket to reveal a new slimline bod and fab pair of legs in a black hotpants suit.

Somewhere around this time, I noticed a subtle yet noxious smell in the row we were in. Hard to place ... damp cardboard ... dog shit ..fish ... cheese ... all four, yet somehow ... worse than the sum of its parts.
Then I nailed it - Smelly Sneakers. Yup. The young lady two seats away had worn her grooviest Chuck Taylors for style but not for aroma. Good ol' Auckland heat and humidity had combined with rubber, canvas and sweaty feet to brew a pong worthy of a teenage boy.

Anyway, we got a break while they set up for The Pretenders. Chrissy Hynde didn't muck around. Skinny legs clad in black jeans and a white shirt with rolled up sleeves - she kicked into a series of tight as a gnat's bum versions of some Pretenders gold - Precious, Brass in Pocket, Back On the Chain Gang, Talk of The Town, Don't Get Me Wrong.
Unfortunately, the audience (being average age around 50) were wee bit tired, and after all that hooting and clapping and standing up for Debbie and the boys, Chrissie Hynde struggled to maintain the crowd's momentum as they sat down for the less bouncy choons. Where Blondie had presented an avalanche of very accessible singalong pop, The Pretenders presented as real Rawk band with a structured set and some quieter numbers. But not to worry, the crowd lit up on the hits and sang along - ending with an appropriate version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and a stonking Brass in Pocket.

Great show. Shame about the smell.

Savvy Savvy everywhere - and quite a lot to drink.

2010-12-16T18:35:00.001-08:00

By Phil Parker - wine writer.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland

Another bumper crop from this year’s Marlborough vintage has resulted in a flood of Sauvignon Blanc hitting the shelves. And just in time for summer, these wines are very typical of the famous assertive Marlborough style of Savvie that has made its mark internationally as NZ’s signature wine.

Retailing at around the $20 mark, they are full flavoured and crisp, intense drink-young wines, which can stand a bit of chilling (say 30 min in the fridge) and go well with summer salads and seafood BBQs.

Each winery has its particular style, and flavours and aromas will vary depending on which part of Marlborough’s vast wine growing region the grapes are sourced from.

Typically – look for aromas and flavours of any of the following: black currant, passion fruit, grapefruit, lime, lemon, bell pepper, guava, grass, tomato leaf, gooseberry, apple, herbs, lantana, geranium, melon, fresh peas, and asparagus.

Here are some classic examples from Marlborough’s 2010 vintage releases:

Waipara Hills Cuvee

Ideal sparkler for the festive season, this is a carbonated bubbly Sauvignon Blanc, just right for cork popping. Flavours of passion fruit, with grassy herbaceousness – a softer style suited to the fizzy interpretation of S Blanc.

Mud House Sauvignon Blanc

Highly rated – has flavours of grapefruit, herbs and passionfruit. Champion wine at the 2009 Liquorland Top 100 International Wine Competition

Selaks Winemakers Favourite Sauvignon Blanc

Awatere Valley fruit contributes to flavours of nettles, gooseberry and green bell pepper.

Sacred Hill Halo Sauvignon Blanc

A single vineyard wine from low cropped vines. Aromas of orange blossom and tropical fruits. Flavours of lemongrass and guava.

Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

Fruit sourced from the stony northern Wairau Valley. Flavours of nectarine and grapefruit, with passion fruit and tropical notes.

Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc top 100 in the world

2010-12-12T17:38:00.001-08:00

A Villa Maria wine has been named the only New Zealand wine in a list of top 100 wines by the prestigious US Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

The Villa Maria Taylors Pass Sauvignon Blanc 2009 was the only New Zealand wine to make the list of 100 of ‘The Most Coveted Wines of 2010’, a guide put together by a panel who agree the wines on the list are exemplary.

Villa Maria is amongst good company on the list with the likes of Louis Roederer, Chateau Pontet-Canet.

Criteria for inclusion goes beyond the points assigned, it includes quality to price ratio, immediate drinkability and uniqueness. The panel assert that wines included represent the very best of their category.

This listing comes just after the same wine was listed in the December issue of Wine Enthusiast Buying Guide as Editors’ Choice at 92 Points. The Villa Maria Wairau Valley Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 also received 92 points in the same issue.

Pinot Noir - a bit of a gamble. Place your bets.

2010-12-07T01:51:00.000-08:00

Now, I must state for starters, that for me - the Best Wine In The World is a damn fine Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir at its best is a glorious spectrum of flavours from funky to savoury to fruity to lush, ripe, spicy, smoky, herbal and opulent.

But, lately I have been the recipient of trade samples of a few P Noirs which really don't quite hit the mark. And sadly, not a few from Central Otago. Most have disappointed.

The very first P Noir that I fell in love with was from Matua Valley, in the days (1980s) when Bill & Ross Spence were still the owners (and before the sellout to Fosters Aus). This was a good value locally grown West Auckland, see-thru light to medium red wine from the Kumeu clay soils - and yet barnyard/funky, and ripe with a glorious herbal spicy flavour and good length.

Lately the P Noirs I have been sampling are a tad one dimensional. They have an overpowering flavour of red fruits like strawberry and raspberry with a short length -and nothing more that is notable.

And yet - a wine that made me rejoice with the feeling of finding a long lost friend, was the Awa Valley Pinot Noir - grown in Huapai/Kumeu west Auckland and vinted by freelance winemaker Shane Cox. This wine brought back all those nostalgic moments from the old Matua valley Days.

Sadly as a child I had threadworms. Ewwww! Sorry to have to share that with you. But anyway - the cure for the 'whole family' ('cos threadworm are a 'shared family experience') was a disgusting anti-wormy cure called Vanquin. You had to skull a little plastic V-shaped measure cup of 20 ml of bright red, strawberry flavour-disguised worm death crapolla guck. It was the kind of stuff that made you retch slightly when you swallowed it.

Even more sadly, when I sample some of these young, one-dimensional P Noirs, I am reminded on a subliminal level of the Strawberry Horrors of Vanquin and immediately feel a bit nauseous.

I can't escape my past. But the Awa Valley hits the mark - with no anti-worm flashback memories.

Phil runs Wine Tours In Auckland, God help him.

Epic Fail for Snowy the Cat

2010-12-06T18:26:00.000-08:00

Okay - we were watching TV, seated on the couch.
Snowy decided that he would avoid climbing over Jasper the black Lab, and would leap with feline agility like a Crouching Tiger, from the arm of one couch - onto the arm of the other couch and thence settle on my lap for a schmooze and snooze.

However - Snowy did not allow for the fact that a blanket was draped over the arm of our couch. So, he tensed up like a coiled spring, leapt into the air, hit the blanket with his front paws ...claws engaged with the blanket, it slipped down vertically, rapidly taking Snow with it.

Fail.

There was an embarassing thump and Snowy hit the deck. We laughed loudly. Snowy skulked away sat on the Flokati rug with his back to us, seething with resentment and humiliation and whispering special cat swear words in our direction, through his perfectly gritted little cat teeth.

Movie review - The King's Speech

2010-12-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

The King’s Speech represents a leap in achievement for Colin Firth, as he takes on the role of the cripplingly speech impaired King George VI, in this beautifully crafted movie. Being in number of tepid Rom Com roles, he was in danger of being trapped as a cuddly Spaniel, sleep walking through chick flicks. But this challenging role presents him as a top notch actor, playing the part of ‘Bertie’ with sensitivity and understatement.

A veritable dream team of other players are involved – Helena Bonham Carter as his wife Queen Elizabeth (to become the Queen Mother in later life). Plus Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the irreverent and unconventional Australian speech coach who is brought in to help the King. Add to that, Guy Pearce as the Duke of Windsor (about to abdicate in favour of his American hottie Mrs. Simpson. No not that Mrs. Simpson), plus Michael Gambon as crusty King George V and Timothy Spall as a quintessential Winston Churchill.

This is based on true events, and was the result of a discovery of his father’s detailed diaries by the son of speech coach ‘Doctor’ Logue. The Queen Mother refused to countenance any movie based on the events, but now since she has departed, the movie was possible.

As much as it is a feel-good story of friendship and trust overcoming adversity, this movie explores areas of responsibility, duty and courage in the rarefied atmosphere of the British Royalty.

Dining with the Rich and Famous - Langham's Barolo - Selaks Winemaker's Lunch

2010-11-26T00:36:00.000-08:00

Okay - the other pics wouldn’t download for some technical reason – so all I have is a slightly gloomy shot of the wine selection.

Yennyhoo – as I have a passing acquaintance with the wine fraternity as a writer, I was invited along to this very fab lunch, with wine matches at ‘Barolo’ – the Langham Auckland’s renowned restaurants. Now, there were many wine luminaries there, plus a few food writers and industry people from Selak’s parent company Constellation NZ (the winery formerly known as Nobilo) and numerous PR agents.

Selak’s chief winemaker Brett Fullerton led us through the wines as the courses were served. Waitpersons with perfect posture stood to attention, and quietly swooped and efficiently served fab food, watered and cleared.

Now …funny thing. I was seated next to an alleged ‘famous’ wine critic. The list of wines was on a printed card with the food matches. But there was a minor cock-up. Wine number 1. was listed as a Viognier. But… in fact it was a Sauvignon Blanc. I sniffed wine #1 and thought – yep, Marlborough Savvy, no doubt. My wine writer famouse critic pal took about ten minutes and then exclaimed, ‘They switched them! I’ve been writing notes on the Viognier – and I just realised that it’s a Sauvignon!’

Sheesh. This is like watching the All Whites for ten minutes and then realising that they were the All Blacks.

Shame On You - alleged ‘famous’ wine critic. Cry bitter tears of shame into your SauViognier.

Anyway – the wines were pretty darn good. They only do about 1,000 cases of each of the wines as a premium brand: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay (highly recommended), and a Merlot/Cab (also highly recommended).

Phil runs wine tours around Auckland in return for warm handshakes and pats on the back.

Snowy the Cat May Have Killed A Legend

2010-11-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Last night, as we sat watching TV, Snowy the Cat appeared at the window, miaowing loudly and demanding entry. This is not unusual, though Snowy isn't normally that insistent. He has regarded Garfield as a role model and generally assumes that humans are a barely tolerable, inferior species of dedicated cat slaves.

So I let him in, and as he walked through the door, he dropped something with a 'there - deal with that. And don't say I never give you anything' nonchalance and swagger. But as he plopped onto my knee to settle in for a good four-hour back rub, I saw that his gift was small and dark and ...rodent like. In the dim TV lighting, I could see that it was possibly a large, long mouse with a big head and large ears. As I picked it up by its cold lifeless tail - I realised that it must be a rat. A young rat.

But the funny thing was - it had a certain anthropomorphic quality - long and lean - and in fact looked very much like the rat from the movie Ratatouille. I have seen many rats before – but normally solid, compact and muscular – but this one was different. I pondered this as I walked downstairs to drop it into the garbage bin. Could Snowy have killed a special rat? Was this rat the Neo of the Ratrix? The Chosen Rodentt? The One rat, after millennia of evolution that made the jump to supreme rathood, and could change rat-human relations for ever. The peace broker. The Rodent Messiah??

Well, sadly Snowy was the Mr.Smith to Ratty’s Neo.
'So. Mister. Ratterson. Unfortunately, I am here to. Exterminate you ...'

And we’ll never know the truth. And it’s garbage collection day.

Phil will do Wine Tours in Auckland for food stamps

Mud House Awarded Trophy at Air NZ Wine Awards. Okay - I'm flat out busy, but here's a press release from Sth Island's Mud House

2010-11-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

Press release November 20, 2010

Popular Kiwi vineyard Mud House has won top honours for its Pinot Gris at New Zealand’s most prestigious wine awards.

The 2010 Mud House Estate Home Block Vineyard Waipara Valley Pinot Gris received the trophy for best Pinot Gris at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, announced at a gala dinner held in Auckland tonight.

The competition was organised by New Zealand Winegrowers, the national organisation for the country's 1,300 grape growers and winemakers.

Mud House winemaker Nadine Worley says the company is delighted to have their unique varietal recognised at the awards.
“We’ve always known that our old vines in Waipara were something special, and with this new release wine we wanted to show this to the world. Getting this recognition so soon after bottling the wine was certainly more than we expected, but further shows the depth and richness that this wine has and will continue to show in the coming years,” she says.

With an ongoing commitment to regional varietal specialisation, Mud House sourced the fruit for the award-winning Pinot Gris solely from its Home Block Vineyard in the Waipara Valley.

“Made from the oldest vines on our Home Block Vineyard, the fruit for this wine was handpicked, whole bunch pressed and cold settled before starting its fermentation in tank,” says Worley.

“Careful tending throughout this process was crucial to ensure that the fruit could evolve, and the palate flavours and texture could emerge. Lastly, knowing when to leave it alone, for time on lees, and just to settle down, so that it could come together as a wine and show all that it’s got to show right from the start.”

A number of other Mud House varietals have also been recognised at both local and international wines awards recently including the 2010 Mud House Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which was presented with Gold at the New Zealand International Wine Competition. The 2009 Mud House Swan Central Otago Pinot Noir was also awarded Gold and Best of Class at the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition in USA and Gold at San Francisco International Wine Competition.

For more information visit www.mudhouse.co.nz or www.airnzwineawards.co.nz/

Phil runs the best Auckland wine tours. Get over it

Social Media

2010-11-16T01:59:00.000-08:00

For a long time I was a Facebook member, but never logged on. I’d kind of lumped it in with all the other online teenage ennui-swapping sites like Twitter and Bebo. But about a year ago I kept hearing that it was ‘good for business’ to have a presence in Social Media, so I set up this blog, and started posting links on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve always had page one Google hits for my wine tours, but now I do seem to be getting a higher Google ranking and also scoring OK on MSN and Yahoo – so I guess it’s working.

To me, the downside of Facebook is that Famous people also use it as an advertising/PR medium – so musicians, comedians, politicians and so forth play it as a billboard for their latest policies, gig, CD releases etc., without any attempt to interact with their ‘friends’. So you might think that you’re Kiri Te Kawana’s Facebook best buddy, but she’ll just be running adverts for her career and certainly won’t bother replying to any conversation thread that you have added.

To my surprise, I have found a lot of former colleagues from many fields on Facebook, and have established contact with long lost pals from rock music, comedy, wine and writing. So I’ve become a bit of a born again fan and obsessively check the site during the day. Yet – the sort of friends who took a weeks to write back in the old days of snail mail are actually no faster online than they were then. Procrastinating bastards don’t change – even if a message reply can happen in a keystroke.

Phil runs wine tours around Auckland. OK? You gotta problem with that?
http://www.finewinetours.co.nz/

Bathtime for Jasper - how to bath a 40kg Black Labrador

2010-11-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about living where I do, is local Waiatarua off-leash dog park that surrounds a recovered wetland area. I enjoy it because of the natural beauty, wildlife, peacefulness and clean air.

This is also Jasper’s favourite walkie – lots of other dogs to meet & greet, or growl. Lots of smells and sounds. It takes about an hour to do the complete circuit from our house (allowing for Jasper’s many diversions and obsessive sniffing of anything decomposing or related to other dogs’ excretory functions.)

So anyway yesterday afternoon, we entered the park, I let Jaz off leash. Shortly after that, Molly - a Labradoodle 1-year old, appeared with her owner. Molly took a shine to Jaz, did the sniff and greet and then raced of to a muddy drain alongside the path – alternately madly running into the water and up the bank and back to Jasper as if to say – ‘Hey this is cool! Lookit – a stinky old muddy drain! Come on in, old fellah, the water’s disgusting, darling!’

So Jasper unable to resist the perfect smile of a bedraggled curly black female mud puppy, plunged in – gerplosh! Problem was, the sides of the drain were too steep for is old back legs to gain any traction. He made a few half-hearted ‘leap-and-slide-backwards’ attempts, and then looked at me with a slightly embarrassed ‘Ahem. Would you be so kind as to assist me?’ expression. I managed to pull him up by his collar.

We continued the walkie. Molly, happy that she had successfully got Jaz literally in the crap, happily raced off to further adventures.
When we got home, I knew that Jasper needed a bath. Now I knew, from previous experience that Jasper hates baths. Any attempt to wash him in the past has resulted in whining, trembling, running away, hiding, or a combination thereof. But I know that Jasper is so food obsessed that he’d betray state secrets and sell me into white slavery for a square of chocolate. So the process is: I get a large bucket of warm water with dog shampoo in it. I get a frozen dog bone from the fridge and place it on a ledge so he can smell it, but just out of reach. He stands, transfixed for the whole time it takes to wash and rinse, staring at the bone. I could probably perform major surgery and he wouldn’t notice a jot.

Final rinse. Good boy. Sit. Jasper grabs the bone and flies away where he does that mad rolling on the ground thing to dry off on some old towels, then settles down to demolish the bone. All sorted. Apart from the kilo or two of winter coat he will shed over the next day.

Phil runs the goddam best Auckland Wine Tours and Food Tours known to mankind. And to a few other sentient mammals.

Pinot Blanc - the Uber Groovy White Wine of the Moment - you heard it here first

2010-11-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

Move over, Pinot Gris - we were bored last month.
Siddown Viognier, you're ssssssssssooo Tuesday.

Step up - Pinot Blanc and step into the spotlight for your 15 minutes ....
Okay - it all starts with Pinot Noir. Not the easiest grape to grow, the viticulture vultures tell me.

Fickle, over-sensitive, stingy - and unstable. But enough about me.

Pinot Noir is genetically unstable and readily mutates into other subspecies - or whatever the gene genies and genome gnomes call it.
From the original Pinot Noir Variety we now have Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. If you remember your 5th form French, Noir = black, Gris = grey, Blnc = white. Thus the name describes the colour of the ripe grape.

I know when Pinot Gris first hit the shelves, they tended to be very wishy-washy, indistinct wines with little that you could nail in terms of aroma or flavour. Basically a quaffing, forgettable slosh it down type drink.
Now there is more of a varietal character with Pinot Gris showing pear, apple and citrus, often with a lager-like aftertaste.

Just lately, I sampled two Pinot Blancs - one from north Canterbury's Pyramid Valley wines and another from Nelson's Hope region - Greenhough label. These are two family wineries - and I recommend clicking the links to read more.

Yennyhoo ... les vins

Pyramid Valley Kerner Estate Pinot Blanc 2008 $NZ30.00
Lovely golden colour, fermented and stored in French oak 450L barrels. Silky voluptuous wine with over ripe grapefruit, peach, melon and citrus.

Greenhough Hope Pinot Blanc 2009 $NZ32.00
13 months in French oak. Pears, anise and a hint of ginger in syrup. Good palate weight and a lengthy finish.

Phil runs a not-for-profit business also known as Fine Wine Tours Auckland New Zealand

Mt Beautiful Cheviot Hills Riesling 2008

2010-11-04T03:49:00.000-07:00

Just sampled this lovely wine from north Canterbury's Mt. Beautiful label.
Absolutely fab wine. Every now and then I try a Riesling - and it restores my (somewhat irregular) faith in the Riesling grape. This was one of those.

A lot of Marlborough Rieslings seem to be too try-hard: way too acidic, aggressive and shouty 'look at me' wines.

This wine is subtle - off-dry style with aromas of minerals, crisp Nashi pear and lime. On the palate - initial medium sweetness with a cascade of pear, peach, ripe grapefruit, honey and raisins. Then a crisp, clean finish. Very classy wine.
A great match for pork, seafood or Asian cuisine. $NZ24.00 a bottle

Phil is a wine writer and hosts the best Auckland Wine Tours on Earth

OKAY - This One IS Pretty Weird

2010-10-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

Okay - this one is really weird.
A Japanese family booked a tour with me - for four people.
So I pick them up: young Japanese woman (late teens, studying in Auckland), her parents and her boyfriend.
She was a tad alternative - tattoos, dressed in black. But the parents were very stereotypical older Japanese: polite, quiet, groomed and reserved. The boyfriend was something else. He talked with an 'Asian' accent, and looked vaguely Asian. He was very scruffy, unwashed and ... smelly. I said, 'So where are you from?' and he replied, 'I'm a Kiwi - but I talk like this because I hang out with a lot of Asian people.'
Sooooo - I thought WTF??? A Kiwi who talks like an Asian student - just because he associates with them?

Strangely - this was the second time I had struck this. The first time, I was in a Melbourne Youth Hostel (escaping the fallout from my first marriage meltdown). I was at breakfast, and noticed two Asian guys talking loudly. But then I noticed that one was blue-eyed, blond, and not remotely Asian. He was channelling some kind of cod Korean accent when he talked to English-speaking Koreans!
I tried to eat my poached eggs and baked beans on toast, but for the life of me, could not ignore this Loony Tune Wannabe Feckin' Korean - rattling on in his staccato faux Eastern accent: 'When I sing. Kar-a-oke. My Fren' Kim get je luss. So he no my fren'. No more. I try talk to him bu' it no good.'
For some reason I found this intensely annoying - and I wanted to smack him on the head with my plastic brekkie tray and pour cold tea down his shirt before I returned it to the servery. I didn't.

But ... meanwhile, back at the wine tour ... the parents were obviously (politely) totally horrifed at their daughter's choice of a Kiwi boyfriend. He kept acting like a pretendy Japanese dork: chain-smoked, threw in the odd Japanese word that he knew and tried to be as Japanese as he could. His girlfriend was plainly vexed by his insensitivity, level of personal hygiene and general gormlessness.

I could see the relationship was dead in the water by lunchtime.

Even More Interesting People I have met on my wine tours

2010-10-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

The brother and sister from Melbourne – both early 20s. Booked a half day wine tour (three winery cellar door tastings, lunch, sightseeing in rural Kumeu wine region).
Then the following day rang me to complain that it wasn’t what they had expected. I asked what the problem was. He replied, ‘Well we expected more of a wine tour.’
To this day, I have no idea what he expected. I did refund them 50% however - being a stupid newbie

The Mexican lady who brought her own supply of Tabasco to accompany lunch.

The Australian couple that insisted on ordering a Panini for their son at a very busy cheese shop café, even though I had told them lunch would be about 40 minutes away. It was Holiday season, the Panini took about 40 minutes. We arrived late at the fine dining restaurant and, as a result had to wait an hour and a half for our meals.

The cruise ship group of 60 people – we split into two busloads. Despite using a reputable coach company and supplying detailed maps, one driver got lost and ended up about 30 Km in the wrong direction. We were an hour late for our vineyard restaurant lunch (where I had got a last minute booking wedged in before a wedding party). The Maitre D had a hissy fit and stormed off the property – blaming me personally.

Awa Valley wines, Kumeu Auckland NZ

2010-10-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

I recently revisited Awa Valley wines after a gap of about 6 months. They have a lovely vineyard property, and tastings are in a spacious cellar door overlooking rows of vines deep in the peaceful Kumeu countryside. The current lineup of wines is very impressive - not a dud among them.

Awa Valley is a very small family-owned winery. The vineyard was established in 1970 to supply grapes to local Kumeu River winery. In 1999 Stewart and Colleen Cameron purchased Awa Valley, growing grapes on contract for three years, then producing wines under their own label. Winemaking is by Shane Cox, a local who has his own label Corazon, in addition to contract winemaking for many Auckland growers.
They produce only 18,000 bottles (1,500 cases per year). 5 hectares are planted predominately in Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot, with the remainder in Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

The wines - my favourites are the 2007 Chardonnay and the 2008 Merlot Malbec

2007 Chardonnay
Elegant and integrated wine which is fruit-focused, with flavours of grapefruit, hazelnut, and honey plus a toasty a oak influence.

2008 Chardonnay
Spent 11 months in oak barrels. Similar flavour profile to the ’07 but more mineral and flinty.

2007 Pinot Noir
The grapes are from 25 year old vines which are aged in seasoned oak for 11 months. Aromas of ripe cherries and red fruits coupled with savoury notes of game and mushrooms. Silky tannins on the finish.

2006 Merlot Cabernet Franc Malbec
(Bronze Medal Romeo Bragato Wine Awards 2007)
"Light, soft and slightly sweet wine with a mix of berry and herb flavours. Pleasant, easy-drinking red that reminds me a little of Valpolicella" - Bob Campbell MW wine critic

2008 Merlot Malbec Cabernet Franc
Rounder and softer than the 2006. Medium tannins. Earthy, soft and savoury with ripe black berry fruit, a hint of leather, soy and liquorice.

Phil runs the best wine tours in Auckland New Zealand since the Pre-Cambrian period.

The Worst Person I Have Met On My Wine Tours

2010-10-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

OK. This is all true.
Many of my customers have said to me, something like: "Whoo! Betcha had some real interesting people on your tours over the years, Phil?"
And I always say, "About 99% have been really nice people. Nobody ever was a problem. And the more they drink, the more they sleep on the trip back to the hotel. And the drunker they are, the more generous they are with tips."

But there is one outstanding exception.

Now, I have had many totally charming and happy people from Scandinavia in general - and Sweden in particular - but this guy was a total arsehole.

Sadly, he learnt English with an American accent, which made everyone think he was an American arsehole - which was totally wrong. Everywhere we went, out of a sense of fairness, I was in damage control on behalf of the good ol' USA, by stage whispering 'He's really from Sweden! Don't blame the Yanks!'

He was obviously loaded with cash: on a world trip and staying in five star hotels. Large, loud, obnoxious, wildly self-confident, and pudgy. He had his hair artificially highlighted in blond curls, and wore large red spectacles. His wife was mousey, sour-faced, and dull.

I took them to three of my favourite wineries. At each, he made it bluntly plain - beyond the point of rudeness, that in his opinion, their wines were no good. He spotted a local clay target shooting club on the trip to West Brook wines, and insisted on doing some shooting there. So I schmoozed the manager and Sven got his way.
(And I was secretly pleased to see he was, in fact, a fecking hopeless shot and maybe hit one out of 12 clay pigeons).

He complained about the lunch, and demanded mayonnaise and ketchup - so he could mix them together to eat with his French fries.

I dropped them back at his hotel, glad that I would very likely never see them again, but also regretting that he was here for another week and would be inflicting himself on our mild mannered tourist guides - and giving them the impression he was a loud American tourist.

Italian wine for beginners

2010-10-22T01:50:00.000-07:00

By Phil Parker who runs the best goddam wine tours in Auckland NZ.

The World does have an endless fascination with the food, wine and culture of Italy. And most of us have been eager to embrace espresso, cappuccino, pasta, pizza, Chianti, Prada, Versace, and a whole bunch of other stuff ending in a, e, i and o.

Having said that, Italian wines tend to be a bit of a mixed bag. Even the quality control system is fairly random; with the DOC (Denominazione de Origine Controllata) appellation not much of an indication of how good the wine is it just says ‘the name of the area where these grapes were grown is controlled.’

DOCG is a bit better: (Denominazione de Origine Controllata e Garantita) - ‘the name of the area where these grapes were grown is controlled and we guarantee that’s where they came from.’

Italy has for many years been predominantly a bulk wine producer (second only in global output to France), pumping out gazillions of litres of fairly mediocre wines into Europe and beyond.

And as a general rule, any wine produced south of Rome is probably not going to be of high quality. Regions like Puglia and Sicily are hugely productive hot climate areas producing the bulk of Italy’s easy drinking lightweight wines – often simply called ‘Vino di Tavola’ – table wine, made from blended varieties. Generally pretty good value, but nothing remarkable.

Having said that, there are some interesting and also very good Italian wines worth seeking out.

Okay, starting with the cooler northern regions, Piedmont (Piemonte) is in the northwest and at the foot of the Alps, and produces some of Italy’s most famous wines. Asti – the low alcohol, sweet raisiny sparkler made from Moscato grapes is probably the most well known. This is a reliable brand – fruity, affordable fizz – ideal for that ‘Champagne breakfast’ or pre-dinner palate cleanser.

Barolo would probably be the next well known, a hugely tannic wine with a vaguely bitter aftertaste. I really don’t get the point, having been to a tasting of some top Barolos, but as I remember, the older they get, they do get better. Some of the 10 year-old Barolos were stunning and more like a vintage Port.

The other red variety from this region worth noting is Dolcetto. This is a bright purple coloured drink-young wine with slightly astringent blueberry flavours.

Veneto is a wine region of Italy in the northeast, extending from Venice up to the cooler climate Austrian border. It is a fairly prodigious region, not as highly regarded as the Tuscany or Piedmont regions. Just the same, some recognised names like Soave and Valpolicella come from the Veneto region. Soave is a very dry, largely tasteless white wine, blended from different grape varieties. Valpolicella is a bit of a gamble – anything from a Rosé style to a full-bodied red. Also in the past, I have indeed stumbled across (and, er stumbled after) some very drinkable bargain-priced Merlot de Veneto from the bulk-producing Pasqua label.

Tuscany. This is probably Italy’s most famous region, and currently the hot tourist destination. Chianti is what they do best, and some of the rarest and best reds come from this region, also renowned for its fine food and beautiful scenery.
Walled hilltop town, Montalcino is the most famous Chianti producer in the region, best known for its iconic Tuscan red - Brunello. Brunello is a 100% Sangiovese grape variety, produced and branded under very strict regulations. Grapes have to be grown within the Commune of Montalcino, and ageing for two years in oak casks, plus a further 4 months in the bottle is obligatory. 208 producers make around 290,000 cases in total, of Brunello per annum (c.f. Coopers Creeks output of around 100,000). The name Montalcino is a protected brand, like Champagne, and can only be applied to another red, Rosso di Montalcino and a white – Moscato di Montalcino. Brunello retails in Italy at anything from 40 Euros upwards, so they are pretty expensive wines.

Other good quality Chianti wines are blended from various grapes, predominantly Sangiovese. The best of these would be Chianti Classico DOCG and Chianti Ruffina DOCG. A label stating just ‘Chianti’ doesn’t tell you much other than it is grown in the region – and will give no hint as to quality or grape varieties.

Abruzzo is in east-central Italy and its most famous wine would be Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This is a medium bodied, soft fruity wine made from the Montepulciano grape variety.

Other than those famous regions, Pinot Grigio (same as Pinot Gris) is grown in a number of regions; the best of these would be Trentino, Veneto and Friuli in northwestern Italy. This is a white wine grape, a distant cousin of Pinot Noir. Flavours tend to be delicate citrus flavours with green apple or sometimes, poached pear.

Essentially, if you want a rewarding Italian wine experience – it does pay to do a bit of research. Make sure the wine variety suits the region it comes from, and look for the DOCG brand.

PERNOD RICARD NZ ANNOUNCES SALE OF LINDAUER ...

2010-10-19T02:31:00.000-07:00

Pernod Ricard NZ (formerly known as Montana NZ) announced today that it has today entered into an agreement to sell selected wine brands and assets to Lion Nathan NZ (now Japanese owned) .

The sale includes five brands in the company’s sparkling wine portfolio (Lindauer, Aquila, Bernadino, Chardon, and Verde). Plus seven brands in its still wine portfolio including: Bensen Block, Corbans, Huntaway, Jackman Ridge, Riverlands, Saints and Timara.

Looks a tad like a fire sale when the wine industry is in recession mode. And kind of ironic with so many NZers getting heated up about sales of our rural assets to foreign owners. Here we are with three of the top 4 wineries foreign owned: Montana (Pernod Ricard), Nobilo (Constellation USA), Matua (Fosters AUS).
An iconic export brand - Lindauer is being passed along.

Interesting (tiny) people I have met on my wine tours Pt3

2010-10-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

The solo elderly American woman who insisted on being called Doctor. She was tiny and shrivelled, crabby and bird-like,dressed in a musty tartan pants suit. She had a Noo Yoik accent and walked unevenly with a stick. (I Googled her later, to discover she did have a Ph.D. in Chemistry from 1962). Despite her size she threw every wine sample down her throat, and progressively got rat-arsed drunker and even more crabby by the end of the tour. I had to half carry her off the minibus and escort her onto the hotel lobby. She didn't tip.

Another tall dwarf - this one from Melbourne, has been on two tours with me. He too, is small - about the size of a ten year-old boy. He is basically very friendly and chats away loudly in a nasal Ocker monotone, to anyone. Problem is he keeps talking. Non stop. As in - he never shuts up. At all. He also has no concept of the fact that other people (A) aren't all that fascinated with his life history and (B) do have schedules and timetables of their own. I have watched him dawdle over a single cappuccino for over half an hour: tiny sip. Swirl. Talk..... sip ....talk ... He doesn't pick up on things like other people glancing at their watch, or standing up and stretching and saying "Hmmmm. Well!"
Being the tour guide, and being responsible for timing he drove me nuts on both occasions. The last time, to my joy, I saw him on tour with a rival wine tour company - just him and the guide. Nerny nerny ner ner rival wine tour company, I thought.

Phil runs wine tours in Auckland New Zealand

Interesting people I have met on my wine tours Part 2

2010-10-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

Phil runs the Best Auckland Wine Tours that he can think of right now, anyway.

Okay - more interesting wine tour clients ...the envelope please.

The couple from Perth Aus, on their honeymoon. She was very pale, quiet and frail looking. He was bearded, loud and hearty. When I picked them up, he told me that she gets travel sick very easily, plus she had been in the rear seat of a bus the day before on an 8 hour Bay of Islands trip and was feeling a tad queasy today, plus she had not had any brekkie.
Fair enough - I sat her up front, and sloooooowly round the bends (practically no bends anyway on the way from the hotel out west). But she just got worse - so I offered her some ginger tablets that I keep for the nauseous punters ...but she had never been able to swallow pills of any kind. The we decided to try to get her to eat something, and went to a local cafe. All she could face was fresh fruit. And then she threw up.
In short - I took her to the local A&E, she was seen by a GP, I returned her to the City hotel and the husband decided he wanted to carry on with the tour by himself and leave wifey, green and delirious in the hotel for the day by herself.

The tall, blond baby-faced US Navy guy who came on a tour by himself. He was funny, friendly, goofy and intelligent - really good company. Liked his wine, and cracked jokes non stop.
Turned out, he was the intelligence officer for a visiting US navy ship. His job was to fly out, ahead of the ship's visit to Auckland to assess any threat to the ship's security while it was in dock. I had some of his fellow seamen on a tour when the ship arrived. They said, 'Yeah he's a nice guy but he's very serious about his job. We call him Tinfoil.'