All this talk and detective work on turkey and goose had me corresponding with the Obi-Wan Gourmands, Nigel Greening, proprietor of Felton Road, Central Otago, New Zealand www.feltonroad.com
English Antipodean vigneron Nigel Greening shares his Christmas Table from last Year
Guest DJ Wine Writer and Commentator, The Wandering Menace, Curtis Marsh
The Wandering Palate is gloating in his moment of stardom… being ‘guest DJ on the Two Paddocks ‘Team Top 10 Tunes’, following some tough acts from Willem Dafoe, Stephen Fry, Liam Neeson OBE, Toni Collette, Alan Rickman, Jancis Robinson MW, to mention a few… yes, I know not very modest of me but you have self-promote yourself these days as no one else will.
Media Gallery, The Sommelier's Palate | Related to: Curtis Marsh, New Zealand, The Wandering Palate, Wine | 3 comments
Dinner with Jancis Robinson and Nicolas Lander (London)
Also, empirical proof that cabernet sauvignon under screwcap can age well – but will the Bordelaise embrace change
The highlight of a trip to London a few months back was an invitation to dinner from Jancis Robinson MW and Nicolas Lander, moreover the meridian for a wine and food writer; to be breaking bread with the world’s doyen of wine and the most influential food writer and restaurant critic of our time, all very humbling.
New Zealand Red Wine of the Year Vidal Estate Syrah 2007 – Hawkes Bay
Must-Have Wines of the Lunar Year 2010 – New Zealand Red Wine of the Year
Vidal Estate Syrah 2007 – Hawkes Bay, New Zealand www.vidal.co.nz
Also Shortlisted for Most Consistent Best Value Wine of the Year
My first encounter with Vidal Syrah was the 2004 vintage, served at a wine fair last year in Singapore. The importer had it in a decanter, which no one seemed interested in. I tried it without asking what it was and was immediately blown away by the wonderfully feral bouquet that was nothing short of good Cote Rotie, the palate equally impressive and wonderfully complex with all the alluring secondary nuances one would expect of a top Northern Rhone.
New Zealand’s Quiet Achiever: Rudi Bauer, Quartz Reef
Walter Bourke Homage – Pinot Noir Producer of the Year
Must-Have Wines Best of the Lunar Year – 2010 – Year of the Tiger – Best Wine of the Year from the Cellar
Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2002 and 2003 – Central Otago, New Zealand
New Zealand’s Quiet Achiever: Rudi Bauer, Quartz Reef
Having long realised the most modest vignerons invariably make the best wines, I have always greatly admired Rudi Bauer, both as a person and his Quartz Reef wines. You will not find a more humble winemaker than Bauer, although he does remind me a lot of Ian Marks at Gembrook Hill, in the Yarra Valley, Australia, both hypercritical of their wines, continually censuring themselves.
New World Pinot Noir | Related to: Bendigo, Central Otago, Gold, New Zealand, Pinot Noir, Quartz Reef, Rabbits, Rudi Bauer, Walter Bourke, Winemaker | 3 comments
Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay 2009 & 2010 Central Otago, New Zealand
Antipodean Chablis
Are you a Chablis drinker? A chardonnay purist who relishes the ethereal clarity of Chablis; a wine infused with flinty minerality and a saline quality that speaks so loudly of the soils it hails from it’s unmistakable. Then there’s the slippery, silky texture, largely unadulterated by oak, it’s glassy, lubricous, tantalizingly tangy palate invigorated by exhilarating steely acidity, a wine bursting with energy and freshness.
Curtis Marsh wanderings in New Zealand
The Wandering Palate in New Zealand, visit Wanderings…
Wanaka, Deep South Is., New Zealand (July 29th)
Clive did an exhaustive check on no less than five potential restaurants for our ducks and decided on the selection after a Saturday taste test last week; a heroic effort and the exercise now known as the “Duck Run”!
The Wandering Palate Gone Fishing
Here we are in Ohope Beach, North Island, New Zealand, about 8 nautical miles of the coast. I have chartered a fishing boat to have a mornings fishing with my dad (in the background) and daughter Hayley.
Yours truly has just reeled in a King Fish which took about 15 minutes and quite a battle. Despite the excitement of catching such a sporting fish we threw him back as a little small for his class.
Wanaka, Deep South Is., New Zealand (July 29th)
Nigel Greenings Wild Hare Pappardelle (shot by the chef himself up Mount Difficulty)
It would be fair to say the extremes in temperature and environment don’t get any more diverse than holidaying on the beach the Datai Resort, Langkawi, Malaysia (6 º longitude N – just above the equator) to Wanaka (Lake), in the deep south of the South Island, New Zealand (44 º longitude S).
Domaine de la Romanee Conti vs the World Blind Tasting Results
Part of the ‘Unrivalled Passion for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay’ program, on Friday, April 8th, 108 wine connoisseurs and enthusiasts congregated at the St Regis Hotel, Singapore, for a two hour tasting of Domaine de la Romanee Conti served alongside wines from four other wineries encompassing America, Australia, Austria and New Zealand.
There was much conjecture and to a degree, misinterpretation, of the objectives of this tasting but in reality, it was always going to be controversial. However, to our knowledge this is the first ever structured comparative consumer-driven tasting of this genre to be held in Asia, and perhaps the world. We would like emphasise this is a consumer preference outcome, ultimately the most strategic arbiter on wine.
New World Pinot Noir, Profiled Wineries | Related to: Australia, Austria, Chardonnay, France, New Zealand, Pinot Noir, United States of America, Wine Event | 2 comments
