Nigel Greening’s infatuation with his vineyards African mountain goat herd goes well beyond keeping the properties weeds and briar under control (negating the use of herbicides) and he is rather partial to roasted goat and goat curry, to which I can attest he has perfected these dishes having enjoyed them in his company on many occasions. Read More >
I sat down to lunch with good company late February this year to taste the latest releases from Macedon Ranges winery “Curly Flat”, presented by owner and winemaker Phillip Moraghan, along with a couple of older wines for comparison. I did so with some anticipation because I’d had just a few wines from this producer and all had piqued my interest. Read More >
With picking for the 2013 vintage in Central Otago underway, the most alluring prospect for any pest bird such as Starlings, Sparrows and Indian Blackbirds is a nice ripe, juicy-sweet grape. These nuisance birds peck holes in grapes to drink the juice which exposes the grapes to fungal infection and subsequently the whole bunch is damaged. Read More >
Winery restaurants are sprouting like vine shoots in spring, indicative of the burgeoning wine tourism in vineyards regions the world over. Read More >
Millennium fever hit Shanghai last week, with a glorious celebration of infamous Champagne House Louis Roederer. I was fortunate enough to be a member of a select group who were invited to share the precious gifts Domaine Louis Roederer offers. Read More >
One of wife’s work colleagues from the Toronto office was in Singapore for a lightening visit and came over to our place for casual dinner. Looking squinty eyed and a little pale, Peter was clearly suffering from major jet lag, so we pumped a bit of Two Paddocks Riesling into him on arrival to see if we could revive the poor man. Read More >
We just had Sam Neill and Jeffrey Grosset visiting and a great evening was had by all imbibing in fabulous riesling, pinot noir and the wife’s legendary duck curry. The Two Paddocks Riesling did itself proud in the slipstream of the almighty Polish Hill, with Sam declaring he’s a big fan of the Polish Hill and something about it being as “Dry as Taranaki on a Sunday”. There was a dominance of Two Paddocks Pinot Noir with the duck due to unfortunate accident with Grosset’s luggage, his Pinot Noir the main casualty. Still, there were no complaints from Jeffrey as he dipped his nose ever deeper into the 2008 Two Paddocks, still brooding away (see note) although drinking superbly on the night and a perfect match for the duck. Read More >
I received this definitive photo from Stephanie Toole at Mount Horrocks taken this week in the Cordon Cut Vineyard with the message “Pray we don’t get any frosts!”, illustrating how vignerons are at the constant mercy of the weather and like any agriculture, there are crucial, nail biting moments or stages throughout the year than determine success or failure that they have absolutely no control over. Commercial madness really, but your sort of need to be a bit ‘mad’ to be in the wine growing business, and you have to be downright crazy to do what Toole does, growing riesling for a late harvest wine by means of ‘Cordon Cut’ with the grapes hanging there for weeks at the mercy of the weather.
The subject of semillon came up the other day, fresh in my mind having just posted a piece on Mount Horrocks Semillon and notes on a vertical tasting from 2001 to 2010. We, that is Master of Wine Peter Scudamore-Smith and I, were reminiscing on our formative wine days in Australia and some of our mutual mentors with the conversation leading to the Hunter Valley and the legendary semillons from Lindemans, Maurice O’Shea—McWilliams and interestingly, a shared enthusiasm for the barrel-fermented Rothbury Estate Black Label Semillons that Len Evans championed, wines of extraordinary richness and complexity in the vein of opulent Montrachet.
We both agreed it’s a curious thing that few vignerons pursued this style, in the Hunter Valley or any other Australian wine region for that matter, which prompted me to re-read an article I wrote a while back on the subject, “Australia’s best kept secret” http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/?p=2126 and featuring the touchstone wine of this style in Margaret River, Western Australia – Arlewood
It’s time for semillon to step out of the shadows and into the limelight for some much-deserved recognition.
Should you ask me what is the most unfashionable or under-rated white grape variety in terms of quality, in Australia or the world for that matter, my answer would be semillon.
While semillon is acknowledged as one of the noblest of all grape varieties, it has not gained this in a global sense or as a stand-alone variety, rather it is invariably blended with its time-honored partner sauvignon blanc.
Sam Weaver loves compost - Photo by Bob Campbell MW - www.bobcampbell.co.nz
Churton Estate is one of the Wandering Palate’s favourite New Zealand wineries and represents a more holistic, artisan side of Marlborough amongst the hordes… I wanted to share their current newsletter which has an excellent article from Bob Campbell MW and some wholesome observations from proprietor and vigneron, Sam Weaver http://www.churtonwines.co.nz/news/spring-newsletter-2012/ Read More >
